A few recent pictures of the big boy

Here you can see he is very comfortable sitting in an "awkward" position. Bohdi has always sat like this and it has nothing to do with the surgery. He bends the knee well and seems to have full ROM, Range of motion.

Here he is sitting on his favorite chair...Mom AKA me. This is from the day I went into labor. I swear he knew it was going to happen. He was treating me very differently and was especially gentle.

This is the best shot I have taken recently of the leg. LOL. I will try and do better, but honestly, you can't even see the incision scar anymore. The hair is growing back slowly but surely.

12 weeks and beyond

the short and skinny of it.....we are past our recovery period of 12 weeks and doing great. i had the baby as well so that explains the lack of updates! i will post in more detail later. for now, here is a video..

CCL Pictures, Pre and Post Surgery Tools, Shopping List and Links

See a list of things you may need after the pics. I have researched and found some good pricing on these items via Amazon as well. Bookmark this page for reference and yes, please use my links to shop!


CCL Cranial Cruciate Ligament Picture:


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Surgery imagery:

Incision Site:

Post Surgery Medication Anti-inflammatory, Pain Medicine, Antibiotics

Tramadol-Pain Control *post surgery

Deramaxx-Pain Control and anti-inflamatory *post surgery and long term 

Cephalexine-Antibiotic

Shift Glucosamine-Treatment for Osteoarthritis 

Things you will want and need:

Crate or Superyard

 *Get a crate if you work during the day and can't be there with your dog. The superyard is not ideal for jumpers. I highly recommend having at least a week off to tend to your best friend right after surgery.*

Dog Bed

Old Sheets

Disposable Changing pads or Pee Pads

Betadine

Ice Packs *the old fashioned one work great with crushed ice because they will drape nicely over the knee

Homemade salt free broth for hydration the first few days

Mobility Harness

Life Vest *if swimming*

New toys and snacks to keep your buddy busy and distracted

Dog Ramp if you have an SUV and can't lift you big buddy (mine is 90lbs!)

A medication check list to make sure you don't miss a dose or overmedicate

    

   

  

A walk to the park and other milestones (VIDEO)

I am happy to say that the worst of the allergy attack seems to be over. The swelling in Bohdi's face has gone down significantly and he is no longer trying to rub his face off on the carpet. It sounds funny but is literally what was going on.  He is 100% on the new food (Avoderm) and is still loving it.  We plan to keep him on the antihistamine until Monday when I will call the vet and ask if it is okay to take him off of it.

Today we took a walk to the park (video below). It is only a block away from the house but still I was nervous because there are dogs and sounds to get really excited about and I didn't want any jumping.  We stayed near the sidewalk and away from the playground area just to be safe. Once there we meandered around and strolled to various trees he frequently "marked" before the surgery. It was a success and I think we will walk that way more often now. He is so happy and distracted that I think he uses his leg more naturally while there. 

As for me, I waddle along behind for now. He is a good boy not to pull me too much, even though he is soooo excited. I would definitely take a spill if he cared to bolt off after something.

He is off the leash to use the "potty" when outside. Yay. I need to get him over to Petsmart for a bath soon before the baby comes. Possibly the hose will warm up enough for a home bath.

Our dog food brand

Now Allergies????? Arrrgh!!!!

After finding that Bohdi had rubbed his face raw on the carpet Sunday night to the extent of it bleeding, we were off to the vet's office Monday morning. You may recall me mentioning that he was chewing his feet/paws lately.  I first presumed it was due to boredom. Maybe not after all. He received an antihistamine shot, and we were sent home with Hydroxyzine (75mg every 8 hours). 


Causes? Fabric softener on his sheets? An environmental allergy? Well, apparently, the antihistamine should be working if so and it doesn't seem to be making any difference other than making him drowsy.


I am leaning more towards the issue being a food allergy. I am switching him over to a high quality dog food. In doing some research I found that Beneful is loaded with low quality and non-absorbable fillers.  PLUS, corn, wheat, and soy are all accounted for in the Beneful recipe as top ingredient and they are also top causes of food allergies in dogs. With internet research, I found many stories of dogs developing allergies to this food over time. We are trying AvoDerm Lamb and Brown Rice formula and are trying a speedy switch over the next 3-4 days. During the trial on the new food, he can have absolutely no other food (he will continue with the Deramaxx and antihistamine). Luckily, the food is so pure it is easily changes to a wet food consistency by adding some warm water and Bohdi takes his meds hidden in the food.


It is also helpful that he LOVES the food. For over a month or so, he has been nosing the Beneful and not really wanting to eat it. I thought it may have been that he was getting spoiled by the wet food that accompanied the medicine and was getting picky about dry food.  Not so. He dug right into the 25Bene/75Avo mix.


Also, I will be holding off giving him the Glucosamine until the new food is established. I will try and reintroduce it to see if shellfish could be the culprit.


This poor dog. And poor me!!! On Monday I went to my OBGYN and found out I'm 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. I would appreciate a little help from the powers that be in healing my dog. As it may be, I could be having a baby in the next week or so.


Wish us luck!!!

4 weeks post op CCL surgery-let the walks begin!!!

Four weeks ago today, Bohdi was dropped off at 7 in the morning at our veterinarian's office for surgery to stabilize his knee (also called the stifle joint) after a cranial cruciate ligament tear. (Please read prior posts)


At this moment, he is fast asleep at my feet. We have stopped using the superyard and he roams the house freely. We have to watch him carefully because at times he will try to play and dash around. We don't want the tightrope to fail or the other knee for that matter.  He has been swimming for therapy. He hates the life vest he has to wear so he would rather prefer a walk or to have free range of the pool sans vest.


We get to start short walks now; short as in to the end of the block and back. We will wait until Monday (today is Wed) of next week to start as we still have some warm weather and I would prefer to swim this weekend. I don't want to overwork him. We need to start slow. I wonder what the neighbors will think when they see me walk him. We will be out for such a short distance they will probably think I have agoraphobia or something. hehehehe


As far as his progress goes, I can't say there is huge improvement in his walk as he never really favored it anymore after the surgery as he does now. I suppose I will have to consult a physical therapist for ideas to get him to really start using the leg to avoid atrophy and grow so muscle. I saw a video of a dog being led over obstacles he had to step over, but I am not sure how many weeks post surgery he was. There were balance activities as well. Any ideas on how to make a dog sized teeter-totter?  Some days he is obviously more sore than others. He will lay down and "stare" at his knee like he is irritated at it. I do want to start weaning him down from daily Dermaxx as well. I found this info online regarding long term use and I am not so keen on daily dosing. http://www.vetinfo.com/arthritis-treatment-deramaxx.html

I think Bohdi may be getting a little depressed. It is time to lower meds and add new activity. In 5-6 weeks I will be caring for a new baby as well as my four legged boy. Keeping both happy may be a challenge. Oh, and his hair is growing back very slowly.

The Funny Bone

We gave the bone one more shot before it went into the trash. We had to actually pretend to eat it for him to get the idea. Boy but when he did!!!! That bone never had a chance. I hope we are not in for an exciting evening of "the runs". EEEkkk

One end gone: