Gracie's recovery

[mollysmom]

Hi everyone, I want to fill everyone in on Gracie's recovery from having her femural ball removed. You all have been so supportive and I would have posted earlier, but Gracie has been fairly demanding and I haven't had the time to touch my computer, let alone post something. She has finally graduated to the main floor of the house where the computer is so maybe I'll get to atleast read the forum occasionally now.

She was very, very angry with me at first and I understand that. I'm her mom and I let this happen to her. She's kind of settled in, she's uncomfortable but not painful. (I hope) She is using her other bad hip a little too much for my liking to compensate for the surgical hip. She goes back to the ortho on Tuesday for stitch removal and I'll check with her on this. I HOPE we don't end up finishing off the other hip during the recovery on this one.

She is lying on the deck chewing a bone at the moment giving me time to come in and post. It felt great to sleep in my own bed last night and Gracie felt the same way

.

Got to run so I can try to catch up on some of the posts I've been missing.

 

[Giddyuppy]

Glad to hear she got over bein' mad at you! If she can just heal fast enough, she should be okay with her other hip.

Did the vet tell you to try and keep her as quiet as possible? Did he give you a sling to use in the process? I made my own sling for my boy and I really believed it helped him get through it in real good shape! My sling was nothing but a canvas shopping bag, slit up both sides. I got a bag that was wide enough to cover almost his entire belly area.

The things we do for our dogs!

 

[sarnewfie]

how soon can you get her swimming MM?
the only thing i would worry about is muscle atrophy.
i am sure the directions they give you are good ones though!
glad to hear all is well, and nice to see you posting!

 

[jhscott]

Glad to hear Gracie is recovering nicely. Yogi sends his nice thoughts while he recovers from THR also.

Jim & Yogi

 

[mollysmom]

Hi, have just a minute or two, thanks for asking about my sweetie, Gracie.... she is improving each day. Tuesday she goes back to the ortho doc and I hope she is pleased. Gracie is only in her crate now when I'm not home. She's always been such a velcro girl and wants to be wherever I am, so she's much happier now.

Glad to hear Yogi is mending well

.

Sar, the swimming will be a plus when she gets the stitches out and we're sure she's healed. I'll take that up with the doc on Tuesday too about when.

Giddy, yes, we've been keeping Gracie from playing with her buds

and to make matters even worse, she went in to heat on Friday which makes her all the more interesting to the rest of the gang - girls and neutered boys alike.... Poor kid, never a break . I made her a sling with handles since I'm not good with the towel bunched up in a wad and it has worked out really well. Hmmm, never thought about a canvas bag, that would have been much easier than quilting one for her ... oh well.

 

[Giddyuppy]

For

outloud! That poor girl! Wonder if the anesthesia made her go into heat?! Everytime I have to even go PARTIALLY "under" I get "out of sync", and Lord when I have to be TOTALLY knocked out...UGH! (I've been post-menapausal for goin' on 4 yrs. to boot!) My doctors can only come up with the answers of: "I don't know why that happens." or "Maybe, your body doesn't like the "shock" of being "un-conscious" so to speak. Maybe, if you ask your vet, you can answer MY question!

Quilting her her very own sling was a really thoughtful thing for you to do!

Keep us posted on how she's doin', OK?

 

[dogger]

Linda, I am gald Gracie is doing well. About the swimming, is there a place around you who does hydro therapy? A gal who was at the seattle water practice had her newfy who was hit by a car and had his pelvis (I think) broken. She was driving 45 minutes each way but said he would not have mended as well or as fast with out the water therapy.
Let us know how things are at the vet. Sending poor gracie lots of hugs and kisses.

 

[mollysmom]

Hi, Thanks

I'm angry with Gracie right now . Even in this condition she counter surfed and ate a whole stick of pepperoni and 1/2 a package of cream cheese. And I had those two things in mind for MY snack . I'm ignoring her which is (in Gracie's mind) worse than being hit with a wet noodle .

Gwyn, thanks for the information about hydro therapy swimming. I'll look into it. I think we may have a facility in BelAir, about 45 mins. from here.... We see the ortho on Tuesday.

Tell me more about "hydro" vs. just swimming in our bay water out the back door? Is the water flow important?

Guess I'll go "forgive" my little thief now

 

[sarnewfie]

LOL they can be so naughty!
i am just guessing, but swim in the bay with YOU by her to guide her and keep her in the deep is just as good as hydro becouse you both are controlling her excersise, what i did to help emmett heal after he torked his neck , was to go out to the deep part of L michigan, and throw a dummy and he would swim in the deep for it, constantly, than i brought him in for a brief rest in the shallow, and went back out, so he was swimming with a purpose, controlled excersise, was not running thru the water to swim, it was constantly swimming.

good luck with her, she sounds like a trooper!

 

[Summer]

Linda,

Poor Gracie!

She must be feeling better if she's able to counter surf

You must be a better nurse than she wants you to know.

 

[mollysmom]

Ok, we went to the ortho doc. She removed all the stitches and told me it's time for Grace to bear her weight. Took us out to the parking lot and showed me how to use her leash as a harness controlling the back end to make her weight bear and not get into the hippity hop thingy. No more sling (thank Dog, my back is threatening to go out the last few days) Swimming is also fine, the bay here is actually better than finding a water therapy place. Reason being she wants "frequent, short" workouts. Many times a day making her weightbear but only for short, short periods. Says it will get the muscle built up without her feeling painful all day. I asked for more demoraxx and she gave us another 2 weeks supply at "maintenance level".

So, life goes on. She thinks Gracie is right where she should be for 2 weeks post op. I feel so bad for her. Doesn't seem fair to me that she has so many orthopedic problems and she's still a puppy.

 

[Giddyuppy]

I know exactly how you feel, but....in due time, you'll thank yourself or doing that for her. It's not a speedy recovery, but a slow deliberate one. If she heals like my pup did, you'll not notice much, if any, difference in her walking, but may notice a slower run. Who cares how fast they run, anyway?! As long as they get to where they wanna go, with little or no discomfort...that's all we can ask for!

Give her big hugs and kisses from me!

 

[jhscott]

Glad Gracie is doing well Yogi is also recovering slowly but surely, Thank goodness he didn't have to use a sling. I'm sure Gracie will feel alot better when she recovers, Yogi seemed like a new dog after he recovered from his first THR.

Wishing you and Gracie good luck!

Jim & Yogi

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

So glad to hear Gracie and Yogi are recovering from their surgeries!

 

[mollysmom]

Thanks gang

Jim, first, glad to hear Yogi is recooping well

. How in the world did you get him up and out for pottying without a sling??? those first few days? Did the joint work immediately after surgery? Could he weightbear on that leg right away? I'm so surprised!!!

 

[jhscott]

Ortho vet said not to use a sling, the new hip would support him fine and he should start using it right away. The soreness and limping come from muscles being pulled and stretched during the procedure. Yogi went for his one week check-up this morning and he climbed in and out of the truck fine with no help. Every thing is going good except he won't eat. That's due to the antibiotics. Thankfully he finished those off yesterday.

Jim & Yogi

 

[Giddyuppy]

WOW! Yogi did good, eh? How old is he?

 

[mollysmom]

Wow, Jim, it's great that Yogi can hold his weight right away! I hope I did the right thing going with the femor ball removal. Gracie is doing pretty well, she's sore but improving. Only time will tell, I guess. Gracie isn't a large newfie girl. Of the three here she's the smallest. Only weighs in at 115 and tends to make me think of an oversized golden retriver more than a newfie - in appearance only, lol, when it comes to personality/temperment/character, she's newfie all the way . I guess her small size goes to her advantage when it comes to recovery.

About Yogi not eating, have you tried adding a little canned red salmon to his food? Not only will it make his food appetizing, but it's great for their coats. My five get to share one can of salmon a week. I add all the juices then wash the can out with water and add that to their bowls too. We get compliments all the time on how shiney and healthy their coats are. And they all do the happy dance when they see me open the can . It might be worth a try to see if he is more tempted?

 

[Giddyuppy]

Hey, mollysmom...I wondered where you've been. Glad to hear your girl is gettin' better.

Try not to second guess yourself on the choice you made for her.(I know...it's 2nd nature.LOL!)Granted, at the time my Joseph needed something done, I HAD no choices to choose FROM! (I'd even 2nd guessed my only choice.) Would I choose that route again? Yes! The only circumstance that would make me debate a decision, would be if the dog was fully grown, so there would be no 2nd surgery to replace a too small joint replacement. At the time I had to have Joseph done, there were NO hip replacements to fit him. They were all too big.

To make along story short...the guy that had his litter had kicked him. He had both knees cracked and his femor ball was completely on the outside of his hip socket. I got him when he was only 7 weeks old. He had his surgery @ 6 months.

Oh, how I miss him!

 

[dogger]

Linda, I agree with Laura. Do not second guess yourself. It is like taking a test, your first choice is generally the correct one.
I am glad Gracie is swimming. I think the main difference between therapy and swimming is the therapy pool is heated and they can control the current as the dog gets stronger.