Going, Going, Gone

Because a) my baby dogs are some of my most favorite things in this world, and b) the ocean is one of my most favorite places on this earth, I'm taking a trip to the archives for today's post.

 Enter the heron

 Cue my baby boy

My wild little animal is going...

 going...

 gone.

What was that, you say?  You'd like to see an extreme closeup of the little wildebeast?

 

 Oh, it's a sight that makes a mother proud.

Yours truly- Tigerlily

Hello, Spring

 Hello, Spring

It's been so long

It feels so good

We've missed you!

Yours truly- Tigerlily

Before & After: The Chair

Late Winter/Early Spring found me looking around the house for an inexpensive project to tackle.
The poor, unsuspecting living room chair had no idea what I had planned for it.

A few trips to Joann Fabrics, a run to Home Depot, and an afternoon in the IKEA fabric by-the-yard department supplied me with everything I needed for this fantastic reupholstery project.

I loved this chair when I bought it and the matching couch at a flea market 11 years ago.

While the fabric was faded, filthy, and falling apart, the structure

was still in fine shape, so I didn't want to part with it entirely.

The "skinning" process was high on the gross-meter.

The vacuum was essential, as was a dust mask.

Some interesting artifacts were found between the fabric & frame:

a shopping list, a recipe for getting rid of aphids from your roses,

and an offer for life insurance that expired in 1981.

The foam padding in the seat cushion had completely disintegrated to yellow dust.

I didn't even bother to unzip this until I was outside by the garbage can.

After a thorough vacuuming and dousing with Lysol, the entire chair got fresh batting and interfacing.

 Our long finished basement was quite useful for fabric cutting.

I used all of the old fabric as pattern pieces for the new fabric.

The white paper tags indicate where the piece came from on the chair, as well as the order in which they were removed.

 It was really exciting to finally get the sewing machine & staple gun rolling!

Just like Lieutenant Dan, she got new legs.

I picked these unfinished wood legs up at Home Depot.

 Management Approved!

Before and After

This was such a rewarding project to work on- I can't wait to get my hands on our couch!

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 9- One Good Knee Deserves Another

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries.

We had a fantastic Fall 2010, and were getting our money's worth out of Penny's $4000 knee.

All seemed right with the world...

Until...

Right around Christmas she started limping again.  This time it was the right knee.  We knew that there was a good chance this would happen, we just didn't think it would be so soon.

There was no hesitation this time around- January 5th we took her back in to see her ol' pals at the Animal Surgical Center of Seattle and said, "Just do it." It's winter, she's bored anyhow and hanging out on the couch, she might as well be recovering at the same time.

In a way, I'm glad it happened so soon after the first knee- we all remembered exactly what to do.  The nerdy-pants mom that I am pulled out the old diary, the old training calendar, the old medicine chart, and the old pictures.  The baby gates went back up, and the ice packs were in the freezer.

Rehabilitation of knee #2 was incredibly uneventful- essentially a mirror image of knee #1.

Here we are in March 2011, one full year after the limping started, and what is the one thing I am most thankful for?

Dogs only have 2 knees.

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 8- Freedom!

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries.

We made it!

The hard work payed off, and 12 weeks after TPLO surgery to repair Penny's left knee, we were back on the trail for our first real hike.

The mountain air never smelled sweeter.

Our recovery was smooth, and I know that much of it was due to our careful, diligent approach to her rehabilitation.

This happy face made it all worth it:

 

Would we do it again?  In a heartbeat.  For us, TPLO was beyond a doubt the way to go.

This ended up being a good opinion to have, since just 4 short months later, we WOULD be doing it again!

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 7- Boredom Busters

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries.

How do you keep your recovering dog and you from going totally nuts?

In the beginning, it's pretty simple.  If dog is bored of being inside the house, put dog outside:

Give the dog some company:

As dog gets further along in recovery, and it's more challenging, give dog things to steal and take 10 feet away from you, so that she feels like she's getting away with something:

Let dog hang out with your other dog, so that at least they're bored together:

Hang out with dog and watch the hair in between her toes grow to unnatural lengths:

All joking aside, we really did do our best to keep Penny from going totally crazy.  In addition to the items noted above, we also did tricks.  A LOT of tricks.  Sit, stand, high five, shake, spin, touch, up, down, stay, come, rollover, etc.  It was great exercise, it kept her brain engaged, and was a wonderful way for us to strengthen our bond with each other.

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 6- The Tank

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries.

One of the benefits of having our surgery done at the Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle was the access to their top-of-the-line Rehabilitation facility.  It was a no-brainer for us to see that the underwater treadmill would be perfect for helping Penny recover and restore her strength.

We opted for the recommended 12 session course of therapy, starting 3 weeks post-op.  Penny had 4 30-minute sessions, 4 45-minute sessions, and 4 60-minute sessions.

Water dog + a job to do = happy puppy!

If you have access to rehab and the financial means to pursue it,  I highly recommend it.  Depending on your pet insurance policy, rehab may or may not be covered.  Unfortunately, Penny's plan did not include rehab, so we did have to pay for it all out of pocket.  I'm not quite sure why rehab isn't always included-- it just seems like good practice to me.  What would be the point of putting all this money into the surgery, and not pursuing everything possible to ensure success?

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 5- The Training Plan

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries.

I should preface by saying that my husband & I are both runners.  This means that we're no strangers to creating training plans for our own events, and we felt that Penny's rehabilitation was no different.

Our approach involved a pretty solid training plan, using the guidelines provided by the vet, in conjunction with additional suggestions I found on the web. 

The most important piece of this plan was the calendar, which we maintained every day, starting with the first day we were allowed to start walks, all the way up through 12 weeks post-op.

We also made sure to build in rest days-- at least once a week we would have a day of nothing- no walks, no exercises, just a chance to rest.  This is an element that we pulled from our own training.

 

These are the things we noted on the calendar: 

• Walk duration & frequency

• Icing 

• Additional exercises 

• Hydrotherapy sessions

• Other "social" events, such as friends coming over

• "Naughty" moments (like the time Penny got past us & went up the full flight of stairs on her own- oops!)

The "Additional exercises" as noted above were broken down into 1 new exercise a week:

• 2 weeks post-op: balance shifts (leaning onto operated leg)

• 3 weeks post-op: 3-leg stands

• 4 weeks post-op: figure 8s

• 5 weeks post-op: sit-to-stands

• 6 weeks post-op: Cavaletti Rails

• 7 weeks post-op: walking on an incline/decline

• 8 weeks post-op: stairs

• 9 weeks post-op: swimming

• 10 weeks post-op: straight-line trotting

Having this much structure really made the rehabilitation process seem manageable, and also really helped make the time move surprisingly quickly!

NOTE: I am not a vet. Please work with your vet to assure that the rehabilitation plan for your pup is right for you.

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 4- Baby Steps

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries.

12 days after surgery, we had our first follow-up appointment with the surgeon, and were given the green light to begin active rehab.

"Oh, mom, say it ain't so-- I'm busy resting!"

The first steps really were just that- two 5-minute leash walks a day.  It may not sound like much, but it was a big deal!  Most of the walks were from the house, but for a few, we'd make the drive to Mud Bay so she could go "shopping" and see some of her favorite treat-dispensing friends.

 "Come on, Lady, get my harness! I've got shopping to do!"

 We were also careful to make sure that if she seemed to overdo it at all, that ice packs and rest followed.

Penny also got several human visitors during those first few weeks, just to keep her spirits up.  I think that this is important for dogs like her, who tend to be quite serious & sensitive to odd situations.

Nice looking healing- about 4 weeks post-op

The green light also included the permission to pursue hydrotherapy, which was one of the best decisions we could have made.  More to come on that, though, later!

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 3- The First Few Days

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries. 

There is absolutely nothing pretty about this:

Poor kid.  It’s enough to make you feel like the worst parent ever.

The surgeon’s report was that everything went perfectly. Just as suspected, Penny had a partial tear. The edges of the torn ligament were cleaned up, and her tibial angle had been reduced from 27 degrees down to 7 degrees.

Two things surprised us when we picked her up the next day:

1- She was walking on the operated leg! Toe-touching, weight-bearing walking. This totally changed our outlook on how mobile she would be.

2- No staples! I’m not sure how common this is, but this was great. Don’t get me wrong, that leg was still ugly as hell, but knowing that she wouldn’t need to go in for another procedure to have them removed was a huge relief.

The next few days were a basic routine of Tramadol for pain around the clock and Metacam once a day for pain/swelling. We applied ice packs to both sides of the stifle (a.k.a. dog knee) several times a day, and performed gentle massage.

Penny laid there and looked like the most pathetic, most beautiful creature I have ever seen.

I have 3 suggestions for those first days:

TAKE NOTES of when medication is given. Especially if you’re dosing around the clock, getting up in the middle of the night.

TAKE PICTURES. Your camera is your best ally for documenting swelling & discoloration. We had a few times where we thought her leg was getting redder. We looked at the previous night’s picture and realized it wasn’t any more swollen, it was just that the discoloration was moving with gravity.

KEEP A DIARY. Note poop schedules, swelling, eating habits, gait, everything.

These 3 suggestions will not only help you navigate your pup’s recovery, but may also save you later (as it did for us) when knee #2 decides to crap out and you’re trying to remember what these days were like.


Remember- this is the worst part- it gets better, it really does! 


Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 2- Preparations

This is one of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries.

We got lucky. We had a few weeks to prepare for bringing home a 65 lb tripod of a dog recovering from major surgery, and prepare we did.

I read. A lot. I scoured the web. Some stories were sad, some were happy, but they were all important to know.

We examined the fine print of our pet insurance policy so there wouldn’t be any financial surprises.

We pulled the baby gates out of the basement. We got an ex-pen. We knew that confinement was key to healing. It proved to be beyond valuable.

We cleaned the house, washed her bedding, and prepped areas with fresh sheets & towels so that wherever our girl wanted to rest, her incision would never be in danger of infection.

We made about half a dozen ice packs: 3 parts water to 1 part isopropyl alcohol in a ziplock bag = cheap and cold. By making that many, we could rotate them out frequently and keep her comfortable.

We scheduled vacation time from work, so that she was never alone for those first 5 days after she was discharged.

The night before surgery, we gave her a bath—a GOOD bath. Aside from the cleanliness factor, remember- there will be no baths allowed for about the first 2 weeks afterwards.

Most importantly, we jammed a summer’s worth of fun into the 3 weeks we had before the big day. We ran, we played, we swam. We hiked, we went to the beach, and we watched her wrestle with Levi long into the warm nights. She may not have had any idea what we were going to be doing to her, but it sure made us feel better dropping her off for what we knew would be 12 tough weeks.

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: Chapter 1- In the Beginning

This is the first of several chapters chronicling our successful story of recovery from bilateral TPLO surgeries. 

In early Spring 2010, we noticed a change in our 2 year old dog Penny. It was subtle at first- after sedentary periods, she would move stiffly. It seemed to be affecting her left leg, but it was hard to pinpoint. Was it hip? Knee? Foot? We couldn’t tell. There was no specific onset following an acute injury- it just developed gradually over time. After strenuous activity such as a game of fetch, or running at the beach, her limp was more pronounced. Typically it would lessen after she got moving again, and it never kept her from walking or playing. 

Things like this would result in 3 days of resting on the couch:
We took her to our primary vet, who ordered a series of x-rays. Nothing was found, and the recommendation was rest, to see if the problem resolved on its own. It didn’t, and within a few months, we were referred to the amazing Dr Alex Aguila at the Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle to help determine what the problem was. The diagnosis: suspected partial tear of the Cranial Cruciate Ligament in her left knee. 

Little did we know that we had just limped our way into an extended canine family, home to one of the most common orthopedic injuries.

In humans, the knee has a similar ligament, but the anatomy is a bit different. It was described to me as this: whereas a human’s upper leg bone (femur) is stacked directly on top of the lower leg bones (tibia & fibula), a dog’s leg is constantly in a bent position, much akin to a skier, with perpetual tension on the ligaments of the knee to keep it in place. This, combined with what veterinary research is thinking is possibly a genetic factor, makes some pups more predisposed to tearing the ligament. Because of the tendency for artificial ligament replacements to stretch over time in larger dogs, repairing it isn’t always the best option. In these cases, as was true with Penny, TPLO surgery is the recommended course of action. By realigning the top of the tibia bone, the anatomy is changed in such a way that the ligament is no longer under tension. You can read about the fine points of TPLO surgery here.

On July 1st 2010, we took our sweet baby girl in for surgery. Yes, we took her in, so that they could SAW THROUGH her tibia, scootch it around a little bit to reduce the degree of her “tibial plateau angle”, and stick it all back together with metal plates and screws.

After all, it wasn’t just us that wanted her to be back in action:

What happened next? You’ll just have to wait and see!

Yours truly- Tigerlily

The Dog’s Knees: A Preface

Let’s just skip right to the end of the story:
A Happy Ending!

It’s March of 2011, our sweet girl Penny has successfully made it through bilateral TPLO surgeries. You may have stumbled across my blog by entering “TPLO” in a search engine, much the way I found the blogs that others had also written as their pups were going through similar experiences.

I’m here to add my words to the interwebs in regards to this common canine injury, as another pet parent with loads of advice to share in how we navigated through recovery from TPLO orthopedic surgeries using veterinary advice, good common sense planning, and a healthy dose of humor. If you, too, are in the recovery period, or perhaps gathering information in anticipation of surgery, I hope my words are helpful.

Please follow along as I build on our story.

Yours truly- Tigerlily

Finding Your Voice

For a while now I've been planning to start a blog, and today is the day!
It may not be anything fancy, but I hope that you will take this journey with me.

If you love animals, crafts, photography, gardening and running; and you have a fine appreciation of approaching life through humor, you've come to the right place.

Even the housecat, when she opens her mouth, hears the roar of a lion.

Please enjoy!
your truly- Tigerlily