Lola's First Check-up

Today was Lola's 10 day check up, her first check up since her ACL surgery. I'm proud to say my little Lola Bear would of received a gold start had stickers been handed out. Maybe even two or three stars!

Upon entering the room the vet asked how things where going. I explained to him that Lola had become quite the handful the last few days and shared the example of her sneaking way and climbing upstairs when I was eating breakfast. He gave me an odd look so I quickly explained how we have been sitting on the floor with her and trapping her in area's when we think she'll sneak away. He said we were doing good.

He took Lola from my arms (she hates standing on the vet table) and mentioned something about this might hurt her a bit and before doing anything asked if she was using her leg. I explained that while walking she uses it but if its anything faced pace she's still limping or not using it. He put her on the floor and watched her walk around. Lola was a CHAMP and showed off how she is able to use her leg. He was impressed!

He put Lola back on the table and told me not only is Lola doing good and right on track but she's doing better then expected and is further ahead then he expected her to be today! It was so nice to FINALY get some good news from the vet. He said there will be no rehab for us to do with her. Partly because he doesn't like letting people do rehab on their own dogs and partly because of how well she is already doing. He also explained how hard it is to get little dogs to start using the bad leg again since they learn how easy it to get along with only have three legs. I laughed and said Lola was an awful three legged dog and how I thought she was happy to have the 4th leg back.

He sent us home with smiles and said to come back in for another check up in a month. If all goes well we are looking at two more check ups total within the next two months before he gives her the all clear. In the meantime we are to do exactly what we are doing now, limiting her activity. He said the hard part now will be trying to make sure she doesn't do things such as racing up stairs and playing rough with Graham since she is now feeling better. That is also going to mean more floor time since I know she will jump off the couch if we put her up there. As the vet said "2 weeks down, 6 to go!"

Just a Few Things

I've taken a few pics over the past few days and just wanted to share them with everyone.

 

1.) Is this not the BEST picture of Lola EVER!!

 

2.) Just to confirm Lola is fluffy, not fat.

 

3.) I love the smile Lola has on her face again. She also seems to enjoy the cone of shame. She lays down and lets me put it on her in the mornings and doesn't growl or nip at me at all!

 

4.) I just looked at her incision today and HOLY CRAP! I know we still have a bit of a healing process to go through but each day she uses her leg a little more and I can't believe how much the incision isn't t her anymore! Lola is now walking on the leg and only limping when its a fast walk. She seems full of energy when I get home and soon gets tired but I blame the pain pill for that.

 

 

 

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 1

Lola recovering from surgery.

One week ago Lola had surgery on her torn ACL. This week has helped show me just how strong my little fur baby is. The first day home I was for sure we were in for a long next few months dealing with her recovery. This week she has shown me just how much life she has inside of her.

Within a few nights of being home she went from sleeping curled up in a ball to sprawling out taking up the whole bed! Both Josh and I are a bit scared of moving her when she's sleeping so she gets to rule the bed more so then normal. Last night she laid between Josh and I and rolled onto her back. My face got a few paw punches from her back legs kicking in the air in her sleep.

Getting comfy in bed

After bringing Lola home I was carrying her everywhere. If I left the room without her I would return to find her a few feet from where I left her staring at me, trying to figure out how to get to the other room with me. This morning Lola decided to sneak out of my site while I ate breakfast and take herself upstairs! I was shocked to look up and see her waiting for me to come back to bed! I figured the way she acted the first few days the "no stairs, 3 step maximum" rule wouldn't be an issue for the first ten days, boy oh boy did Lola surprise me!

 

Trapping Lola upstairs

Lola is still wearing her cone when she is in her crate and my fear of her jumping off the couch is keeping me sitting on the floor until the further notice. Lola gets a little silly when putting the cone on her in the mornings and Graham thinks its play time. I hate having to tell Graham "no" when he tries to play and am ready to let them get back to their daily wrestling matches.

 

Graham enjoying the food and water that was placed in the living room

I am surprised with how well Graham is doing. I've been on a few walks with him and do my best to try and wear him out. He's getting anxious to play with Lola again and a few times he's done his best to get my attention. I can't wait until I can stop telling Graham he can't play with his sister yet.

 

Graham getting some attention

Lola's leg is also looking tons better! Her first day or so home her leg was a big swollen but it quickly went away. As of today it just looks like a giant cut going down her leg. I also would like to give props to our vet. The incision is lined up nicely down her leg so I don't think a scar will be to noticeable. I'm not vain about my dogs appearance but it does make me very appreciative that he took time and care to do so. I saw some pictures of dogs where the incision wasn't as straight as they could be.

Day after surgery

One week after surgery

 



 

ACL Fall Fashion

Having ACL surgery has turned into quite a fashionable event for Lola.

Lola sporting some ACL Surgery Fashion

Most of Lola's back right leg is shaved and a portion of her right front leg as well. This has caused for some pretty cute looking little furry boats on her right feet.


Lola rocking her furry boot on her front paw.

Lola's back leg.

 

Lola's back leg also greatly resembles a raw piece of chicken meat.

 

Lola's chicken leg

Due to licking, Lola got to add the wonderful Cone of Shame to her ACL Surgery Fashion wardrobe.

 

The Cone of Shame

 The good news is Lola only needs to wear the cone of shame when we aren't home to supervisor her. She's not a fan of the cone but is a pretty good sport when it comes to putting it on and wearing it.

 









 

On the recovery side of things Lola just keeps acting better and better. Last night and today she is showing signs of wanting to use her leg. She'll place it lightly down when standing still. She's been getting hyper and excited when she see's her leash, more so then she did the other day. It's amazing to think she had her ACL surgery on Tuesday and today, Saturday, she's already doing this much better!! Now our biggest problem is her thinking she is feeling better then she is. We've had a couple issues of her trying to do a few things she can't which ended in some yelps and me getting a few bites. One of which was her trying to figure out how to climb up me to get onto the couch so she could join Graham in looking out the window. The end result was her jumping and landing a bit on her bad leg. I got bit on a few fingers and my arm because she thought I was the one who had caused the pain and she wobbled over to Josh for comfort. Poor Graham even almost got a few nips. Our instructions said no stairs for Lola and at the most she could only do three stairs. We are doing our best to discourage all stairs so she doesn't try to go up our flight of stairs but we have seen her go up and down the one stair that we have that goes from our back door into our kitchen.

Starting to Recover

Today has been a good day! Lola is already acting better and Josh was able to come home a day early.

Starting to look better already!

This morning started off a bit rough. Lola seemed pretty sore and stiff and I didn’t have luck getting her to go potty. I wasn’t too surprised since she had little to nothing to eat and drink yesterday. I brought her inside and left Graham out to go potty while I ate my breakfast. I sat Lola down by the food and water dish and walked to get my breakfast ready. I looked down to see my little shadow standing by me. As I debated how concerned to be with her not eating, I accidently dropped some cereal on the floor. A few seconds later I hear a “crunch crunch crunch”! I “accidently” dropped some more cereal down figuring that it’s at least SOMETHING in her stomach. I set some dog food down by the cereal she was busy munching on incase she decided to eat everything up. I also came up with the idea to fill a drinking glass up with water since it wouldn’t require her having to bend over to get a drink. Worked like a charm. Although she didn’t eat the dog food we did get some cereal in her and some water. I left for work feeling better.
When I got home from work she already seemed like she felt better. I took her outside and still not luck with the pottying. We came in and I got her to drink some water out of the glass but still didn’t have much luck with the food (she had no problem eating the pill pocket though). She defiantly perked up when she saw Josh was home and we sat in the living room for a bit with her and she was starting to wobble around on her three legs and sitting around instead of lying around.

After Josh and I had dinner we were sitting around the couch. Lola hobbled into her dog bed and I placed her food bowl in it with her trying to get her to eat. She started pushing her head over the bowl, spilling food everywhere, trying to bury it! I also grabbed a glass of water for her and got her to take some drinks. It wasn’t too long before we did get her to eat some food from our hands. We sat around for a bit longer and she got up and started making her way to the other room. Finding it odd that she was trying to leave the room we were in I scooped her up and took her outside to see if she had to potty. SUCCESS! Even with the rain she ran straight into the grass to go pee.

Enjoying some lovin from papa.

Although she still seems sore she has defiantly increased her movements a little bit and I feel better now that she has eaten a bit, drank water, and gone potty. I feel like the recovery process is going well so far. We have caught her licking her leg a few times so we will be keeping an eye on that. Hopefully we don’t need to get the cone of shame, but I’m sure it’ll make for some fun pictures if we do.

Welcome Home Lola.

Graham and I spent a quiet evening at home last night. It was pretty evident that Graham was missing Lola all night and it was odd doing things with just Graham and not Graham and Lola. I went to work this morning and told Graham to think positive so Lola could come home.

Graham missing Lola

I went to work and got things done hoping I could leave an hour or so early with hopes that Lola would be able to come home. Around 10:30 the vet called and said Lola was doing well enough to come home. I was so happy and to make things better my boss said I could go get her right away. I pointed out that no one would be in until 3 and that I would be ok waiting. After some talking we found someone to come in at 1 and I was told it was ok to bring Lola to work but to just keep her under the desk.

I went to the vet and was greeted with a sheet of “Instructions for Lola” that basically told me that she can’t do anything. Only outside to go potty, stay crated when no one is home, and no up and down steps. They then brought out Lola and I could tell she was happy to see me. I put her in my car and we went to work.

Lola's instructions and pain medication

I had worn Josh’s hoodie to work today because it was raining and I couldn’t find a coat of my own with a hood on it. I put the hoodie on the floor along with Lola’s blankie and she kept me company at work for a couple hours. I had to keep her hidden form the students but the mail man and office supply delivery guy gave her a few pets. She did surprisingly well under the desk to. Only a few barks and for the most part stayed lying down. She wanted held for a little bit but you could tell it was more comfortable for her to be on the floor then on my lap.

Lola hanging out and sleeping under my desk at work.

 

Lola and I were able to leave work and get home around 1. Normally I would lay on the couch with her but after watching her try to walk around and knowing she can’t go up and down I felt it best to just stay on the floor with her. So on the floor I have been all afternoon. I’ve napped on the floor with Lola, ate on the floor, and am watching TV and typing this sitting on the floor.

Camping out with Lola on the floor

I know when she was limping before that her limp was more evident while on the couch so I don’t want her to struggle more then she has to if she decides to move. She has done some walking but for the most part has been sleeping. I think the hardest part of this whole ordeal is dealing with her now. You can see in her face that she’s in pain but she is being one tough cookie. If I get up to go into the kitchen for a second I come back to find her standing a few feet from where I left her. I had her in her crate while Graham and I went on a walk and she wanted to come out when we got home but didn’t want to step over the lip in the crate to get out. After I helped her out of the crate I brought some food and water next to her so she didn’t need to go too far for any of it. She lay down by the bowls and I sat by the couch. It took her two tries, but she was able limp her way over so she could lay by me.

Hopefully we have a speedy recovery. We go back to the vet for a check up on Sept. 28^th.

 

 

A Quite Night

Today was Lola’s surgery. I made sure to get lots of cuddles in last night and even brought her blankie with us to bed. I thought maybe I could get some of my smell on it to help her while at the vet. Both my dogs have their own blankie. They are both baby blankets that where purchased before we brought them home from the breeder. If they are ever away from home for long vet visits, boarding, or visits to my parents without me the blankies go with them.

Lola sleeping in bed with her blankie

The dogs and I woke up a bit earlier than normal, got ready for the day, and off it was to drop Lola off while on my way to work. I handed her over with her blankie and told her to be good. I was told to expect a call between 11 and noon. I think I had my phone on my lap all morning at work! I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be but I was ready to hear it was done. A bit after 11 I received the phone call from the vet saying she was out of surgery. Not only had things gone well but they “couldn’t have gone any better”. I had a small smile on my face. I asked when she could come home and was told tomorrow or the day after, depending on how she’s doing. I know my Lola is a tough cookie and will do good I just hope she doesn’t get depressed about not being at home.

Graham tends to have issues when I take Lola and not him. I could hear him crying while I was putting Lola in the car. I knew for sure I was going to need to give attention to this lil guy when I got home! So after the after work potty break for Graham we went for a walk. When we came home he circled the house a few times and kept looking at me, looking around the house, then back at me. I know he is missing her because he is letting me hold him. Graham loves attention but isn’t the biggest fan of being held for too long. Anytime I pick him up he doesn’t mind being held at all tonight. This is defiantly one of the quietest nights our house has had besides the few times we have been dog-less in it!!

Lola's Limp

It’s been awhile since I’ve written .Life got busy and life got boring. That was until a few months ago.  The weather got nice and I began enjoy taking the dog on walks. And that’s when the limp started. I decided to blog our experience. One, as a way to get it out of my system. Two, get it online and maybe help someone else. Three, to not annoy my Facebook friends as much J.

Now I’m not sure if the walk is what caused it, or maybe just began to show us more signs. But there was no doubt about it, Lola was limping.  It started the night after a walk. She came off the couch while we had a friend over and was walking oddly on her back leg. As Josh put it, it was almost like her leg had fallen asleep. Being a Saturday night there wasn’t much we could do but keep an eye on her. Sunday rolled around the odd walk turned into a limp. Not just any limp though. She would go from doing her best to not even use the back leg and the next second she was standing up on both her back legs “dancing” for a treat. We were a bit baffled but figured it was hurt from the walk so we looked over the leg, checked the paw, pushed, pulled, and poked and she didn’t do anything but limp. By the end of the week she seemed to be using the leg a bit more but was still babying it so it was time for the vet. Our normal vet was busy so we took an appointment with the vet that first saw her as a puppy. He poked, pulled, and pushed and we didn’t get a single yelp, bark, growl, or snap from Lola. He checked the ACL, he checked the knee cap, and he checked this and that and narrowed it down to a sore muscle. He sent us home with some pills to help with it and prescribed some rest.

Lola quickly bounced back. After 5 days on the pills she was running around the house acting like nothing had ever happened. Not being a huge fan of putting my pups on pills and having experienced Lola feeling better sooner than expected before I pulled her off the meds. Slowly it became evident the something was still bothering her. Once again it was time for a vet appointment. Once again Lola’s leg poked, pushed, and pulled without a yelp, bark, cry, or bite. He rechecked the things the first vet looked over and couldn’t pinpoint the problem. He suggested to keep an eye on it and rest and to bring her back if things didn’t get better and we may need to X-Ray.

So we headed home. I watched as the leg would seem like it bothered her and the next minute she would act fine. I debated it things where in my head, maybe it was a sore muscle and I was blowing things out of proportion. It was small things. She would kick her leg out when sitting or laying down, you would watch her try to climb around the couch and struggle to make jumps she use to make. Occasionally she would lift a leg up a little tiny bit when going potty. Even her walk had this little sway to it. One thing I noticed was her level of energy seemed to drop, more so on the days it seemed to bug her more than the others. I think anyone else wouldn’t have noticed the walk, but I did. After not feeling confident that things were getting better we ran back to the vet. Once again he poked, pushed, pulled and she gave no yelp, bark, cry, or bite. Everything was feeling fine and in place. The vet was leaning towards it being a hip issue such as hip deterioration but was unsure of doing an X-Ray. The problem was, she wasn’t letting us know what was bothering her. The vet wouldn’t really know what to look for and we risked it being too early in the stages of hip deterioration for him to catch anything on the X-Ray. We opted to not X-ray, not wanting to risk spending money on no answers. Since the pills she had been on before seemed to make her feel a bit better he sent us home with some more pills and more rest.

This time I followed directions to a T and we spent ten days on the meds and even a few extra days using up the last of what we had been given the first time. After a couple days on the pills you would have thought we had a puppy in our house! Lola was running around the house, chasing Graham, and playing her fav game of bite your pants while you’re trying to walk. After a few days of the pills we watched her slowly start to baby the leg. Babying the leg turned in her once again having lower energy and she got a LOT more cuddling this time. Not just the sweet dog cuddles, but the “I don’t feel good” cuddles. You couldn’t sit or lay down without her being attached to you. I called the vet and was told to not feed her before coming in, it was time for X-rays. I’m one of those crazy people that talks to their dogs and I just kept telling Lola “you just need to tell us where it hurts, we just need to know where it hurts, please just let us know”.

I went to the vet Saturday hoping for the best but expecting something to happen. Worse case was the X-rays wouldn’t give us any answers. I didn’t want hip deterioration but I also wanted an answer so we could start making her feel better. So we head into the vet and this time a pull got a yelp. I think we all let out a bit of a gasp because she was finally telling us something was wrong! The vet simply put it “The good news, we don’t need to do X-rays today. The bad news, she’s going to need surgery.” Lola had torn her ACL.

As the vet explained it to me, it started as a mini rip. Something small enough to bother her, but not big enough to let us know just what. I guess the only way to catch the little mini rips is to do an MRI. At some point between the last visit and the one before the ACL had finally torn and was causing her enough pain to let us know. I listened somewhat to what the surgery will be but to be honest, I was in a bit of a haze. My baby needs surgery. She is going in tomorrow morning between 8am and 9am and will probably be having the surgery around 10am-10:30am. At this point they will clear out her knee and place band in the area to help it heal. Over time the band will disintegrate leaving her leg and knee to become bone on bone. We are looking at two months recovery time and if all goes well she will regain 90% of function in the leg. The vet pointed out that even at 90% he would have trouble knowing anything was wrong, we just might see some limping on rainy days.

The worst few days Lola has been limping worse than before. My heart breaks to see her in pain. I wish so badly I could explain to her that although tomorrow will suck, it’ll make her better in the long run. I’m nervous and scared for tomorrow and know I will be a wreck all day at work until I can leave to pick her up. I also worry about Graham. His playmate is going to be out of commission for some time and I’m not sure how he might handle the attention being direct at Lola and not him as much. I’m not only worried about the surgery but also the recovery. So tonight we are spending lot of time cuddling and tomorrow we will began to take each day one step at a time.

Lola sitting with her leg kicked out.