8 Weeks Post Op

Little Guy had his 8-week follow up appointment with his surgeon yesterday. Everything looks good. We can now start walking him up and down the block a little, starting with 10 minutes, progressing to 15, etc. For the next two weeks, he remains strictly confined aside from the walks. He's not allowed to jump or bolt after squirrels for six more weeks.

I'm still being pretty conservative with his activity. We will most likely be confining him when we are out for awhile (forever?) just to play it safe.

Post Op Day 44

Little Guy continues to recover nicely. Still as grumpy as can be due to continued imprisonment. He will go for his big 8-week follow up appointment with the surgeon next week, where he'll hopefully be given the clearance to start his month-long "gradual return to activity" program. Essentially, we'll start walking him prescribed progressive distances.

The fur on that rear hindquarter is coming in nicely. Not sure what's up with the big patch on his back though. It's still just stubble.

1 Month Update

Little Guy had his 1-month follow up appointment with the surgeon this morning. The doctor is very pleased with his healing up to this point. The collar is off, which will hopefully help his grumpy mood improve.

He has one more month of strict activity restriction, aka doggy jail. If all is still well at that point, he'll move into the next phase of recovery, which is one month of gradual return to "normal" activity. I have a feeling it take a bit longer for Guy as his left rear leg muscles were quite atrophied before the surgery due to him not really using that extremity much.

Overall, it's all good news and my efforts at being very strict at minimizing standing, walking, etc. are paying off thus far.

Post Op Day 24 Haiku

Still in doggy jail
That's why I have a sad face
Hope to get out soon

*Little Guy continues to recover well from his surgery. He's very bored though and pretty grumpy to be confined with strict limits set on his activity. He goes back to see the doctor on Friday for a 1-month follow-up. And then it will be only 2 to 6 weeks more of dog rest.

Little Guy Update, Post Op Day 14

It's kind of hard to believe that it's already been two weeks since Little Guy's surgery. It's even harder to believe I'll have to go back to work on Monday. He saw the surgeon today and had his sutures removed. The doctor was very pleased with how his incision is healing and said the 'knee' felt good. Along with that came the strong reminder that Guy's activity must be strictly limited for the next six to ten weeks, which will be challenging.

I took the above in the parking lot at the vet. Little Guy was very happy that we were leaving and that the doctor told me he could keep the collar off. Well...that didn't last too long and he's back in the collar. He was good for a while, but then started really licking the incision. In the interest of protecting the healing he's done and not opening it back up, we had to take action.

So, yeah, he's coming along nicely. We just have to keep him quiet and inactive as much as possible. Hopefully the collar can really come off soon.

Little Guy Update: 1 Week Post Op

Here's a brief update on Little Guy's progress since last week's surgery.

Little Guy is:

• In much less pain. He's still on some meds, but less.

• Tolerating his "pen" that we set up in the hallway.
  

• Sleeping through the night.
  

• No longer whining and moaning for hours on end.
  

• Pooping (as of yesterday)! This is a post-surgery milestone.

• Much more comfortable in his inflatable e-collar vs. The Cone.

It's still going to be a long couple of months and I'm carrying him in and out for every potty break. We've definitely come a long way in a week though.

Little Guy Update, Post Op Day 1

Just a quick update for those of you wondering how Little Guy is doing. If you don't know, I'll just briefly recap that he had a torn ligament in his left "knee" and underwent orthopedic surgery on the 15th. The doctor reported that the operation went well and he only had to stay over one night.

On the way to the animal hospital early in the morning on 1/15/09.

I picked Guy up around 6pm on the 16th. He was still hazy and didn't seem excited to see me, understandably. We made it home, with him whimpering the entire time in the back seat, and E helped me get him settled.

Car ride home, post op Day 1.

The procedure Little Guy underwent has good outcomes. In order to get acceptable results though, you and your pet have to endure a 2-3 month recovery period of strictly limited activity. We made a little area with a dog bed, blankets, and a little fence in LG's favorite spot in the den. Not long after we got him fairly comfortable, he wanted to go for his incision. So, yeah, we had to break out the cone. I was hoping he'd be out of it enough for at least a day or two before resorting to that. Oh well.

Not the cone!!!

Little Guy HATES the cone. Since it went on, he has been whining nearly non-stop for 8 hours now. I wish I was kidding. I thought by now he would have worn himself out and slept. Actually, he did that about twenty minutes ago and dozed for four minutes. I'm typing, Guy's crying.

Of course there is no denying that he is also in pain. He does have a lot of narcotics on board, including the dose he had an hour ago, and really wasn't acting like this until he got the cone. He still tries to shake off every half-hour or so. He just let out a big, pathetic sigh, which gives me hope that he's wearing himself out. I plan to sleep here next to him.

Thanks to everyone who emailed, left Facebook messages, and even sent cards (!) to wish Little Guy well. We have a long road ahead of us, but it will be worth it when he's up and around on squirrel patrol again. Also, don't worry that every post from here on out will be about the dog, his incision, the cone, etc. Some will, but definitely not all. I still have to tell you all about the cool Battlestar Galactica stuff I saw today and share the photos. I may just have time to upload them before the sun rises.