back to the cone

Saturday night, Mousse's leg started dripping fluid. He might have licked it raw, we really aren't sure. But, all of a sudden, lots of clear liquid with a tinge of red started coming out of his leg and he was licking it like crazy. At this point, I had gotten rid of the cone we had. His sutures were out by now, so I figured that we were in the clear. Evidently not. So, back to the emergency vet I went at 11pm to get another cone so Mousse would stop licking his leg and to hopefully avoid an infection. The only cone that seemed like it would be Mousse appropriate was the Great Dane size one. It is huge. He really can't lick anything with that thing on. Today, his leg seems much less swollen and it is no longer dripping. We have also seen an increase in activity level unfortunately.

out and about in the sun

Since Mousse pretty much spends most of his day on his bed or in his crate, I thought I'd let him spend some time outdoors with us while Jessica played in the yard. Of course he was leashed up, but he seemed to really enjoy just breathing some fresh air.

lots and lots of swelling

Even though we expected Mousse's swelling to go down after a few days, it seemed to increase towards the end of this week. His entire leg was swollen up (about 2-3 times the size of his other leg) and had developed edema. After another trip to the doctor and more xrays (as the doctor thought he might have felt a screw), it seems that his prescribed inactivity was causing his increased leg swelling. Sigh. The answer is movement, which he is allowed to start in under a week. We do feel sorry for him as the swollen log does seem to bother him.

good and bad news

Friday, Mousse had his 2-week post-op doctor's appointment . His sutures were removed and his progress was right on track. That is the good news.

On Sunday morning, however, he slipped on the hardwood floor on his way back in the house (from using the restroom). I didn't immediately notice anything wrong, but a few hours later he was favoring that leg (not putting any to much weight on it again) and there seemed to be some increased heat and swelling in his leg. Additionally, he was no longer the energetic dog that he had been. He seemed much more quiet and reserved. This is the bad news. I started to panic as I wasn't sure what had happened and just really hoped that nothing bad had happened to the area where his surgery had taken place. JIm thought he may have just hit it pretty hard and inflamed the area, but how did we know. If you know me, you know that I can't get things out of my head. I had to know what was going on. So, off to the emergency vet I went. After a short exam and xray of the leg, it seems that Mousse did give his leg a good whack, but everything was still intact. Phew is all I could think. He's back on pain and inflammation medicine, but will hopefully be back to the good progress he was making in a few days. Another expensive day, but I feel much better knowing that he will be okay.

Mousse enjoys having his cone off

Well, Mousse is such a big dog that the large cone from the vet is not long enough for him to really stop him from licking his sutures. Given that and his tendency to not lick the wound too much, we don't put him in cone except at night and when he is unsupervised in the crate. This was a video we took when we took the cone off (first time in about a week or so). He's just so happy to be able to scratch his face.

Mousse's 1 week check-up goes well

Mousse had his 1-week check-up on Friday. The doctor seemed pleased with the progress -- stitches looked good, plate was still in place, and he is putting more weight than expected on the leg. Hoping things continue to go well.

Mousse prefers to hang out on his bed

I snapped this photo after Mousse woke up one morning this week. He seemed so excited to be out of his crate. I guess sitting on the bed and staying is much better than being confined in the crate.

update day 2 after surgery

This is a picture of Mousse's sutures from day 2. He has a bit of bruising that has started to develop, but overall it seems better than other pictures that I have seen online. He was still fairly mellow today, but we did keep him crated most of the day. Last night was another thing entirely however. He kept us up as he kept moving around in his crate. It wasn't him necessarily, but more the sound of his cone scraping around that kept us awake. Good thing we can get rid of that in less than 2 weeks.

eating a chewie with a cone is hard

mousse is now home from surgery

Mousse is now home from surgery. Overall, the surgery was a success and his ACL and meniscus have been repaired. I saw the xrays this morning. He now has a huge plate and tons of screws in his leg. For a dog that had major surgery, he seemed exceptionally alert and happy to get out of the vet's office this morning. He was almost running and putting (or trying to put) some weight on his injured leg as he pulled his way out of the office. That yielded another warning from the doctor about keeping him off the leg. So, now that he is home, he gets to lay on his bed or sit in his crate. Exciting life for the next 4-8 weeks. He does look a bit funny -- his entire leg was shaved plus other parts of his body too (i.e. a small chunk on his back for his epidural). Additionally, we have him wearing a cone to stop him from licking his sutures. He hasn't started licking yet, but figure it will happen eventually. He is not at all happy about the cone and tries every once and a while to remove it. Other than the cone and the missing hair, he actually looks pretty good. He has sutures running up the inside of his leg, but we're not seeing any oozing or bruising (keep your fingers crossed). We're trying to stay on top of things by keeping him clean and providing an ice pack on the wound to minimize swelling / pain. He's on a mixture of pain meds and antibiotics, but in general has more energy than I thought he would. I'm hoping that we can keep him fairly sedate for the required 4 weeks of inactivity.

mouuse had surgery today

Mousse went to surgery today. According to the doctor, it was successful. In addition to a torn ACL, he also had a torn meniscus, which was also repaired. Mousse is still sleeping away at the doctor's office and will come home tomorrow. A long road of rest and rehabilitation awaits him.