Meg,
I am so happy that you feel very confident in Dr. Hinton and the Vet Center. That's very important. I do have some more advice. Bring a pad and pen when you drop her off. Make sure they tell you everything about the recovery time spent at home with you. B/c when you get to bring her home they give you paper work, but it didn't do it for me completely. Meaning, I still had questions and I wasn't exactly sure what I was suppose to do with Roxy and for how long.
Roxy is pee pad trained, so I didn't have to worry about bring her outside to do potty. Roxy had both legs done at the same time which made the first couple of weeks of recovery a little harder. The first surgery Roxy had, was on a Wed. and I picked her up on Friday after work around 4 pm. The second surgery was on a Monday (during Thanksgiving week). She was only suppose to stay one night, but I asked to pay for her to stay until Wed. and they said of course, she can stay. They charged me something like $30 (for medical board that extra night). I work full time, so I would rather her stay there at the Hospital where people are they at home with no one. I
DIDN'T visit Roxy at the hospital at all while she was there. I didn't want to upset or excite Roxy. She needed to rest and recovery and as hard as it was for me not to see her, I felt it was best for Roxy that I stayed away until it was time for her to come home. I called everyday and spoke with Dr. Hinton for updates.
Check her butt when she comes home too
The 2nd surgery for Roxy, when I was driving her home, she was quietly crying the whole way home. I was crying too, b/c I thought she must really be in pain, I thought ok, the first time Dr. Hinton just deepened the grove and this time her bone was cut and repined, so she must be really hurting...Well, when I got home, I checked her butt and they didn't clean her butt and she has lots of poop there which caused 'diaper rash' all on her butt
I was so mad, but I cleaned up Roxy and went to CVS and bought the "Butt Paste' for babies. I had to keep putting it on Roxy for a few days, but then it went away
Back to recovery! I have the plastic Play Yard gate system and I used 4 panels to make a small boxed in area and that's where Roxy lived for 6 weeks (1st surgery) and about 8 weeks (2nd surgery). Of course when I was home, I carried her or we sat on the couch. All activity must end for the recovery period. The 1st surgery being that is was both legs, the first 2 weeks, Roxy couldn't really stand on her own. I have a small fleece baby blanket that I rolled up on a diagonal and put that under her belly and that's how I helped her walk to do potty. As weeks go by they do get better and better, but don't take it as they are 100% better and can let them free again. No matter how 'fine' they act, follow the recovery period instructions, Don't give them freedom until Dr. Hinton says she is healed and can have her freedom back!
Sorry this was sooooooooooo long! Hopefully, you were able to get something out of it! I am here if you need to talk, especially during recovery. You can PM me and I will give you my # if you want to talk on the phone about anything?