[OwnedByJezebel]

Laina:

How is Winnie now? Is she walking better since the kneecap was popped back into place?

Just to clarify ... I have no idea if what your vet wants during this next week, as far as rest goes, is as structured and inflexible as what I did with Jezebel after her surgery. I just wanted to let you know what we did to cope with the situation for 8 weeks to give you some ideas. If you can just confine her when you can't be right with her, leash her when there is a possibility that she might take off running, and prevent her from jumping (up or down), that will go a long way.

Jezebel had a torn ligament and Winnie may not, and a good week of rest will make it clear what you do next. They don't all need surgery.

I actually like your vet's "rest for a week" conservative approach. Even if a ligament is torn and surgery is required, resting for a week isn't going to change how successful the outcome is, and it just might show that surgery isn't needed at all.

Regarding how they change after surgery, Jezebel is the same. Last week, 3 months post-op, I realized she was running around the back yard, having a great time, as fast as ever. She still has the same spirit. The only restriction I still impose on her indoors is that she is tethered when she sleeps in our bed, it is extra high and I don't want her jumping on and off of it.

Leashing her every time we went outside during her recovery has also come in handy. I normally don't leash her when she is in our fenced back yard, I just go out with her. But a couple of weeks ago, one night, she wanted to go out so I turned on the outside light and went out with her. She saw the skunk before I did. We avoided disaster, but not before I probably woke up the neighborhood with all of my screaming. She just would not listen, and had a great time chasing the skunk around to the dark side of the house where the light didn't shine. All the while, I'm trying to get her to come back, sniffing the air ... finally got her back and she will never go out with me at night off-leash. If she wants to go out, I grab the leash, and sees that and gets excited knowing that she is about to get what she wants ... she looks for the skunk, for a frog that is usually in the same spot, etc., but really doesn't seem to care that she is on-leash.

No, their personalities don't change, but it is a good opportunity to get them used to some new habits.