Moose's LP Surgery is Tommorow!
 

Hi Everyone,

Say your puppy prayers tonight, Moose's LP surgery is tommorow! We have decided to go ahead and do both legs, while he isn't showing tremendous pain in the left, we know that the LP is present and will probably get much worse with time like the right one has. If only the one person that truly knows could tell us!

Since both legs will be immobile, how will let us know that he has to potty? :confused: I don't want him to try to hold it in... what did you guys do?

Thanks!

I will keep Moose in my prayers!

good luck tomorrow Moose!!

as far as pottying goes i'd take him out at least every 3-4 hours. at the hosp, we'd keep wee wee pads in their cages so at least if they did have an accident it would be somewhat absorbed.

your gonna do strict crate rest after surgery right, with just 3-4 potty walks a day? did your surgeon recommend physical therapy too? is he gonna have bandages or not?

did the surgeon say how long he's gonna be staying?

The surgeon said that strict crate rest wouldn't be required, as it will be very difficult for Moose to move even if he wanted to. However, I would think that crate rest would be a good thing to do if Moose is trying/wanting to move around. I bet that he will just lie in one place though and look at me with sad puupy eyes.

He won't have bandages, just stitches so that we can monitor the wound site closely and lower the risk of infection.

The surgeon did say that physical therapy would be beneficial for him once he starts to feel like walking again.

At first the surgeon said that he could come home late evening since it was only 1 leg being done, but I think Moose should stay overnight to be monitored so I am going to discuss this with him tommorow. Have you ever heard of a dog not staying overnight?! It sounds kind of scary!

i'm surprised he didn't say moose needs to be kept in a crate. you'd be surprised how fast those little buggers "think" they feel better and start to move around. No bandages is good, because the joints need to be able to bend right away to keep them fluid. Make sure you get a cone to go home with because most patients will go after their incisions and you don't want to have to deal with an infection or worse (i've seen some gross stuff LOL). physical therapy is good. the place where i worked would send home instructions including PT how-to's. basically flexing and extending all the joints in each leg (10 reps each joint, 3-4 times a day) starts after a few days if the dog lets you do it.

Personally i'd like my dog to stay over night at least one day to get the full benefit of pain meds, fluids, and after care. it can be really tough on them afterwards. plus if they can't walk the next day its better to even stay there another day so the techs can help them out.

Thanks for the notes on physical therapy! I didn't know you could start that soon. Hopefully Moose will let us do it.

Yes I hope Moose will be able to stay overnight even though the procedure is being done very early am. Surely the surgeon won't argue with me if I want him to!

I have a crate from when Moose was a puppy, I'll get it out and try it with him...use the crate just for a few days..or a weeks or so?

Oh and I have a softee cone collar coming on Friday from Hot Rod's Mom!

the surgery may be early morning but recovery afterwards can be tough. where i was the patients would have pain meds in their IV bags so that alone required them to stay over night. they would stay on their fluids from surgery time till 2 am then be switched over to regular fluids. it helped a lot with pain right after surgery. the surgeon should let him stay if you want him to but he'll most likely charge you for it. i wouldn't care tho.

as far as the crate goes, our instructions required them to be in there for weeks. x-pens can also be used if they aren't jumpers or climbers. no standing up on the back legs only.

i've seen a lot of different recovery ways here on YT. of course i prefer the instructs of the surgeons i worked with tho :D . i just saw their methods every day for a few years and saw the results so i know it works very well. talk to your vet someone. he should call after the surgery. if your just dropping off tomorrow you probably won't talk to him, and you may not talk to him when you pick up either. the tech's might do the intake and discharge.

I agree and think he should stay overnight, hopefully I can talk to the techs about it since I won't be able to talk to the surgeon before surgery. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't talk with him before or directly after but I do understand.

I want to make sure I do whats best for Moose and I can understand how crating him would be good for his recovery. Even though I won't be able to stand it I'm sure it can only help Moose! Thanks for the advice, I know its coming from first hand experience!

my two were in x-pens (small) for 8 weeks and were only allowing to leash walk 3X a day, each day increasing the length of time. at the end of the 8 weeks, after their follow-up exam, they were allowed limited (no running, jumping) activity for another 4 weeks. total = 12 weeks recovery.

I am happy to say both mine did wonderful. they walk, run and play like nothing ever happened. I'm sure it helped that we used the same surgeon Kalina worked for!

best wishes for a successful surgery tomorrow.

So glad to hear yours are doing well! Sounds like crates and x-pens are the way to go. I have both so we should be all set, except for mom being sad to see him in there.

Thanks for the wishes, I'll post updates throughout the day tommorow!

I will keep him in my prayer's.

All the best for tommorrow! I would think that having Moose staying at the hospital would be a good thing and your surgeon would have no objection to having him stay. As much as I wanted to have Hot Rod home with me, I felt much better knowing that he was being watched and looked after-after surgery. I think I called at least 3 x or so through the night. :embarasse I am sure they were saying, "that crazy mom is on the phone again!" lol Then I think I called 7:05 am (that said to call back at 7) just because I didn't want them to think I was overanxious. :rolleyes: But I have to say, each time I called they took the time to talk with me and kept me updated of anything going on, whether ee was awake, sleeping, fussing and so on. They helped alleivate my anxiety.

I am sure Moose will do fine and be back home in no time! (easy for me to say, I totally understand what you are going thru, hugs) In our case (1 leg done) our surgeon said we allow him an area of 3 x 3 at the most. Carrying him out to potty and back. I also was able to allow Hot Rod to stay on a table next to me on the sofa--I put his harness on him and leashed him with a neck lanyard and had that wrapped around my wrist to keep him close. This allowed him to be with us in the evenings and keep him still too. I think that I held him for the first week as much as I could. :rolleyes:

Definitely listen to what your surgeon tells you as for his recuperation-if you have someone going with you to pick Moose up let them do the listening or plan on writing down what your surgeon has to say, trust me, once Moose is back your arms, your attention will be all on him. :)

Good luck tomorrow and I will be keeping you and Moose in my thoughts and prayers. feel free to pm if you want. Hugs, Bo

I'm so glad you are able to take care of Moose, and he's lucky to have found such a loving mama. I'm praying everything goes well for him, and best of luck with his recovery.

Thinking of you & Moose
 

We are thinking of you today, and pray all goes well. Please update us when you can.

Take care

Diana & Teddy

I hope all goes well today. About the crate, Moose will probably go there by himself, if he isn't used to a crate he'll go there once you show him it's a place he can be alone to rest. Reesie took to the crate right away and still uses it when she wants to.

It'll probably take more time for you to recover than it will for Moose.

Good luck Moose!!!

I'm sending prayers for a safe, successful surgery. Get better soon, Moose.

Any word on Moose? Good luck little guy!

Teeny Moose Update!
 

Hi guys,

Just a little update..

We took Moose to the hospital this morning at 8 am and he was first in line to be operated on. But the vet tech called and said they had 2 emergencies come in so Moose's turn would be right after they were finished with those. He wasn't scared to go, he is so happy and friendly that he was just excited to see new people. :)

He has been given pre-meds and is resting comfortably waiting for his turn. The nurse said Moose's operation should begin by 1 so I am going to call in just a few minutes to check!

We did decide to do the overnight hospital stay and I know that's best for him. I'm at home "nesting" cleaning every centimeter of the house and staying busy. I have done more since 9 am this morning than I have this entire year! Moose will come home to a spic and span, perfect house!

I'll post updates as soon as I talk to the nurse and THANKS SO MUCH for all of the encouragement and support- it's so great to have you guys!! :)

any word yet on the surgery? is he in yet or finished?

Its good that he's staying overnight. this way you can get everything ready. By this time of the day tho i'm sure you've cleaned the entire house twice! LOL

a few other things you can do to prepare:
-set up the crate and ex-pen. maybe have the ex-pen in the main room where you are most of the day and have the crate in your bedroom or wherever he normally sleeps.
-set up baby gates if you have then or need them to prevent him from going up and down the stairs.
-if your going to keep him in a small room make sure its carpeted, or you can put area rugs down. you don't want him walking on slippery floors.
-also make sure there is no furniture he can jump on. you don't want him damaging his repairs by jumping on or off the furniture.
-make sure you have his leash and harness on hand and close to his ex-pen/crate so you can quickly grab it to put it on when you let him out.
-make sure you have toys/chews that will keep him busy while he's confined.
-find a long scarf or extra leash that you'll be able to use as a sling to help him walk if needed. my hosp sent patients home with slings but they were usually too big for the tiny guys. a light scarf can easily be folded over so you can put it under his waist and help hold him up.

:thumbup:

Kalina82 gave us good pointers when we had out surgery. :)

Hope to hear how little Moose is doing soon.! Hugs to you. :)

:thumbup::thumbup:

Great post!

I hope Moose is doing well, and mama not too nervous.

Moose just opened his eyes after his surgery!
 

Great news!

Moose just finished with his surgery! The nurse said that the procedure was very routine with no surprises and that Moose did very well! She did say that his temperature was low, but that it was common with very small dogs and that they were doing heat therapy with him. She also said he opened his little eyes and is looking at her...my heart melllllted when she said that. :) Wish I was with him!

Shockingly, the nurse said he could actually come home at 6 tonight! :eek: I asked for him to stay overnight so that he could be closely monitored in the ER. Not sure why she would suggest he come home so soon- I know that 95% of the surgeries they do there are orthopedic so maybe she does this so frequently that she thinks he is well enough to come home early; or that she thinks we would want him back with us asap. But don't worry he's staying overnight definitely!

Thanks for all of the support, I know I'll be a basket case when I see him tommorow! I will post another update on Moose tonight. The ER said I could call all throughout the night so my phone will be getting a lot of use!

Thanks for those great tips kalina82, the more things I can do here to occupy myself and get ready for him coming home the better!

If there's anything I'm forgetting to do let me know- I have a 3 page checklist haha.

Yay! I'm so glad everything went well, it sounds like you found an excellent vet, hope all continues to go well!

Yay, Moose is all through surgery and awake. Yay!

I'm so happy to hear everything went well. Thanks for the update! :)

So happy to hear everything went well!!!!

Glad he is doing well.

Please listen to all the good advice here. Bi-laterial LP surgery is nothing to mess around with, keep him contained for the minimum of 8 weeks, as each week goes by give him a little more walk time during potty.

When Roxy had her legs done (both at the same time), she was ready to run and play at 2 weeks so be prepared to play "Bad Momma" and keep him contained.

I used a baby blanket (from the dollar store) as a sling to hold her mid section to do potty ;)

P.S. Did the surgeon to the Cut & Pin type of LP surgery OR did he only deepen the groves ????

How is everything going?

It sounds like everything went well.