Patellar Luxation - Surgery?

[LucyKat]

Just wanted to check and see how Gilmore is doing... my Riley had surgery back in Sept. from a hip fracture and had to be crated/confined for 8 weeks (he was 11 months at the time of his injury). We have a puppy pen that we kept him in and also kept him leashed to the coffee table whenever we were right there with him so that he had a bit of a break from the pen. It's definately challenging when you have a young dog at that age and you have to confine it for weeks on end. He became a huge lap dog during this period and that is still his favorite place to be. We have another Yorkie which made it doubly challenging as Riley wanted to go play so badly, but couldn't I could/can always gage how he's feeling by how much he wants to play with Coco. He still takes Metacam periodically as needed and we now refer to him as our "special needs" puppy. This was his second fracture, second surgery and second time he's had to be confined for weeks on end...

[deeda9999]

Thanks for asking about Gilmore! He seems to feel great and the hard part is keeping him confined. I am forced to keep him in a small crate otherwise he will run back and forth and stand up constantly on his hind legs. Taking him out to potty in the snow was nuts because all he wanted to do was jump in it and even keeping him on a very short leash he still managed to do a little. We are ending week 6 of confinement and have 6 more as they want us to do a total of 12. He is kept on a leash all day unless he is in the crate. He cries and whines a lot unless he is on my lap or right next to me. We are in a routine but I wind up putting my chores and stuff on hold so I can keep him company. It has been tough as I am sure you well know. We are allowed to take 3 ten minute walks a day which he loves and fights because he never wants to come back into the house and I of course don't blame him. He was such a nutty life loving puppy and his world has changed in the last 6 weeks. I am just hoping he will be able to resume life as usual at the end of his confinement. Of course I will be a nervous wreck LOL. Poor Riley! I hope he is doing well. I can't imagine 2 surgeries. I would do whatever it takes for Gilmore as well but when his confinement is over I am going to throw us both a big party!!!!!!

[JDS]

I am glad to hear Gilmore is doing well. I can't believe you have 12 weeks of crate rest!!! We only have 6 & honestly, the surgeon said after 2 we can let her stay in a small level room (like bathroom) IF she isn't too hyper and active....I said, yeah right, she'll have to be crated to not be too active! LOL!

We are on day 9 of recovery today & she is doing so well that I can hardly believe it. The first 5-6 days she was much more laid back & very cautious when out to potty. She pretty much wanted to just lay in our lap & get petted and loved. Then like magic on day 7 she seemed like her old self & it has been difficult ever since to restrain her while on our potty breaks. She found her ball we play with outside & rared up on it...scared me to death! She's tried to run several times even on a very short leash. I am just praying I am doing enough to keep her from hurting her repair.

[deeda9999]

Lulu is so cute. I am so glad she is doing well. How is her appetite? I think Gilmore has gained weight since his confinement. I so wish we only had to do 6 weeks. I wonder why everyone has a different recovery time from the same surgery.

[JDS]

Lulu has lost about 4 ounces since surgery, which is alot considering how small she is. She went from 3 lbs 6 ounces pre-surgery to 3 lbs 2 ounces. She is eating ok, though. I do have to hand feed her to keep her from running around while I am feeding her. I hold her in my lap and put her food in my hand and feed her like that. She goes back to our regular vet tomorrow morning to have her stitches removed. Then we go to the surgeon at 6 weeks out for a check up. I don't envy you with the 12 weeks of crate rest. Even though I plan to make sure Lulu doesn't over do it even past 6 weeks, I can't imagine full, strict crate rest for 12 weeks. Poor Gilmore & poor mommy.

I am looking forward to the day where we can have a normal life with Lulu again. I am praying that the surgery works and that Lulu doesn't experience anymore LP episodes in that leg. Her other leg is only a grade 2 LP and she hasn't shown any clinical signs so the surgeon and I are hopeful that that leg won't give her any problems.

[deeda9999]

Yes- I am too looking forward to having a normal life again with Gilmore. I know how you feel. It seems like forever away though. I feed Gilmore in his crate or on the floor but I keep him on a leash. Even on the leash he still goes to run or jump when he hears any noise or when my other dog barks.

Lulu is so small. Gilmore is a piggy and my back is killing me from carrying him in and out all day. He was 2 pounds when we got him in April. He didn't have any stitches that needed to be taken out- they just dissolved. His hair is finally starting to grow back. Sometimes I have to pick him up if he sees a squirrel because there is no stopping him from going bonkers. I do the best I can to limit his puppy frenzy but it is very tough at times. I think he is happiest when we go upstairs for the night and he gets to cuddle on my bed.

[LucyKat]

To be honest, once Riley was feeling more like his old self I had to give him a tiny dose of benedryl periodically to calm him down. With Coco around it was just too much of a temptation for him to go frolic and play with her and that's all he wanted to do so he would jump in the pen area and just go bezerk in the crate. We even ended up with an unscheduled trip to the Vet E.R. because his leg swelled up due to him just going nuts when we took Coco out to be groomed on a Saturday.

Trying to keep Riley calm was paramount to his recovery and the vet had given me other sedative-type drugs to help calm him but everything had the opposite effect and benedryl was all he could take; that seemed to just help him settle down and not be so crazy.

The first time Riley fractured his rear leg, he fell off his puppy stairs. The second injury was from falling off or jumping off from our bed and landing wrong (my husband was on the bed with him and we would never let him jump down on his own since he had already been through one fracture but my husband never saw him get down so we think he may have slipped off while chewing on one of his chewies). We now keep him on a leash whenever he is on our bed with us. I thought that his first injury was just the worse thing that could happen to him/us, but I was wrong. The second injury was far worse and much harder on Riley (recovery-wise) and financially it doubled what we paid the first time around at the Vet. Spclst. So if you are bringing your baby up on the bed with you, please, please take precautions! Riley was so pitiful with his second injury and could barely hold himself up to go potty; it was just a very hard injury for him to come back from....

[LucyKat]

Originally Posted by deeda9999

Thanks for asking about Gilmore! He seems to feel great and the hard part is keeping him confined. I am forced to keep him in a small crate otherwise he will run back and forth and stand up constantly on his hind legs. Taking him out to potty in the snow was nuts because all he wanted to do was jump in it and even keeping him on a very short leash he still managed to do a little. We are ending week 6 of confinement and have 6 more as they want us to do a total of 12. He is kept on a leash all day unless he is in the crate. He cries and whines a lot unless he is on my lap or right next to me. We are in a routine but I wind up putting my chores and stuff on hold so I can keep him company. It has been tough as I am sure you well know. We are allowed to take 3 ten minute walks a day which he loves and fights because he never wants to come back into the house and I of course don't blame him. He was such a nutty life loving puppy and his world has changed in the last 6 weeks. I am just hoping he will be able to resume life as usual at the end of his confinement. Of course I will be a nervous wreck LOL. Poor Riley! I hope he is doing well. I can't imagine 2 surgeries. I would do whatever it takes for Gilmore as well but when his confinement is over I am going to throw us both a big party!!!!!!

To be honest, once Riley was feeling more like his old self but still had to be confined, I had to give him a tiny dose of benedryl periodically to calm him down. With Coco around it was just too much of a temptation for him to go frolic and play with her and that's all he wanted to do so he would jump in the pen area and just go bezerk in the crate. We even ended up with an unscheduled trip to the Vet E.R. because his leg swelled up due to him just going nuts when we took Coco out to be groomed on a Saturday.

Trying to keep Riley calm was paramount to his recovery and the vet had given me other sedative-type drugs to help calm him but everything had the opposite effect and benedryl was all he could take; that seemed to just help him settle down and not be so crazy.

The first time Riley fractured his rear leg, he fell off his puppy stairs. The second injury was from falling off or jumping off from our bed and landing wrong (my husband was on the bed with him watching TV and Riley was chewing on his chewie and my husband never saw him get down so we think he may have slipped off while chewing on his chewie). We now keep him on a leash whenever he is on our bed with us, so if you are bringing Gilmore up on the bed with you this may be something you might want to consider...