Bella's MPL (luxating patella) surgery

[katy-yorkie]

Originally Posted by pstinard

Thanks! Bella had been improving rapidly, and now she is at a plateau--in fact, she was limping a *little* more than she had been, and that's why I took her back in to be seen right away. The surgeon said that her progress was good, and of course she walked perfectly well for the surgeon, the little malingerer! (Just kidding about her being a malingerer, but Bella always seems to behave better for other people than she does for us, LOL!) In other words, she is doing very well for 8 weeks post-surgery, and I'm afraid to mess up her progress by having the pin removed, but the surgeon said that it could be removed with no problem. I guess I'm a little paranoid, since this is my first experience with MPL surgery. I think I will give it one or two more weeks, max, make sure she doesn't get stressed by too much exertion, see how she's doing, and then go ahead and have the pin removed. Oh, the surgeon also said that her muscles were the same size on both sides now, so that is an excellent sign!

Buster always walked perfect when he was in the surgeons office...never a gimp or limp...nothing. Ran around like he had four good legs. But as soon as we would leave, he was back to limping. I was always taking videos of him walking perfect, videos of him limping...I took some videos the other night to take with me when we go back for the suture removal next week. He should get xrays done on July 1, unless the surgeon wants to do them sooner.

[katy-yorkie]

One more thing...the surgery is not a major surgery. Buster was home the same day. He was there for most of the day but they usually keep them until they wake up. He's only on restriction for two weeks. My surgeon encourages walking, going out on a leash, etc. The only medication they gave me was Metacam, no pain drugs. He's actully doing much better than I anticipated. If only his hair would grow back in....

[katy-yorkie]

Originally Posted by pstinard

Since Bella has only one pin in her leg, her situation is slightly different, but I can tell that it is uncomfortable for her since it started backing out of the bone--there is fluid accumulation over the pin, with resulting swelling. I did some googling for "pin removal MPL surgery," and found plenty of articles on vet clinic websites saying that pins coming out is quite common, and that removal is easy and provides relief. The earliest I read about pin removal being done is 8 weeks, and it is now 8 weeks since Bella's MPL surgery. I'll call the vet soon and let you all know when she is scheduled for pin removal surgery!

If the pin is coming out, then it should be removed. I did not know Buster's pin was coming out. By the time I took him, he had an infection. They did a culture and he was on antibiotics for a couple of weeks before everything was removed.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by katy-yorkie

One more thing...the surgery is not a major surgery. Buster was home the same day. He was there for most of the day but they usually keep them until they wake up. He's only on restriction for two weeks. My surgeon encourages walking, going out on a leash, etc. The only medication they gave me was Metacam, no pain drugs. He's actully doing much better than I anticipated. If only his hair would grow back in....

I just got off the phone with the surgeon. They would have taken Bella in today if she hadn't eaten, but being the little chow hound that she is, that wasn't possible. She is scheduled to have the pin come out next Tuesday morning. I hope they don't have to shave her leg down too much--her hair was just beginning to fill back in from the MPL surgery . Did they use stitches to close the incision on Buster, and did he have to wear an e-collar until the stitches come out? That will probably be the most brutal part of her recovery, both for Bella and for us.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by katy-yorkie

If the pin is coming out, then it should be removed. I did not know Buster's pin was coming out. By the time I took him, he had an infection. They did a culture and he was on antibiotics for a couple of weeks before everything was removed.

Bella has swelling, which is how I noticed that something was wrong. I'm glad that she didn't get an infection!

[katy-yorkie]

Originally Posted by pstinard

I just got off the phone with the surgeon. They would have taken Bella in today if she hadn't eaten, but being the little chow hound that she is, that wasn't possible. She is scheduled to have the pin come out next Tuesday morning. I hope they don't have to shave her leg down too much--her hair was just beginning to fill back in from the MPL surgery . Did they use stitches to close the incision on Buster, and did he have to wear an e-collar until the stitches come out? That will probably be the most brutal part of her recovery, both for Bella and for us.

They shaved Buster's leg, his is shaved up to his butt. His hair had just grown out as well. They used stitches, he gets those removed Wednesday. He only wears the e-collar if we notice him starting to lick the incision. We have a small, cute, cloth collar that we bought here on YT. As soon as we catch him licking we get the collar and he stops. Buster hates the collar, he's a free spirit and he's not going to be seen wearing a collar! Having the implants removed is a piece of cake compared to having them put in. The surgery itself is only about 30 minutes, but there's the prep and then the time in recovery. I dropped him off at 7:00AM and picked up him around 3:00PM. They called us around noon to let us know the surgery was done and he was in recovery but they wanted him to wake up more before he went home (so did I). He's doing really good, I hope he keeps improving. We will be thinking about Bella next Tuesday, I'm sure everything will be fine. I think Bella will feel much better with the pins out.

[katy-yorkie]

864.JPG

You can see how much Buster was shaved...hopefully Bella won't be shaved that much.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by katy-yorkie

They shaved Buster's leg, his is shaved up to his butt. His hair had just grown out as well. They used stitches, he gets those removed Wednesday. He only wears the e-collar if we notice him starting to lick the incision. We have a small, cute, cloth collar that we bought here on YT. As soon as we catch him licking we get the collar and he stops. Buster hates the collar, he's a free spirit and he's not going to be seen wearing a collar! Having the implants removed is a piece of cake compared to having them put in. The surgery itself is only about 30 minutes, but there's the prep and then the time in recovery. I dropped him off at 7:00AM and picked up him around 3:00PM. They called us around noon to let us know the surgery was done and he was in recovery but they wanted him to wake up more before he went home (so did I). He's doing really good, I hope he keeps improving. We will be thinking about Bella next Tuesday, I'm sure everything will be fine. I think Bella will feel much better with the pins out.

Bella didn't need an e-collar at all after her spay, but she needed the hard plastic "cone of shame" for most of the time following her MPL surgery. We also have a soft inflatable e-collar, but she can reach around it and lick her knees, so we had to monitor her closely when the hard e-collar was not on. I'm hoping she won't be irritated as much and will be able to spend less time in the e-collar this time, but we'll see. I'll ask them if they can go easy on the leg shaving, but I know that they have to to what they have to do in order to prevent infection, and Bella's health comes first. We'll be able to pick her up the same day, as you did with Buster. I'll give a complete update on the day of surgery. Thanks for providing reassuring information, and I hope Buster recovers rapidly and grows his hair out quickly after those stitches come out!

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by katy-yorkie

Attachment 398891

You can see how much Buster was shaved...hopefully Bella won't be shaved that much.

Oh, my! Did they just take pins out of the knee, or were they in other parts of the leg? They shaved Bella that much for her MPL surgery, but we had taken her to the groomer for a complete body shave just before, so it wasn't that noticeable. I HOPE they don't need to shave her that much. She was just beginning to look normal again. I'll post a before and after photo the day of her surgery.

[katy-yorkie]

All of the hardware was in the knee area. They shaved that much for his surgery in September when he had the bone graft and the implants put in. It's a long story with Buster...if you count the removal of the implants for the CCL and the removal of the implants that was recently done, the little guy has had seven surgeries on the left leg.....

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by katy-yorkie

All of the hardware was in the knee area. They shaved that much for his surgery in September when he had the bone graft and the implants put in. It's a long story with Buster...if you count the removal of the implants for the CCL and the removal of the implants that was recently done, the little guy has had seven surgeries on the left leg.....

Poor little guy . I hope that this is the last surgery for him!

[pstinard]

Bella's surgery to remove the pin from her knee has been pushed back to Thursday, rather than tomorrow. More updates then (unless they reschedule again ). Bella continues to be her happy, frisky self, blissfully unaware that she will be going under the knife again in three days .

[pstinard]

Bella is at the surgeon's this morning getting the pin removed from her leg. Several other Yorkietalk babies are going through the same thing, so please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers!

[ladyjane]

Prayers for Bella...I am sure all will be just fine! I know you will be glad to get her back home!

[richards6402]

Good thoughts for Bella today and all the little Yorkie Talk babies going through the same thing. Best wishes to all for a speedy recovery.