Brandy's TPLO - Page 3 - Doberman Forum : Doberman Breed Dog Forums

dragonflyz · 01-01-2013, 11:34 AM

Glad to hear your girl is home safe and sound. Hope she is feeling better soon.

Meldrew79 · 01-02-2013, 01:23 PM

Brandy is finally starting to toe touch just a little bit. Only when she's standing, but I'll take it for now! It also looks like there will be poo today....haha, the things you focus on with a dog.

I'm still going to pick up some pumpkin just in case.

I had to go back to work today, so DH is taking care of her. After yesterdays patch incident I was a little worried, but she made him feel really bad, so I think they'll be good. She wouldn't look at him or give him kisses all day! (Can't say that I blame her!)

Meldrew79 · 01-03-2013, 06:48 AM

Late last night, we had poo!

lestat1978 · 01-03-2013, 08:22 AM

Glad to hear Ivan's SS is doing well.

RottenMutt · 01-03-2013, 03:16 PM

my first dobe, Arrow, had TPLO on both knees; result of separate rabbit chases. do watch for post bone infection, I had to have one of the plates removed due to infection.

I still have blood splatter on the walls from his first surgery! he would shake and some blood would leak out the sutures and fly all over. first one had more bleeding then the second, but second had a post op infection.

post opp I put down towels on the bed and lifted him up so he could sleep with me.

Arrow was smart, if he got cold at night he would pull the covers back with his nose then lie down next to me and without waking up i would pull the covers back up; result warm happy dobe!

Meldrew79 · 01-03-2013, 06:19 PM

I am so angry!!! I come home from work and the first thing I notice is Brandy's wound is very red. She licked the bottom part of the scab off!!! Now my husband is supposed to be watching her and he swears he was "like a hawk". Ummm...obviously not, her scab would still be intact if that were the case. He is now out to get an e-collar, because it seems they can't be trusted here by themselves!

I'm trying not to freak out. It didn't bleed too much and the staples are fine. I think I'll call the vet just for peace of mind though. More grrrrrrrr......

ETA - Vet said just to leave it alone, keep an eye on it for infection and get an e-collar. Done.

Meldrew79 · 01-07-2013, 02:25 PM

Brandy's been doing pretty good the last few days. Putting her foot down just a little bit more here and there. She did scare the crap out of me today though, I swear she's trying to kill me! I came home for lunch and she got up to greet me. She somehow managed to trip (there was nothing there!) and landed on her tplo side. She slowly got up and limped off, holding her leg higher than she has been. I'm praying she was just shook up and it didn't do any damage. Hubby said she's been sleeping sound so hopefully that means healing well!

Meldrew79 · 01-08-2013, 08:49 PM

I've been sick the past week, otherwise I would have posted these much sooner. Here's some pictures of Brandy the day we brought her home. Poor leg is all swollen and red, it looks much better now.

And this one just because it's cute (it was before her surgery). My mom got her this coat for Christmas.

She gets her staples taken out on Thursday, hopefully it will help with the licking!

If anyone has ideas other than chews to keep her occupied, please let me know! She's already going a little stir crazy and it's only been a week!

Hilltoprunner · 01-08-2013, 09:51 PM

Here's to a speedy recovery.

Hooligan · 01-08-2013, 10:35 PM

Ouch! Just looking at those pix makes me wince. Hope the wound is less painful than it looks.

RedFawnRising · 01-09-2013, 10:57 AM

Obviously you can't do sits or downs or regular obedience work to occupy her mind, but there are other exercises you can safely do.

Do target work. Have her nose-touch various objects (your hand, a butter tub lid, a piece of paper, whatever) for treats. Mix it up between hands, change position of target, etc.

Get puzzle toys.

Get raw meaty knuckle bones--will occupy her for hours and leave her happy and content.

Learn how to do massage and give her a good doggie massage once per day at least.

Frozen stuffed Kongs are your friend.

Let her lick out the remains of a plain yogurt container.

Get creative, think about things she would like, but maybe she hasn't been allowed or had access to--as long as it's safe let her be a tiny bit naughty and get a little spoiled

**MeadowCat** · 01-09-2013, 11:06 AM

I posted this link in the thread about Ivan's broken toe, too. This is a blog post from my old trainer about keeping her active GSD crate bound for 8 weeks and what she did: Foundations For Life Training: crate bound

Meldrew79 · 01-13-2013, 04:55 PM

Today is day 16 post op and Brandy is continuing to heal nicely! We started taking short walks up and down our driveway which she loves, but still thinks that we're going way too slow.

Here's a few more pictures to show her progress. As you can see her leg is looking much better than it did before.

View from the back, she's lost a lot of muscle mass on her right side. It will start coming back now that she's using it more.

A much more cozy and relaxed puppy.

**dax0402** · 01-13-2013, 05:15 PM

Thanks for the update. Glad she is healing nicely. Love the last photo of her.

Meldrew79 · 01-14-2013, 11:40 AM

I just have to say, I will never take for granted the ability of Brandy being able to go out to pee by herself again! It gets a little chilly at 1am, wandering outside in the middle of winter, in your pajamas!

Meldrew79 · 01-16-2013, 01:09 PM

Brandy drove me slightly crazy last night. We've been taking her out for 10 min driveway walks a few times a day and she must have decided that's ALL she wants to do. She kept telling me after I got home from work that she had to go potty, so we'd get all dressed up and trek out to the backyard. Once she was out though, she'd just whine and want to head to the driveway! I tried giving her a bully stick, her antler, a kong, but all she did was whine that she wanted to be outside. Ugh, it's going to be a long winter!

Meldrew79 · 01-17-2013, 08:30 PM

Keeping the patient's mind occupied! I put a little kibble in the bottom of a muffin tin and put toys over the top of it. She loved it!

Noir had to come see what the fuss what about.

Getting down!

flaminscotch · 01-18-2013, 08:23 AM

Brandy, we have been thinking about you, and hope you are healing well.
Looks like your Mom is taking good care of you.
Love your little gray whiskers.
Sending love and kisses from the cold North.

Meldrew79 · 01-26-2013, 04:55 PM

It is almost a month since Brandy's TPLO and she's still doing good! Walking on that leg more every day. In about another month we go have x-rays done to see how the bone has healed. Looking forward to that day, maybe we won't have to treat her quite like she's made of glass!

I'm not sure if this is related at all to her surgery, but just the last week or so she started kicking up the ground after she pees or poops. It's the funniest thing, because she's starts with her front paws and then kind of kicks out her back. You can tell she's not used to doing it, not sure what brought it about!

Rosemary · 01-26-2013, 05:01 PM

Ilka does that too, especially after she's marked something. I think it's related to the "I'm the toughest bitch in the neighborhood" attitude. Maybe Brandy feels that, since she's gone through so much, she's the toughest bitch in your neighborhood now.

4Dobes · 01-27-2013, 07:05 AM

So glad Brandy is recovering well..

I know what you mean about the late night pee stops. I've been 12 weeks of this now with D'arcy, so can sympathies totally.

Beaumont67 · 01-27-2013, 07:36 AM

Kicking up the ground after she pees or poops:
^^^^ All my dobes have done this, on the summer grass (not in winter snow).
Kicking up the turff and pee marking the territory, all in an effort to say: "I own this property, if any neighborhood dogs, cats or wolves are watching...from a distance"....LOL

Very glad Brandy leg is improving good, over time.

RedFawnRising · 01-27-2013, 11:07 AM

I love all the happy updates. All crossables crossed the rest of her recovery continues smoothly, as well.

Meldrew79 · 02-05-2013, 09:25 AM

Well things were going really well until last night. I'm not even sure what happened, but she started picking up her leg again while standing and even walking on three legs. We had taken her to my mom and dad's for the super bowl and while she moved around more than we've been letting her at home, she slept a lot too and didn't do anything that seemed out of the norm (didn't slip, no stairs, etc). During the day yesterday she was ok, it was last night that she started hobbling. She did jump down from our couch, but it wasn't hard and she landed more with her front paws, so I'm really hoping it wasn't from that. I joined the Ortho dogs group when all this started and they said she probably just over did it this weekend and to ice it and let her relax for a few days and see how it goes. Trying not to freak out!

dobedream · 02-05-2013, 09:44 AM

Oh Brandy, giving your Mom more to worry about!

I hope a little rest is all she needs.