Wednesday, February 2, 2011

recheck

Our visit last night was not the success I wanted it to be. Seems her temp is still up and when I mentioned she fell on it Sunday, the decision to sedate her and do an xray was suggested, at the same time the vet would be able to look at the metal plating to see if any infection had set in. He was totally amazed at her walking and the amount of weight she was putting on the leg without much of a limp.  Xrays showed everything was perfect, no damage was done in her fall, no infection, so whats causing the elevated temp? It could possibly be just her nerves because of where we are. Dr. Tropea handed me his thermometer and asked me to take her temp the next few days to see if that could be the problem, poor Brina, now moms about to violate her *S*. So here's crossing the fingers and hoping it stays under 39 degree.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Staples removed

so on day 8 we brought her back to have her staples removed, a very painless process, always count along with the vet to make sure all are removed.




We weighed Brina and were amazed that there was no weight loss or gain, we have to watch her diet to make sure during her inactivity that she doesn't gain too much and damage her other knee's.  One staple was turned around and took a bit longer to remove. Her dr was impressed with her walking but she had a slight fever which he's treating with a 10 day round of antibiotics , Zeniquin, once a day with food, they really seem to make her stomach upset and would bring up bile each morning.  We can now start rotating her leg for 5 rotations each time, increasing it as we go along, we use a warm pack before the exercise to warm up her muscles and a cool pack afterwards to ward off pain and cool the muscles down to avoid spasms. We can also now do a 5-8 minutes walk on a flat surface, so we use our driveway and do two laps, when we come in we give her leg a good massage, she seems to appreciate it. Her appetite is now back to normal and we're still giving her the yogurt. And best of all, she's now allowed up on her beloved couch again...which means I've lost it *L*.


(why does it look like she's waiting for the remote and a beer?)


    Sunday Jan 30th, she slid off her ramp and fell onto her leg, the yelp that came from her was sickening and she refused to walk on it for a wee bit and continues to have a slight limp, we go today, Feb 1 for a recheck of the fever and I'll have him check it out then, hopefully no damage was done, but we've stopped her walks outside until we get the go ahead again.  I'll check back in with you all tomorrow and let you know how she's doing.

x-rays

so we finally got the xrays . This series was taken to determine the extent of the damage and to make sure it was torn and not just arthritis, all I can tell you is that the "fingernail" size deep white is arthritis and they were amazed at her point of injury that she had so little of it and said it was because of the glucosamine we give her.
we asked them to check her hips while she was out also , we were worried about hip dysplasia because of her limp when she was 6-9 months old. if you follow the line of the socket and it covers at least 50% of the ball joint then thats great! and there is no sign or hint of dysplasia, Brina's hips passed with flying colors.

the next xrays were taken just before/during surgery to determine the angle








then after surgery before they awoke her, note the staples.


catch up

ok, its about time I catch up on all thats been happening, Brina continued to improve daily from her surgery, we were amazed at her appetite, there seemed to be no filling her up, I added plain yogurt to her diet to help combat the antibiotics from killing off the good bacteria with the bad. I kept my bedside vigil for 5 nights, after that time she seemed quite able to move around when needed and to shift from side to side without hurting herself.

   No one mentioned how lonely she would be!! She'd do a pitiful bark and "pee pee" dance till one of us would get up, take her out and then lay down with her, thus giving her the company she wanted*L* so we'd be wide awake with her snuggled up and sleeping beside us. 
   She had some swelling around her ankle, fluids gathering, but not like we'd expected, mulitply daily massages helped with that and she really seemed to enjoy having us rub and massage her bad leg.

we started at this point to allow her a bit more freedom and she soon took over the living room as her kennel, she was kept gated from the rest of the house and had to stay only where we placed scatter mats.   

Saturday, January 15, 2011

alright, now I have time to update, mind you, I don't have the xrays from the vet and will add them later along with the correct angles .

   I called the vet at 3 pm to see how Brina was doing and was told she was in surgery at that moment and the vet would call me when it was all over. The call came at 5:15 pm.

   The surgery went better than expected, it appears her cruciate ligament was 100% torn and they were amazed she was still walking on it.  I can't go into the mechanics of the operation because to be honest, I wouldn't be able to do it justice, I know they changed the angle of her "knee" anything under 10 that they achieve is great, Brina's was 6 degree.  The vet spent quite a bit of time explaining to us what to expect, what to watch for and how to treat it. We have a vet tech who specializes in physical therapy and will make an appointment with us if we so desire.  we were given antibiotics, 3 times a day , her metacam was increased to 33ml once a day and to our amazement, human painkillers that Larry had to pick up at our pharmacy 100mg tramadol twice a day or if needed 3 a day for 14 days. Thank god they also make her drowsy, for some reason, dogs don't understand "no activity" and "ouchie". Ok, armed with some knowledge, some xray viewing we waited for them to bring us our poor, drugged, sick , "I'll be so sore, and limp you'll have to carry me out to the bed you made in the car for me".
  silly us

   Our first clue that we were in for some fun was hearing her trademark "screaming" coming at us from down the hall. She flew at us, we had to  hold her tight to calm her down, slipped off  the vets leash and put ours on and our new best friend, the outward hound up and out sling was put into place.
http://www.pooch.ca/shopexd.asp?id=536

   It was a struggle to slow her down to lift her into the car. She panted, whined and just wouldn't settle down . we had her "room" all ready and waiting for her.
Puppy pen filled with comforters, a roll of carpet leading to it, non slip scatter mats all around it and leading to the sunroom where she exits to go do her duty.

   She cried and seemed to be in a lot of discomfort from the ride home and I had to climb in the pen to sit with her holding onto her leash. A  short leash should be left on them for the first 4 weeks and man, does it come in handy.
Larry went to fill her perscription and we gave her a pain pill as soon as he got back, within 20 minutes she got drowsy and finally laid down to rest.

within 5 minutes she popped back up and started the whining again, we took her outside and low and behold the poor pupper had to pee, once back inside I gave her a frozen marrow bone which she set to work on.  One thing we did not expect was her great appetite!! I've added yogurt to her meal to help counteract the effects of the antibiotic on the good bacteria in her stomach. So far there is no runs or no vomiting which we were told to expect. Another surprise to us was that we were told she would have a hard time going poo, that because of the pain when squatting that we may have to give her something if she doesn't go after 3 days, well, along about 10 pm she started whining and hubs again put on her sling and took her out, she went!! thank god *L*.
     We have to watch her ankle/hock for swelling, some is normal and fluid build up there is also normal, to an extent, we massage the place a few times a day. They enjoy having the shaved area rubbed and the whole leg gently massaged, if you're squeamish then I'd advise not looking at the next picture of her incesion

The red is normal bruising on a dog, I've counted roughly 15 staples which will be removed fri Jan 21. 

    Night came and we debated whether to put her cone on or trust her not to lick the area, we left it off, Brina is pretty good at the command "leave it" and so far she's listened to us. My blow up bed was in place , she was given her second pain pill, oh and you know when they need it, Brina would switch positions trying to get comfortable, thats when you knew. So off I go to get into my pj's, Brina was sleeping on her comforters...................."was"....this is what I came out to see.

she was on my bed *L*, she shifted over to her comforters and we settled down to sleep, if she tried to leave her area I'd know because she would have to climb over me, she shifted positions many times through the night but stayed on the comforters, so our first night camping out together in the living room was a success. Until I got up to make a coffee *L* she always did steal warm spots.

 Day two began, I've divided her meal into 3 parts so that with each one she can receive an antibiotic, plus it breaks up her day.  Once she has her pain pill , 1 at 8 am and 1 at 8 pm, she thinks she's all better and gets energized for about 30 minutes so my suggestion to anyone going through this is buy some kongs! I have 3 that I'm rotating and I also freeze them. They keep her busy for a good half hour, I fill hers with some of her kibble, crumbled bacon, shredded cheese (but not if your dog is constipated), mix a teaspoon of yogurt in it and then stuff the kong sealing it up with peanut butter. We let her follow her carpet and lay in the kitchen for a bit, gives her a change of scenery and allows me to do a bit of work out there. Plan on being house bound for a couple weeks at least. I don't mind this part at all, her recover is first and foremost to us, I also plan on spending as many nights as needed sleeping beside her.  I'll try to update as much as possible and will add the x-rays, before and after surgery when I receive them. If you have any questions please feel free to email me and I'll do my best to answer them in layman's terms.
  oh , and on a side note? (why I love and trust our vet) we were given a high a low estimate on the operation and were surprised when it turned out to be 200. cheaper than the low estimate.
   

Thursday, January 13, 2011

D-Day

  I brought Brina to the animal hospital http://slvah.com/   for 8 am today. She was excited to see the girls but knew something was up, she was panting and pacing.  A young tech came in to explain about the shaving, the pre blood test, time etc.  Still didn't put my mind at ease much.  I explained to her that I'd like the two vets to make extra extra sure that it needed to be done.  She smiled at me and told me that her 8 yr old mixed breed had it done 4 weeks ago and what all to expect, how soon she can put weight on it and that no walks of any kind for 4 weeks. The dr. will call me as soon as she's done, she is the second case today so it will probably be around 10:30 that she's taken in. So now I wait, had my "self pity" cry on the way home. At least my house will be nice and clean!!! Oh did I mention my considerate sister? She offered me her house keys in case I run out of stuff to clean in my own, such a supportive family *L*. Hopefully by noon tomorrow I'll have my Brina back home with me. stay tuned

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

  So its the night before the operation, she seems to sense something is up, sticking to my side, whining to go out, coming right back in....wandering the house and avoiding the pen set up that is ready for her home coming.  Brina could be sensing my nervousness, I run my hand down her back leg while we're watching tv and her head in on my leg and I wonder "what am I doing to  her"??? I know its for her own good, I know in 4 months she'll be a new dog, better than ever......my head says "you know you have no choice" and my soft compassionate heart says "My poor baby, I'm so sorry you have to go through this"......8 am will be here soon and we'll be off. Send up a few prayers for Brina and perhaps a little one for me.
  night all.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

     In October of 2010, Brina started limping a bit on her back right leg, knowing she hadn't injured it or at least never yelped etc we figured she had a touch of arthritis and treated it as such.  We slowed down our walks and the days she showed a limp we didn't go at all, we could tell a good day from a bad day when she woke up.  She would stretch and either limp slightly or walk perfectly normal. We started giving her 1000 mg of glucosamine and 400 mg of chondroitin sulfate daily with 1/3 a can of wet dog food. Her limp persisted on damp days, so of course we figured "yep, arthritis". In December Brina decided to chase an imaginary deer (normally she would just watch them from afar) she came back a few minutes later without so much as a limp so we thought we had it made. We were wrong, the limp returned two days later.

      We made her an appointment for Jan 4rth and the vet moved her knee around (which was very painful to her) then  asked us to leave her there for sedation, x-rays and what is called the "drawer" test.  This test involves manual manipulation of the knee joint and its quite painful.  We returned at 5 pm to bad news.  Brina had  a cranial cruciate ligament tear or rupture, which requires surgery (TPLO) to restore normal function to the knee. This surgery involves cutting the bone, repositioning the knee and putting it all back together with a plate and usually 4-5 screws. Ok so its not quite that easy, I posted a utube TPLO operation for those interested.

   Surgery is set for Thursday Jan 13th and of course I'm a bundle of nerves.  Our vet put Brina on metacam for pain and we were to stop it 3 days before surgery to risk excessive bleeding. She'll arrive at the vets for 8 am and I'll wait for the call to say all went well.  If by Friday afternoon she is drinking , eating a bit and has relieved herself then we will be able to have her come home.

   I'd like to record here all that is involved during and after surgery for those interested. So far my husband has built a ramp for her to go down onto our back deck to make it easier on her, and us, to take her out for her bathroom breaks for the first two weeks. I've bought a sling , belt with two large handles so I can maneuver her outside without causing her too much pain.  We have a large gated "playpen" like you see for pups that we bought for our wildlife we rehab and will put it to use in the house for Brina to live in the first week while we try to keep her quiet and calm, it will be filled with comforters and a nice blow up bed for me to sleep beside her the first few nights.  We requested friends, and will post a note outside to please not ring the doorbell (Brina loves to bark and jump for the door to greet visitors).  I've started to give her plain yogurt to counteract the antibiotics she'll be on from destroying the good bacteria  when it goes after the bad, antibiotics cannot tell the difference. I've frozen some kongs with her kibble and some pumpkin to keep her busy once she's able to move around yet still staying inside the playpen, hopefully it will help her from becoming bored and restless. The rest will be on a "learn as you go and invent what you need"  basis. I'm just so glad my husband is on board with everything with me.
    So I'll post when I can after her surgery. Wish us luck.

Dog ACL Surgery

Friday, January 7, 2011

When Brina was 9 months old she was x-rayed because of a limp in her back leg, all turned out fine but it was reccomended that she not be allowed to jump from tables (as in agility) or to go up many stairs at least till she hit full maturity, so there ended any agility fun. Mind you, she was too friendly to ever compete, if a new person entered the room, Brina would break her command to go greet them with kisses and full body jumps. Her trainer, Shannon borrowed her for a commercial (city shown only) because she is so good with other dogs and once borrowed her to help train a young pup on how to act.  My agency has placed children with us who are terrified of dogs because of how good she is with children, her broad back is often used as a race track for many hot wheel cars. Brina is such a part of our household now and we couldn't imagine life without her, she has become a child to my husband and I who find ourselves "empty nesters".


    Because I wanted to do everything right with this pup, I found myself researching dog food, man....the things added to certain well known foods are unreal, you wouldn't use it to slop hogs let alone give it to your pet. There are many charts to help you determine what is good and whats not and to also see where the food you use rates, dogs don't need corn,...fillers are deadly and have no nutritional impact. I give her a frozen bone marrow once a week, you'll find them in the meat dept listed normally as soup bones, make sure they are the solid ones and not cut in half, her teeth are as white and tar tar free as they were when she was a pup.

Here is a handy post so you can rate your dog food that I found online. Brina is fed Performatrin lamb and brown rice.  http://www.performatrinultra.com/dog/dog.htm


How to grade your dog's food:Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points

2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points

3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points

4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points

5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer’s rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points

6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points

9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points

10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points

11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point

15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points

2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points

7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points

8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points

9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
70 = F


Here are some foods that have already been scored.

Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C

Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+

Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B

Beowulf Back to Basics / Score 101 A+

Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F

Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C

Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+

Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+

Canidae / Score 112 A+

Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+

Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F

Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B

Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A

Diamond Performance / Score 85 C

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+

Dick Van Patten�s Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+

Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+

EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+

Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C

Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C

Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+

Foundations / Score 106 A+

Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B

Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D

Innova Dog / Score 114 A+

Innova Evo / Score 114 A+

Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+

Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+

Member�s Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C

Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+

Nature�s Recipe / Score 100 A

Nature�s Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+

Nature�s Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+

Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C

Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+

Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B

Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B

Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A

Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B

Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B

Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A

Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+

Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F

Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+

Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C

Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A

Purina Benful / Score 17 F

Purina Dog / Score 62 F

Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F

Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F

Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+

Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+

Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+

Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F

Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F

Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A

Solid Gold / Score 99 A

Summit / Score 99 A

Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+

Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+

Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A


If you can't figure out your food, feel free to send me an email and I'll grade it for you.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

to understand me

   I've always loved having pets, growing up we (my 2 sisters and 1 brother) pretty well had every pet imaginable, it helped having grandparents that lived on a hobby farm and registered  pomeranian kennel. We also raised siamese cats before they became a fad.

   Skip ahead to my first year of marriage, my poor husband who wasn't a real animal lover, and a city slicker allowed me to have a terrier mix, a cat, an aqarium of miniature sharks, a cage of hamsters, two budgies and a white rabbit which had been presented to us at our wedding by a funny aunt.

   So here we are now, my first intimate encounter with rehabbing wild life was finding two baby "something" with cords still attached, a call to a rescue center in ottawa http://www.rideauwildlife.org/ and a helpful Donna, taught me to bottle feed two red squirrels for 8 weeks then to hand them over to be re released into the wild, many many wild animals have passed through our doors since then.

    Daisy, my lab/dane/rotti,....everyone has a soul dog/pet, she was mine, she's a story for another day, suffice it to say I lost her to a terrible disease, leptospirosis at the age of 5 and in part because of her the lepto vacine in eastern ont has been changed.  I thought she was my last dog but soon learned that I cannot be at home all day alone with my daycare children without a furry companion, Timothy my chinchilla just didn't cut it.

     Along came Brina, an irish name meaning "strong", we named her this in hopes that her spirit and health would be strong and she would be with us many years.  I found her in an on line ad, a back yard breeder no less, offering lab/sheperd pups for $250. I sent off an email thinking he meant 25 dollars and it was a "oop's" litter. Boy was I wrong!!! The fool, like many others thought he'd make a quick buck with 8 pups!! He sent back an email blasting me etc....two weeks go by and I recieve another email from him asking if we still wanted a pup to come get one because they were all on their way to the pound. Off we went, I have to be careful of dogs because of my daycare, he brought out the 4 females, one hid in fear (could end up a fear biter), one did bite...viciously, one was so hyper we couldn't catch her and the forth took a drink of water, had her back to us 6 adults and when she lifted her head she thought she was alone and cried loudly. We all laughed and I said "well she's not too swift!!" My hubby said she matched our family, so we had ourselves a new pup.

   Brina went through 2 yrs of obedience classes with a wonderful trainer who to this day is a great friend  http://www.shannoncourtdogtraining.com/       . We worked with her a lot at home to make her great with kids. I didn't bond with her at first, it was almost like I was betraying Daisy, I loved Brina , but it wasn't the same, at first. it took about two months before I realized she had squeezed herself a nice cozy place in my heart and in our family.

  And so our adventure begins.