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.