Recovering - July 10, 2011

It's been 6 weeks since the surgery.  You could not tell when you see Poutine walk.  He is up to 80% of his normal activities.  The doctor said to wait up to 8 weeks before we allow him to resume a normal level of activity.

I gave him a haircut yesterday, hoping to even out the hair on his butt (the square patch), but no luck.  His hair is short now but the patch is still very much visible.

Poutine with the haircut

Can still see the square patch

Aaah.... enjoying the sun...

Sleeping with Migo (LOVE watching them sleep)

Three Weeks After Surgery

It's been 3 weeks, Poutine continues to progress nicely.  We are sleeping a lot better now that his cone is gone.  He is still under limited movement and controlled activities, and we still have to keep an eye on him at all times.  We took him outside for small walks this week, just one block at a time.  He is using all four legs and doesn't limp at all.  Sometimes when he sits, his hind legs stick out awkwardly, but that's ok, it's a long healing process.

The incision that didn't look so good is finally coming along.

Poutine still likes to lick it, but we keep a watchful eye on him.

Sleeping with Migo

 

 Just another cute picture.

Cone Be Gone!!!!

June 17, 2011 - Two weeks after Poutine's surgery. We went to our vet, Dr. Max Rossetti, to have the stitches removed. Dr. Rossetti said Poutine is doing very well, his knees were very bad and it was a very successful surgery. He took out the stitches and announced that Poutine doesn’t have to wear the cone anymore. YAAAY!!!!!!! He’s allowed to lick the incisions a little bit, but not to the point of making it turns red.

This is how Dr. Rossetti removed the stitches: He snipped off the two knots at each end of the incision, then pulled the string at one end and the whole strand came out. It was so quick and easy. Poutine just fussed once.

We finished off Poutine’s medication today as well. The vet said no more medicine, another YAAAY!!!!!! You have no idea how much I (or Poutine and I) hated those gigantic pills.

We were supposed to have another follow up appointment 4-6 weeks later, but Poutine is doing so well that the vet said we could just give him a call at that time. He’s only concerned if Poutine’s limping. Dr. Rossetti did not charge us for this visit at all. (He did not do the surgery, so it's not like he got paid already.) He is such a wonderful vet.

This has been a long and tough 2 weeks. It will be another two months before Poutine is allowed to go back to normal activities, but it is all worth it. At the beginning, I was so worried about little things like how will he pee or poop right after the surgery? How do I know when he could stand on his legs? How do I know when he could walk? Is he going to be in pain and for how long? What happens if he refused to use his hind legs? And so on. But you know what? After we took him home from the surgery, everything just happened on its own. For us human, it sure felt like hell, but Poutine bounced back little by little each and every day. They live by the moment and don’t dwell on what happened. They will let you know how they feel and what they can't & can do, you’ll just have to follow their instinct. In Poutine’s case, I had to restrain him instead!

Thank you all for following Poutine’s blog. I will update his progress less frequently now, maybe once a week until his 2-month recuperation is up. Then I will blog about other general stuff as they come up. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding luxating patella.

Dr. Rossetti examining Poutine's leg

Taking stitches out

They are all out!

Right leg after stitches removed

Left leg - this is the one Poutine attacked, that's why it looks so ugly
(I am still upset about this)

Aahh.... resting after the vet appointment

Mystery Solved!

The shaved square patch on Poutine's butt was for the epidural (regional analgesia) to block the sensation and pain during the surgery. Huh!

Recovering - June 16, 2011

Have to keep it short tonight. It's 10:00 p.m., I just got home from a very long condo meeting.

The incision that Poutine attacked the other night is not looking so raw now. I'll be taking him to the vet tomorrow to remove his stitches. Hope I will get good news. This is like going to school and getting my report card. Much anticipation of what the vet will say.

Poutine got so excited when I came home from the meeting, as soon as we let him out of the pen, he took off running with Migo. He's not supposed to do any running yet! That kid is hard to control sometimes.

Well, stay tuned for Poutine's vet appointment tomorrow!

Recovering - June 15, 2011

Last night Poutine was out of our sight for a few minutes without his cone. When I found him, he had attacked one of his incisions. I was so angry. It was healing so nicely, and now it's raw and open. Argh!!!! I can't believe this!

Guilty

He knew he did something bad,

so he gave my husband the sad and sorry performance.

Look at his face! There's no denying of his guilt.

Recovering - June 14, 2011

My husband wanted Poutine back on our bed at nights. So for the first time since the surgery, we didn't spend the night on the couch yesterday. I think Poutine had a good sleep, but I didn't. I am so used to the couch by now, it's going to take some time for me to adjust to my own bed.

Sleeping Beauty

Kitty

One of my friends commented about the appearance of our cat, Kitty, in Poutine's videos. So let me properly introduce Kitty. Kitty is a Manx. Manx are tail-less, which is their distinguish characteristic. And yes, Kitty is quite... plump. Yvon is very sensitive about Kitty's figure, so that's all I'm going to say about that.

Here's Kitty in all of her glory

Recovering - June 13, 2011

Doing physio

The incision is healing extremely well

Rock-a-bye baby....

Well, another good day with Poutine. When he walks, you can hardly tell he had knees surgery 11 days ago. He is one tough cookie! The stitches don't seem to bother him, so we only have his cone on at nights now (with my husband's insistence). I don't know who suffers more when I make Poutine wear that awkward thing, Poutine or my husband.

Recovering - June 12, 2011

Poutine's a lot more confident in his walk now. In fact, when I came home from grocery shopping this afternoon, he ran down the hallway to greet me. He was so fast my husband wasn't able to stop him. He shouldn't be running at all so this was a big no, no. This is like looking after a two-year old, have to keep an eye on him every second!

Taking Medication

Some treats before the nasty stuff

Oh no! Here it comes!!

I'm not strangling him, REALLY!
Just holding his head in place

Migo couldn't watch...

Looking a bit sad after...

Recovering - June 11, 2011

Poutine is doing so well now, we let him walk freely around the house, with our watchful eyes of course. We follow him everywhere to make sure he doesn't run, doesn't jump, doesn't hurt himself (or get run over by Migo). He finished off the pain medication, but still has to take anti-inflammatory and antibiotic for another week. I am very pleased with his progress.

Some Pictures

Legs are still awkward when he sits. Needs more physio and healing time.

I'm still puzzled about the square patch on his butt.

A "passed out" moment
(sorry, not intended for children's viewing)

Poutine Walking One Week After Surgery

My apologies for the annoying sound. It's best to mute the volume.

Recovering - June 10, 2011

The first week after surgery has been very difficult for Poutine and us. However, I am very pleased with his progress. Everyday, Poutine bounced back little by little. His stitches are looking good, he no longer whine about the cone around his head at nights, he's peeing and pooping normally now (what a relief!!), his mobility is much better, and he's bonding tremendously with my husband during the day while I'm at work. You see, I'm the evil witch that put the awkward cone on him all the time and force him to take nasty medicine every day. While my husband cuddles him and babies him all day long.

Another week, he will have his stitches removed. I am counting the days until he no longer needs to wear the cone and his medications are all finished. I continue to sleep with him on the couch, maybe until next week when his stitches are out. It's not all fun and joy to be a parent.

One Week After Surgery

Today is exactly one week since Poutine's surgery. He is recovering remarkably well considering the severity of the surgery. At first, I was very concerned about how long it will take for him to start walking with both knees out of commission, but everyday he gets stronger and more active.

Today his walking is almost back to normal, but he is still under very controlled use of the legs. Tomorrow we start his "Passive Range of Motion Exercise" (physical therapy).

Now back to the PILL saga... my husband searched the Internet and found out that we could dissolve the pill with some sugar. I tried it today and although Poutine still struggles (he really dislikes the nasty taste), it's harder for him to spit out the water than the pill, plus using the syringe, I can squirt it further down his throat. Poutine hates this so much that the look he gives me afterwards is always deadly.

This sure looks like something illegal :-)

(Server is slow, will upload Poutine walking videos later.)

Recovering - June 8, 2011

I was concerned about Poutine not pooping last night. But this morning, when I took him for his morning pee, he squatted and a few healthy poop came put. I was so elated! Funny... never thought I would get excited about poop.

My battle of pill popping continues. It took me 30 minutes to give Poutine his pill this morning, and tonight, he put up the biggest fight and threw his head around every time I tried to force his mouth open. For a tiny thing, his strength and stubbornness is unbelievable. He simply refused to sit still and open his mouth, and that was that. Finally, I dissolved the pill in water and squirt it into his mouth with a syringe, which created lots of drool and foam from the corners of his mouth. *sigh* Lord help me! This is worse than poking a needle in my eye.

Those BIG evil pills!

Poutine's standing and walking a lot better

The redness is gone