That's really a shame and I'm sorry to hear of the impending surgery. It must be awfully hard on you too. You understand what's going on but she doesn't.I hope this will do the trick and soon she will be doing her birding again even if on a limited basis.

Is this the doggie whom nobody could diagnose before? Does that mean her malady finally has a name and a solution? If so, that is the silver lining.

Been there and done that with a hunting dog 'left behind'. Hubby and I used to hunt with a wonderful old german shephard at the family farm. Believe it or not, she was a wonderful hunting dog and understood what we wanted of her. She failed miserably at bunny hunting because of he size, however LOL.

The last time we hunted the farm she was pushing twenty. The ex thought it would be best to confine her at the house because we'd be out most of the day. I think he was more concerned she'd be a detriment, than worried about her. It broke her heart. When she passed away, I always regretted we didn't let her come with us for her last hunting excursion, even if it meant cutting it short and carrying her home.

I laughed at her pointing bugs on the ceiling. My Tubby keeps me up some night trying to jump up the walls when he sees one. And I feel so sorry for her and her frustration. And for you as well dealing with the recovery times. Bless her heart. And wishes for a good and speedy recovery.

It breaks my heart to think of her hurting, also that she doesn't understand why she can't go hunting. I know you're hurting, too; I'm sure she'd be even more disconsolate if you weren't there with her.

Wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery.

Sorry to here about Jazz. But as others have said it good to know what really is wrong, and there is something that can be done. I would have choice words with those Docs that misdiagnosed Jazz's problem.

Joe and Angel say "Woof!! Woof!!"

That's dog for "Get better, Jazmyn, and live to hunt another day!"

Might want to see about getting Jazz some wheels in the mean time.

I am sorry that she can't do what she so loves to do. Just hope that the surgery will help and she will understand that she is not punished and will get better.
When Rasto could not manage the stairs anymore I had to sleep downstairs for 4 months since I could not carry his 110 lbs upstairs. His mission was to protect me from getting woke up, since I slept during the day. It was hard to lets him go when the mass on his spine made it difficult to move at all.

Please give her a hug from me.

Michelle, I am so sorry about Izzy.
She loves to hunt and certainly goes at it full tilt.
To be grounded, would be to her like a football player
being injured the day of the Super Bowl.
Izzy doesn't like bench sitting.

(((((Izzy)))))

I hope your surgery is successful and the pain goes away.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I can't believe I wrote that long post and never mentioned the dog's name. Of course it's Izzy. Every time she went out on Friday, she hobbled out to the garage to look for the guys. When they got home, my dad asked me to carry her down. They lined the birds they got up like soldiers, and she limped over to inspect them with all the dignity of a general inspecting his troops... When she had sniffed to her satisfaction, she sniffed the dogs who went from head to toe. Then she sniffed the men. Then she let out a contented sigh, lay down on the floor, and slept as they cleaned the birds. Dogs may have emotions, but mine doesn't hold grudges.

It wasn't so much that Izzy got misdiagnosed as it was she couldn't be diagnosed with anything. The tears couldn't be felt (even with her knocked out and a thorough exam)... she still had enough tendon to keep the joints stable... it wasn't until they snapped that the problem became apparent.

As for wheels, it's on my list of things to ask about. She'd adapt quickly and probably love the opportunity to run, but they may do more harm than good, as there is a physical regimen that comes with recovery. The muscles in her hind legs have already shrunken noticeably, and we've got our work cut out for us to rebuild them.

Jaz might be a physical candidate for wheels herself as she is slowly losing the ability to walk due to a neurological degenerative issue... but she is not the kind of dog who would adapt to or enjoy such help. When she can't walk anymore, we'll just say goodbye and know she's much happier that way. It looks like that day is coming in the next 12 months...

At least the cat is doing well!

This is one of the times I miss my home computer, as I missed you in your hour of need Michelle. I apologize for that. Do give Izzy a face-to-face muzzle snuggle from me. She'll be as good as new soon, I know she will. Poor baby!

Well, surgery #1 is over and she's home doing well. If everything goes according to plan, we'll have surgery #2 done in four weeks, and she should be finished with her recovery in three months. In the meantime, she has to be on leash and belly sling and very closely supervised at all times, lest she try to walk and injure herself.

It's going to be a VERY long three months for ALL of us.

It's kind of a fascinating procedure. They don't replace the ligaments. Instead, they cut an arc in the bone, and rotate the top portion to reconfigure the mechanical leverage in the joint. When they get it where they want it, they screw in a permanent bracket.
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Poor Izzy. Cody had knee surgery and I know what's like to not only see a dog in pain for awhile but also to keep them down when they start feeling their oats. Thanks for the xrays...it's just fascinating to look at those and see how far they've come. I guess the only bright spot in all this is at least her recuperation will be in your snowiest,messiest weather and when spring is here she will be over most of it.

((((Hugs)))) to Izzy and to you, Michelle. May she be a good patient and may you have lots of patience. :>)

Very sorry to read about Izzy's knee problems. I am a boarded surgeon in the Denver area and routinely do TPLO surgeries. Unfortunately, cruciate tears in both stifles isn't uncommon. If they are only partial tears, they can be difficult to feel until they worsen. Did your vets do radiographs? Although you won't see the actual ligaments, even with partial tears, you will see swelling within the knee to suggest a problem. Pretty much, if there is swelling within the knee, there is almost always a cruciate tear to some degree.

It is a matter of surgeon's preference, but when dogs have torn both knees and are having significant trouble even walking on either leg, I recommend repairing both at once.

When TPLO surgeries first came out the surgery was patented and you could only purchase the plates to do the surgery from one place (Slocum Enterprises). Unfortunately, those plates where terrible. Made of weak metal and did not withstand much weight-bearing on them. When we attempted to do bilateral (both knees) TPLOs with those plates, there was a high complication rate (40% in one study). Now, the plates are no longer patented and other companies make very good, high-quality and strength plates that hold up to significant weight-bearing. My preference is the Securos plates because they are super strong and thin. With the better and stronger plates, doing bilateral surgeries does not result in any higher complication rate.

The down side of doing both at once is that the first week is pretty rough. The dog really doesn't want to walk on either leg. The owner needs to help them get up and support some of their weight with a sling under the belly. The dogs tend to have the most trouble getting up but once up, tend to walk okay. After about the first week, the dogs tend to start getting around pretty well on their own.

By doing both at once, you cut out some of the cost because only one catheter, anesthesia, hospitalization and cut the total recovery time down to around 3 months. I only recommend bilateral procedures if the dog is significantly lame on both hindlegs because the recovery is going to be hard on the dog whether we do one or both. If the dog is using one hindleg pretty well, even if I know both are partially torn, I tend to do one at a time because at least the dog will walk on the better of the two after the first surgery.

The good part, is that you should get really good results with the TPLOs. In my patients, I expect greater than 90% to return to good to excellent function on the legs. I think the key during the recovery is making sure to walk them. Once they are putting the surgery leg down every time the go to walk (usually about one week from surgery), they should start taking short leash walks. No off-leash activity and no twisting or turning but straight, on leash walks. Gradually keep increasing the distance as the dog improves. The key behind TPLO surgeries is that when the dog bears weight on the leg, and all the muscles contract around the knee, the joint is stable. So, keeping and getting back as much muscle in the leg is really what gets the best results after surgery.

Hope Izzy's second surgery goes as well as the first. The post-op radiographs look nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: More Info About TPLOs

Thanks for the input. You said many of the same things our surgeon said --- we opted for someone who does lots of them and is very up on the literature. My husband is in the medical profession, and even after we received a solid referral to this guy from a trusted professional, he spent days researching TPLOs so he could thoroughly question him before we allowed him to operate. (I felt better about the guy when I realized he was from ND and we knew people in common.)

The surgeon confirmed when he did the surgeries that both CCLs were completely torn and the meniscuses were in tact. We opted to do the surgeries separately in spite of the increased cost (our surgeon gave us the option) because she was sort of able to hobble on the injured legs, and we all felt that she's such an active dog that she's be less likely to hurt herself if we did it this way.

She had her second surgery about seven weeks ago, so we're now in the "walk as much as you can" phase, and she's doing beautifully. In fact, we reached a bittersweet milestone the other day: Jazmyn, our 11 year old greyhound, has a degenerative neuropathy and is losing her ability to walk. Izzy is now able to walk further than Jazmyn, and the divide seems to be widening daily.

Based on what I'm seeing now, I have a high degree of confidence that Izzy will be none the worse for the wear once we bulk her back up. In fact, the x-ray tech complained that she was wiggly and pulled hard on the leash when she went back for her last set of radiographs. The whole experience was really informative. My dog has an excellent sense of humor, and she taught me a lot in the process.

jaz,

How's Miss Izzy doing?

Wanda, Miss Izzy is doing her part to keep me exercising and is completely full of herself. (Business as usual, thanks for asking.) She still tires before I do, but that won't last long. I wish I had this creature's resilience. She cannot be kept down long and wakes up happy every morning. It's been a difficult but productive winter.