October 18, 2003 / Week 21 post-TPLO, 12 days post plates removal surgery
The soft e-collar did come on Friday, but since we weren't home to sign for it, poor Nixie had to put up with the lampshade one more night. It came Saturday afternoon, and, as you can imagine, it is HUGE! I
thought that maybe we could lend it to our friends who have two English Mastiffs, but the neck hole would be too small for them. So, it will become a pillow for the little Queen Dog when we are through with all of this.
Admiring the view out the window, showing off her new look.
October 19, 2003.
I just have to laugh at her with it on. I call her Daisy Mae, because we purchased the blue bandana patterned one, and she just looks like a big blue flower! She tolerates it much better than the lampshade-like e-collar. We took the x-pen down because there was no WAY she was going to fit in there with the soft e-collar on. We just baby gate her into a room with low furniture when we are gone.
Nixie has lost a few staples, and the middle suture is still cutting through her skin, but the incision looks like it is holding together. She has everything removed a week from Monday, and hopefully it will be all healed by then.
Maybe I'll put yellow felt flower petals on her soft-collar, so she can be a sunflower for Halloween!
October 20, 2003 / Week 21 post-TPLO, 2 weeks post plates removal surgery
Nixie's incision is holding together, but the middle suture is still tearing through. She has four staples left, and only one spot isn't sealing as well as I would like. I put a butterfly bandage on it last night. She finished her Rimadyl, but still has a ton of antibiotics to go through. The incision looks fine when she first gets up, then after she is on her feet for 20 minutes or so, then it swells up.
The "little" stinker is getting smart about finding pills in her cheese, now. Yesterday morning I found an antiobiotic on the floor, and then she crushed one last night. I also found the ACE (Acepromazine) I tried to give her, because she wouldn't stop running around the house, acting like a healthy dog. I then put it in a piece of pumpkin muffin, and she chomped it and part of my hand, so I assumed, incorrectly, that she ate the ACE the second time. About an hour later, Jasmine was stumbling around, which got us very worried. She seemed fine earlier in the evening. Then I realized that she was sitting next to Nixie when I was giving out muffin pieces, and the ACE must have either fallen out of the muffin, or Nixie spit it out. I looked on the ground and saw pieces of chalky yellow pill, so Jasmine must have found it and eaten it. This is the dog that will eat Prednisone like candy. So, we put her on the couch, bundled her up, and made sure she kept breathing. At least it wasn't a full dose, but two-thirds of a 25 mg dose. Eeek. She seemed her usual self this morning.
Nixie was fine this morning. Scott gated her into the office with a large rawhide, put her pretty soft e-collar on her, and secured it around her collar. Somehow she got it off and chewed it to pieces while we were at work. She also lost her butterfly bandage and two more staples. Grrrrrr. We gave her an ACE at lunch which should last until bedtime, and put the plastic e-collar back on her. Teaches her, right? Probably not.
Yes, it is very difficult to watch tv when she is standing
in front of you. October 19, 2003.
Unfortunately, our vet does not have Bandguard, and I'm not sure if the BiteNot collar or a towel would work for our little giraffe-dog. The vet tech I talked to said to keep the collar on her. That helps for some of the problem, but not all of it. More butterfly bandages!
She was supposed to have her sutures removed today, but with all of this activity, it has been postponed until next week. I just hope she is healed enough to have it done then.
October 23, 2003 / Week 21 post-TPLO, 2 weeks post plates removal surgery
Nixie's incision is finally starting to look like it is healing. The middle suture isn't tearing through her skin, anymore, and she still has two staples. It has stopped oozing so she seems to have stopped licking it. Well, at least not as much as before. She may actually be all healed by Monday when she is scheduled to have everything removed. Then she is a FREE DOG, again.
"How do you expect me to play with a
Kong when I can't see it?"
October 22, 2003.
Earlier in the week, someone on the Orthodogs list posted two articles about the complication rate of TPLOs. The citations are:
"Surgical and postoperative complications associated with tibial plateau leveling osteotomy in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture: 397 cases (1998 – 2001)"
Pacchiana, Morris, Gillings, Jessen, Lipowitz
January 15, 2003, JAVMA v. 222, no. 2, pp. 184-193
"Complications with and owner assessment of the outcome of tibial plateau leveling osteotomy for treatment of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs: 193 (1997 – 2001)"
Priddy, Tomlinson, Dodam, Hornbostel
June 15, 2003, JAVMA v. 222, no. 12, pp. 1726-1732
Most common breeds include Labrador Retrievers, Rottweilers, Golden Retrievers, Newfoundlands, Boxers and German Shepherd Dogs. So, maybe there is hope that since Nixie isn't one of those breeds, she won't blow out her other knee. The other deciding factor may be that her TPA (tibial plateau angle) isn't very steep, just 22º - 27º, so perhaps she won't rupture her left CCL. Gosh, I sure hope not. I'd hate to go through all of this again!
On a side note, I knew our Nixie was a "special" girl. Because she developed a draining tract/fistula 4 months after surgery, that makes her part of the 0.5% of the complications. Joy!
October 27, 2003 / Week 22 post-TPLO, 3 weeks post plates removal surgery
Nixie got her one remaining staple out, and the three
sutures. Yeah! We made it to this part! However, because two
inches of the incision aren't all the way healed--just scabbed over--
she has to wear the lampshade two more weeks, so she can't lick her scab.
Poor girl. Maybe she will be a sunflower for Halloween. But, the
good news is, she can be a dog and run around and chase the
squirrels, and play in the snow that is coming later this week (oh,
please, don't let her blow out her other knee!).
November 7, 2003 / Week 24 post-TPLO, 1 month post plates removal surgery
Nixie's scab is almost scarred over, and she is moving great. No more lampshade for her! However, because she has some serious separation anxiety issues, she is locked up in the kitchen with the other two dogs for now. I was gone on a business trip this week, and Scott left her alone for "just a few minutes" and she tore two huge holes in the couch. Grrr. I'm not sure what possesses her to do such destructive things.
Hopefully, this is the end of the story, and we will have an uneventful winter, with no slipping on ice or chasing squirrels too robustly.
Nixie, posing at Big R as the winner
of the Biggest Dog contest.
November 15, 2003.
November 10, 2003 / Week 25 post-TPLO, 5 weeks post plates removal surgery
We found out today that Nixie won the Biggest Dog contest at Big R Ranch & Home Supply. They had a contest for the tallest and shortest dog. She blew away the competition by 5 inches. Nixie was 34 inches at the shoulder, and Levi came in third at 28 inches. We figured she had a good shot, if the Irish Wolfhounds didn't make it in. The shortest dog was 4 inches tall--I don't know what kind of dog that was. I will take her in Saturday for her picture and the certificate for the prize, a 12 months supply of 40 lb. bags of Science Diet. We will probably give it to the local animal shelter.
December 6, 2003 / 27 weeks post-TPLO, 8 weeks post plates removal surgery
Nixie had her annual exam today, and everything went well. We asked our GP vet about her knee skin not healing, and he was a bit concerned, but not overly so. We also asked about the scar tissue that has built up around that spot, and how it seems connected to the bone. He felt that the scar tissue was building up because it was a bit inflamed from her licking that spot. She's gotten used to the apple bitters cream we were applying to it, and she was licking it off last night. There are also two small "bubbles" starting to form--old sutures moving out, or fistulas? Ugh. When will this end?!?
