6 Weeks Post-op

Well, I've slacked off a little on my updates.  The good news is, there has been no bad news to report, so that's why I haven't posted in a while.  Friday marked 6 weeks after surgery and little miss Heidi is doing great.  Her limp is barely noticeable.  In fact, if you didn't know she had surgery, I don't think you'd notice the slight hitch in her gait.

laying in Dad's lap while he plays video games

 Since my last post, we did get the go ahead to increase her trazodone.  She now gets 200mg 3 times a day and it seems to have made a little bit of a difference.  We haven't had any more couch jumping, so that's always good.  We've also started going on walks twice a day.  Week 4 we did 5 minute walks, week 5 we did 10 minute walks, and this week, we're up to 20 minute walks.  Her first one was Saturday morning, and she LOVED it.  One of Heidi's favorite things is sniffing and when we're outside, she just can't get enough!

Beautiful day on the porch!

 Also yesterday we had our first bath since surgery.  The vet told us to keep her off slippery surfaces because if she slipped she could re-injure her leg.  Finally, I decided I'd had enough of her stinkiness!  I put a towel down in the bottom of the bathtub so she could stand without slipping and it worked like a charm.  No more stinky dog :)  It's funny... Heidi hates getting a bath but she loves being dried with a towel.  She gets so excited when I throw the towel over her and start rubbing her with it.  She prances all around just loving it.  It's really cute. 

I just set our final appointment at the vet school (assuming all goes well there).  We go for X-rays on February 16th and will hopefully get the all clear to begin working up to normal activities.  We still plan to take it slow so we can build back up the strength in her operative leg.  It seems all too often, dogs with ACL injuries tear their other ACL.  From the research I've done, I think this is because they are allowed to run wild and free before they have regained full strength in the injured leg.  If that leg isn't as strong as the other, they may still have a tendency to use the "good" leg more than the operative leg, putting more strain on the good knee.  That extra stress could cause another ACL tear which we honestly cannot afford!  So we must do everything in our power to prevent it! 

Well, that's all for now.  I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC week!  And as usual, here's one more precious picture!

Wearing my scarf and LOVING it!  Can't ya tell?

Our Little Acrobat

So no real updates, but I have to share a bad/scary thing Heidi has done.  We're hoping and praying she hasn't hurt herself.  So on Saturday, my parents came by to visit their Granddog.  She was so so so excited to see them.  They are her favorite people aside from Alex and me.  So all was well, she got a little to crazy when they came in but we got her calm and they sat down on the floor with her for a while.  Well, when it was time for her "grandparents" to leave Heidi was not happy.  We left her in her enclosed area to let them out and Heidi decided to jump over the couch.  Like, the entire couch... not up on the couch... OVER THE COUCH!  Alex and I almost had a freaking heart attack.  Luckily, all seemed ok.  We turned the cushions of the couch up and put the pillows in front of that thinking there would be no way she could do that again with the cushions moved. 

Well, fast forward to this evening.  This was one of the few days that Alex and I both had to work all day (8-5ish) so Heidi was in her kennel for most of the day.  Fortunately for Heidi, Alex was able to come home on his lunch and take her on a quick bathroom break.  I got home a little before Alex this evening and as soon as I opened the door I heard a loud thud and saw a brown blur running toward me.  Somehow the dog had gotten out of her kennel while we were gone.  I went to inspect and there was no damage to the kennel, it just looked like it wasn't latched correctly.  Normally I wouldn't worry about her being out because she is perfect when we're away and usually just sleeps or chews a toy, but with her injury, she isn't allowed to jump on things- like the bed- which she was definitely snoozing on when I got home.  But she looked fine so I was able to let out a huge sigh of relief.  I took her out to potty then brought her in and fed her dinner.  While she was eating dinner "Dad" came home and Heidi got so excited she leapt over the couch AGAIN to get to him... heart attack number 2. We immediately punished her and put her back in her kennel for an hour (she was probably glad to be there after all the yelling we did).  I now have trash bags (which she is terrified of) on the couch cushions which are still propped upright, so hopefully she'll stay away.  I don't know what else to do other than kennel her at all times which seems so unfair and stressful.

The good news is, she seems fine.  I guess the X-rays in 4 and a half weeks will tell all, but I feel like if she messed something up, she'd be in pain.  I really hope the people at the vet school get back to me about increasing her meds.  This crazy dog needs something... like yesterday!  And if she keeps this up, I'm gonna need something too!

who knew something so cute could be so mischievous

Bring it 2012!!!

Hi again!  Sorry I've been slacking a little and haven't had an update in a while.  The only thing new is that we took Heidi's stitches out!  Everything is still going great and we are currently 2 and a half weeks post-op!  We actually took Heidi's stitches out the day after my last post.  My homemade bandage didn't stay on for long and she wouldn't leave them alone, so I figured if they were that uncomfortable it must mean it was time for them to come out.  I had Alex hold her down on the ground and I slowly clipped each stitch and pulled them out (there were 10 total).  Other than that we're just flowing along slowly in this long recovery process.  Heidi still walks with a bit of a limp, but I think it's getting better.  Honestly, it's kinda hard to tell though because I see her all the time.

Heidi hates being "restricted" and is more and more defiant every day.  I swear, she doesn't listen to a thing I tell her to do anymore... unless of course there's food involved.  She's always been VERY food motivated.  I talked to the vet about increasing her trazodone.  She's entirely too crazy if you ask me.  They said that can absolutely be done safely and will be getting back to me about the dose.  So I'll let you know how much they increase it by. 

Oh and one other funny thing.  The other day my mom came by our place to check up on her granddog.  You would've thought I was abusing the poor dog.  As soon as she got her excitement under control (she loves her grandma!) she laid in my mom's lap on the floor and got the SADDEST expression on her face.  She really looked so pitiful and my mom ate it up.  Heidi got more belly rubs and love than ever.  My dog's no dummy!  Welp, that's all I've got... except of course a few pics!

Stitches are OUT!

cutie pie