Owies

At the SprinterFest

Mom, my 2 cats, and I went up to a SprinterFest in PA a couple weeks ago.  That was great fun and I was a big hit with the people there.  All I did was greet them and ask them to throw toys for me.  Which they did a lot.  Even when mom told them that just because I ask doesn't mean they have to oblige me.  In the evening at a little gathering, mom let me off leash because I'm so good these days and don't run off on my own.  Even when someone threw the toy near the road, I saw a road and knew I shouldn't go any further.  Mom was so happy I knew not to go to the road.

Then Sunday morning, my elbow really hurt badly.  I was limping so much but I still asked people to throw toys for me, 'cause, you know, I'm a collie, and that's what we do.  Mom kept me on a short leash.  On the Monday after, we to see my favorite vet, Dr. Ros!  I love Dr. Ros.  She kept me for an hour and drugged me and showed my mom xrays.  On the xray was a bone chip on my right elbow.  I was feeling pretty dopey but Dr Ros said I needed surgery.  She recommended a clinic that does arthroscopic surgery.  Mom knew from her own problems that arthroscopic surgery does a lot less peripheral damage than laying open the whole joint.  Dr. Ros said my sprain a couple moths ago was probably  because the chip caused me to move funny.  Mom loves me a lot so she called the clinic even tho the surgery will cost at least $3500.

Arrow points to the bone chip.
Hard to take a pic of an xray

We couldn't get an appointment before last Wednesday but my pain was nearly gone.  I'm a bit stiff but, ya know, I'm a collie, so I don't let that stop me much.  Mom won't play fetch with me, tho.  The other night, She stepped on my rope tug so I tugged but my elbow bit me and I yelped.  No tug for me either, now, darn it.

We went to the new clinic after a long car ride.  That was really exciting.  New smells and dogs.  People were so nice to me.  They even provided me with disposable water dishes.  They had a really cushy floor mom asked about.  It's made from recycled rubber.

It took almost 2 hours for a very thorough exam.  The new vet watched me walk and poked both my elbows.  Even my left elbow was a bit swollen and tender.  He really hurt me when messing with my right elbow and I whipped my face around to let him know to stop that.  He even poked around and stretched out my hind legs but said they were fine.  They said I was a very good girl to let them do all that.

The new vet agreed with Dr. Ros that I had a bone chip and showed mom a video of the surgery and how he would go in with a tiny 2 mm camera, then a tiny tool to remove the chip and any cartilage pieces he finds in the joint.  The arthroscopic surgery is first diagnostic, then they repair the damage they find.  He then finishes up with a scraping tool to smooth it all out, and make it bleed a bit.  The bleeding forms a clot, then heals to fibrous scar tissue that protects the joint and helps the cartilage do its job.  There's physical therapy afterwards to help it heal properly and that will last some 8-12 weeks.  The vet wants to also scope my left elbow because he says we dogs almost always have some cartilage damage in the other joint too and it's best to clean it up at the same time.  He says they want us to walk on it the next day because that helps it all heal.

Mom said that was exactly what the doc did to her ankle some 18 years ago and she is still walking on it.  The vet said not doing the surgery means that the pieces will act like sand in the joint and grind away the cartilage until I'm an arthritic dog at an early age.  He says they do this surgery on agility dogs and they go back to agility but he agreed that it would be best for me if mom does not ever train me to do agility because of all the jumping.  He said her idea of carting was a good one and that would be a safe activity for me after I'm all healed up.  She's been teaching me to go in the directions she points and says.  I'm getting that if I listen to her and not just assume what she wants, because I'm a smart collie!

So, mom says I have the surgery next Tuesday.  She says if we are going to do it, it is best to do it as soon as possible and get it over with.  They won't let me go home until the next day and make a discharge appointment when they go over what we should do in detail.  So instead of camping in the lot, mom will take me there the night before and then pick me up midday Wednesday.  She thought they would kick me out like they did her just a little while after I woke up.  But, no.  Vets are a lot more caring and careful than people doctors.

A puzzle toy I solved in 5 minutes.
Mom's gong to get me harder ones for my recovery period