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We are two weeks out from Lucy's ACL Repair surgery and are just trying to get things in order for the long recovery process.  She will be crated for the first 6 weeks, 24/7 except to walk out to potty.  The next 6 weeks she will be allowed short walks, building up in duration, but then in the crate when she isn't on her walks.  I'm looking for ideas for things for her to do that won't add significant calories to her diet.   She has been on a diet leading up to surgery as the Dr wants her as lean as possible.  She will chew on a rawhide although I don't let her have them very often and only one particular one when she does.  Are there calories in a rawhide?  She isn't crazy about antzlers, but will occasionally chew on one for a little while.  She isn't one to chew up her toys or even really play with too many toys (unless they are treat toys).  Can anyone think of anything I can give her to occupy her time but not add calories?

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Love this idea!

 

Bruno LOVES marrow bones and sometimes I will put some yogart in them and freeze them. If Lucy is on any antibiotics it will help keep the healthy bacteria in her system as well. Good luck to all of you!

Are you trying the split antlers?  If you have not tried split ELK antlers give one a try.  They are softer than deer antlers and more appealing.

Of course you can always freeze some of her food inside a Kong.  There are lots of ideas on You Tube....but I like just pluging the small hole on the kong...flip it over and fill it half way with kibble...pour water in almost to the top and set the kong in a plastic cup in the freezer to freeze.  It makes a cool treat that lasts at least an hour.   

The antlers  lose their appeal after a couple of weeks with my guys so I soak them overnight in water and that tends to get them interested again.

Clueless.  This is one of my greatest fears.  There is no way I would know how to handle keeping a dog quiet.  Spud is not too treat motivated either.

Sending my thoughts your way. 

Certainly, everything besides treats would have to be visual but not stimulating. 

At first, she won't feel so great and I think she will self limit wanting to be active.  She will be happy just being with you.  We used an ex-pen at first, then tethered him to a chair leg right beside us.  Luckily for us, even though Gordie is a bundle of anxiety and very jumpy, his favorite thing is his people and he will lay by them forever which gave my dh and excuse to sit in front of the TV forever...

Did you have to put anything on the top of the ex pen to keep Gordie from jumping.  My fear is that should the doorbell ring she will try and jump up.  We are going to try and come up with a way to put something over the top that will keep her from being able to jump up.

At first, Gordie didn't feel well enough to jump out, and then if we were with him or only left him for a minute or two, he would stay in it, but Gordie's anxiety is caused by being away from his people so, yes, when he was a bit better but still restricted, if we left him at home, he climbed out of the ex-pen.  We even tried putting Ned in with him and we came home to Gordie greeting us at the door and Ned in the ex-pen!  We used to block our den off with a huge hutch (for puppy and dog visitors), and we tried that again, but Gordie shoved it aside so he could greet us at the door.  This was really, really hard, but Gordie is one of those dogs who never was able to be crated, so the ex-pen was our only option.  I think if we had to confine Ned or Clancy they would stay in an ex-pen or room without having an anxiety attack. 

Gordie just needs his people.  He is chill whenever he is with us (except for the door greeting part), but he must have one of us with him.

Gordie's restriction to a crate or ex-pen wasn't 6 weeks.  He was restricted but first to ex-pen, then room then downstairs for that long but during that time we progressively walked him.

Week 1-2 confined to small area; leash walks up to 5 minutes for pottying; keep bandage clean and dry.  Stitches out at 14 days - bandages off.

Week 3-4 confined to small area; leash walks up to 15 minutes; no running, jumping or playing.

Week 4-6  confinement to house (no stairs unassisted); leash walks 15- 20 minutes each; no running, jumping or playing. X-rays at 6 weeks to monitor bone healing ( this was with sedation).

Week 6-8 confinement to house and yard; leash walks twice a day for up to 20 minutes each; no running or jumping.

Week 8 - 10  Gradual increase in activity with confirmed bone healing; off leash exercise is allowed.

Gordie was a slower healer, so while lots of dogs are considered able to resume all activity at 10 weeks, Gordie was rechecked again at 3 months.  At that time, he was considered healed however he still was limping and favoring his leg so we had to do more rehab walks (like off and on curbs, up and down hills.

The antibiotics kill all bacteria, good and bad; the yogurt cultures are good bacteria, just like any probiotics, and replace what is being lost from the antibiotics. That's why you do give yogurt or probiotic supplements during antibiotic treatment. You do have to be careful not to give the yogurt at the same time as the antibiotics.

Jack is currently taking the human probiotic, VSL#3, which is used to treat human ulcerative colitis and IBS patients, and used to treat IBD in dogs. Since antibiotics are often required long-term for many gastrointestinal diseases in both humans and dogs, probiotic therapy could not wait until the antibiotics were stopped. The probiotic has made a huge difference in Jack's GI health, so I know the antibiotics are not killing the good bacteria.

BTW Karen, I recommended VSL3 to a cousin who was suffering from a serious bout of GI distress. She has had ulcerative colitis for many years. Her gastroenterologist concurred that this was a good idea : ) Let's hope it helps.

But the antibiotics do kill both good and bad bacteria in the gut as far as I know. That is what in part causes diarrhea. One hopes you can get the timing right so the good bacteria have a chance to do some good after the last dose and before the next dose of antibiotics. Some interesting articles:

http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Intestinal_Microflora_and_A...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora

I'm giving the VSL#3 4-5 hours after the a.m. antibiotics and 5 hours before the p.m. antibiotics; seems to do the trick. I hope it helps your cousin as much if not more than it's helped JD.

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