Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture and Medial Meniscus - Need LOTS of Prayers

[Debbie and Toby]

A couple days ago Toby was running across our yard, and when he tried to turn around to run back his rear left leg went out. Immediately took him to our vet. We have our yard fenced in and he is never out alone, we are ALWAYS with him.  Diagnosed as above and referred to a specialist. We were then referred to a surgeon. All have reached the same conclusion that he needs surgery.We just had our first consultation with the surgeon and got all the bloodwork done. His surgery is scheduled for Monday morning. I am terrified. He is a seizure dog, and is a huge momma's boy. He is VERY active and energetic for being almost 8 years old. He requires a lot of daily exercise. I am wondering how I will ever do this, keeping him "quiet and settled" for several weeks. he does not like to be crated during the day. He gets frantic when he is crated,  also very high anxiety which triggers seizures in him.  He also is capable of taking off a cone, which he has done in the past. The surgeon said he will need to be crated and wear a cone for awhile. We are putting a handicap ramp up off the back deck so he will not need to go down the steps to go out for potty when we take him out after we bring him home. We have laminate floors in the dining room and kitchen which has been extremely difficult for him to walk on the past couple days. He is sliding all over. So we just bought carpet runners to get him from the living room to the dining room patio doors and through kitchen, which gives him greater stability when walking. Any suggestions to help us, and him get through this? I know many of you have been through this or know someone who has. What has worked for you to help keep your furbaby comfortable and quiet after a surgery like this? Last, but not least, I am asking for prayers. I am worried sick about putting him through this. He is my baby!!

UPDATE 1:  Surgery has been postponed for today. Toby has been vomiting since yesterday and will not eat or drink. I called the Dr. yesterday and they said to discontinue the Carprofen as that can cause stomach upset and vomiting. They admitted him this morning as they want to run more blood labs again, do a stomach xray and ultrasound. They want to be sure there is absolutely nothing else going on before they proceed with surgery. They will call this afternoon with an update. If everything is good, then I will pick him back up, rather than leave him all night, and take him back tomorrow morning for the surgery. They also said they discussed the Lidocaine and have decided NOT to use it in with the anesthesia and will not put a Lidocaine patch on him. They want to avoid anything that may trigger seizures. I am very thankful for that. Will keep you all updated.

Update  # 2:  Just spoke with Dr., they are keeping him today, do not want him to come home today. They want to put IV on him to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated, they want to monitor him throughout the day, then Dr. will let me know by 10:00 AM tomorrow morning if they will proceed with surgery. His tail is wagging, just doesn't want to eat. He will not get anymore Carprofen, as we aren't for sure if this is what caused the upset stomach now. My poor baby! He is definitely a special needs boy! Have I mentioned lately how much I love my doodle baby?? Will keep everyone updated.

UPDATE 3: Went to check in on my baby this afternoon.. he was resting comfortably so I did not wake him. They do have IV's on him now. Called when I got home to see how he was doing, and if he was awake, they said he was up and hungry and ate his whole dish of food...so, I really wonder now if it was the Carprofen causing the upset stomach and making him sick....He is so sensitive, I just hope we can manage pain without having anymore drug reactions. As of this afternoon, if he continues to eat and doesn't get sick anymore, they are planning to do the surgery tomorrow morning. Will keep you all updated. 

UPDATE 4: No surgery again today. Called several times last night to check on him, they said he was very calm and relaxed, no barking or anxious behavior. They agreed this is not normal for him. Spoke with Dr. twice this morning, he said he is not comfortable with the surgery at this time, they have taken him off the Carprofen, now they just want to see if once that clears out of his system he will improve. They said we could take him home and tentatively scheduled surgery for next Wednesday morning now. The Dr. said he can't do the surgery until he improves and we find a pain med that doesn't cause  a reaction with him. He can not have "steroid" drugs and now had severe stomach upset with the Carprofen. He is now on the following meds: Gabapentin,Pro-Pectalin, Metronidazole, Famotidine, and Sucralfate, in addition to his seizure meds. I actually have made an excel  spreadsheet to keep track of all his daily meds and doses now.  Question...since Toby was vomiting and wouldn't eat on the Carprofen, is it also possible that the Carprofen caused irritation to cause the bloody stools? I am worried sick. Since we are going into holiday, the Dr gave us his cell phone number and wants me to check in with him every day, and of course if things get worse to take him into emergency. He feels he will improve being at home and on the new meds. He was very excited to be home, in fact he didn't even want to lay down this afternoon. He heard the UPS truck drive by our house and wanted to chase him off...he is resting tonight, is eating, but only a little bit at a time, he is drinking water, also not a lot, but drinking regularly.  I am going to sleep on the floor again tonight with him. Any thoughts on all of this? Dr said he is really baffled, he is consulting with other Dr's now because Toby has so many special needs, restrictions and sensitivities that he wants to be 100% sure they don't miss anything and want to be sure that they find the right pain meds that work for him without any complications.

UPDATE 5: Toby is doing well. Is eating fairly well, eating small amounts at a time, but eating often, which is good because of tall the meds he is on right now. and is drinking plenty of water, Stools are almost normal again. He definitely has some energy back, although he tires easily. He takes several naps a day now, compared to none before. When he wakes up he is full of it! He will sleep on his bed, but when he wakes up he tries to tear it up. So we have to put it away when he is awake. That's our Toby! Our biggest issue right now is when he is awake he has no concept of being injured. He does not tolerate being crated, tries to dig his way out. We have the furniture covered so he can't jump up on it, we have to keep the living room drapes shut as he wants to chase off all the delivery trucks he sees going by this time of year,  disabled the doorbell...still wants to run through the house. He seems to be handling the meds well. We are using the Gingerlead sling to help him out as his right rear legs seems to be a little weak at times. Praying that doesn't go out anytime soon, or at all.  Just trying to make life as good as possible for him right now, as much as I don't want to put him through surgery, I just want him to get better. Praying he continues to improve.  Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! Will update again in a couple days.

Update 6:  Asking for prayers for Toby! He is being admitted tomorrow morning for surgery.  They are going to monitor him for a few hours before surgery just to make sure all is well. He is doing better, still sleeping a lot, though. He does get small bursts of energy, which is good. He has been eating fairly well, drinking water and has had normal stools so per my conversation with the Dr yesterday he thinks the surgery is a go for tomorrow.  I  hope we are making the right decision. I want him to get better, he struggles with the leg. But I don't want to put him through the surgery.  Will update again later tomorrow or Thursday.

Update 7: We are home! Picked Toby up late this afternoon. Dr said he has done fairly well with pain just on the Gabapentin. Tomorrow morning we will start his home therapy, muscle massage, PROM and icing the knee.  In 3 weeks he will start hydrotherapy, as well as other excercises in addition to the home therapy. He did have a seizure about 2AM in the morning, so we are on seizure watch now as he almost always clusters, or has 2 - 3 seizures with a week of the first seizure.  So happy to have him home, but so nervous about caring for him. We bought the Tractor Supply 5' x 5' gazebo pen for him. We set this up in the living room so we can watch him at all times. Of course, this also means my new bed for the next several weeks is the couch. But I am OK with that. Whatever I need to do to keep him safe. Just like the Ex Pens, but a lot sturdier. He is not liking it too well, as he doesn't like to be confined at all, but the Dr  said it is important to keep him leashed or confined the first 2 -3 weeks to help him heal properly. So, thank you so much for all the prayers.  This is our first night home. Praying he sleeps well.  WiIl update again in a day or two.  Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Update 8:  Had 10 day follow up appointment this morning, staples are out! The Dr. is a little concerned that he is not even trying to use his leg yet. He said most dogs do start to use the leg a little by the 10th day. The plan was to start hydrotherapy in 2 weeks, but he wants to go ahead and start Tuesday morning. We will be doing the laser treatment and hydrotherapy 2 - 3 times per week for 6 weeks. Then we will re-evaluate. Toby was such a good boy this morning. Dr is pleased that Toby did so well considering he was on minimal pain meds. Dr also said he is very pleased with the healing of the incision. Some of the staples were starting to sink down in, that is why they wanted us to come in this morning rather than Monday.  I was a nervous wreck this morning, wondering how they would get some of the staples out without hurting him. My husband even asked if I should leave the room. I stayed and talked to Toby the whole time, telling him what a good boy he was! And before we knew it, we were proudly walking out to the car. So thankful we are making progress. Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers.

[Debbie and Toby]

Thank you.  Unfortunately, the vet did mention that their is high risk of tearing the other side soon. I just pray that doesn't happen .I just ordered the Gingerlead, thank you so much for that suggestion. I think that will really help getting him outside. Plus, living in Michigan we have had some pretty brutal winters with a lot of snow and cold. This should really help. We went to the local carpet outlet and bought runners, that has already helped him tremendously as he is not that good at walking on 3 legs, a little unstable. Our carpet runners don't match either, but we just wanted to make it safer for him. After winter and after he is healed we can clean them and put them away. or use them in the garage, bonus for my husband.... :-)  Spoke with the surgeon again this afternoon, he said he would put him on "trazadone" when he comes home to help keep him "quiet"?  Anyone used this drug with their doodle? Thank goodness Harley hasn't had to go through this again. Our surgeon also said we would need to start therapy soon as part of the healing process. Thank you for the suggestions. Will keep everyone updated.

[Julia Deardorff]

www.nashvillepaw.com/latest_topics/2014/08/08/the-road-to-recovery....

Great article about the canine rehabilitation. This is the one my Harley went to and it was amazing. As I said, we waited for a final all clear from the vet and we should have gone right away.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When our Springer tore his CCL and had surgery (twice) we used an ex-pen during the day and moved it to our room at night.  We used a sling to assist him going out to potty and up the stairs to bed at first, then leashed him for potty time and continued with the sling when he went upstairs to bed. At first his surgical site was covered and when the dressings were removed, he just never bothered the area.  He was a highly anxious dog who was never crateable due to that anxiety. He never wore a cone.   He needed his people around him more than anything else, and the problems we had were when we had to leave him. We often sat in the ex-pen with him.  To give him a break from the ex-pen we leashed him to a couch leg while we sat by him (like TV or computer time etc.)  As long as he had bandages we put a child sock on his foot.  To go outside to potty, we put a dog poop bag on underneath the sock and then changed the sock when he came back in.  After the first surgery, our Springer was really ill and lethargic and wasn't eating or drinking. We realized that he was sensitive to the pain patch.  Once that was removed, he began to really recover.  We followed the doctor's orders to re-hab but really wish we had had access to a pool or therapist to help us and to make sure we were doing enough - in retrospect, we weren't. Our Springer was 6 for his first CCL tear/surgery and 8-9 for the second.

Though this is scary and seems like you won't be able to care for him or rehab him correctly, you will.

Yes, we used Trazadone when Gordie was recovering. My understanding is pretty much not if but when for the second tear.  I think if you really, really re-hab correctly and build that weaker leg up, you might be able to keep the second tear from happening.  Mostly, I think we don't rehab enough.

https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/how-to-make-a-supportive-dog-...

[Debbie and Toby]

Toby is also very anxious, does not like to be away from his people. He follows us everywhere, he does not even like to be in a room by himself. Wherever I am, he is right next to me. We plan on keeping him on a leash at all times when walking him. He is sleeping a lot, or just laying on his bed a lot right now, wherever I am I move his bed next to me and he is right there. We have Muttluk boots for him because of the cold winters here, but he fights to get them off. He doesn't tolerate anything on his feet. We just ordered the sling. I hope that helps to get him out because it won't be long and we'll be buried in snow again. I really worry about all this triggering seizures. The surgeon said he plans to up his seizures meds during this to hopefully prevent any seizures for awhile. I sure hope it works. They do have rehab and hydro therapy at the hospital, we do plan to start as soon as we get the OK. Thank you for the suggestions.

[charlotte bednarsh]

Praying for you and Toby;  this is so very hard and we are all thinking of you.  He is definitely your baby and it sounds like you have done everything possible to ensure the best outcome.  Please keep us updated.

[Debbie and Toby]

Thank you. I am trying to make sure everything is in order before his surgery. With all the prayers and suggestions here we will get through this!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

[Debbie and Toby]

Nancy, I was wondering how they protect the area, they cast it? I guess that's good, but the surgeon never mentioned a cast, although they said we would go over all the specifics on Monday morning when I drop him off. Oh, my!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I don't think the dr. told us about a cast the first time, but I don't remember for sure. The different color parts on Gordie's feet are socks.  If you notice on his hip in the purple cast pic, you can see the patch.  I think it works well for most dogs - just not Gordie.  Gordie's security was that fuzzy ball.  He picked it out the first time we took him to the pet store as a tiny puppy and 'nursed' on it to relax or go to sleep. 

[Stella]

They don't cast them anymore - need to get that joint moving ASAP. You should be given home exercises to do with him and I highly recommend you find a qualified rehab professional to go to for help with his post-op rehab.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Debbie - I hope Toby has an easy time.  Just a couple of thoughts - Make sure that the surgeon knows that Toby has seizures and modifies the anesthesia protocol for this.  It would be preferable to have a second vet monitoring Toby during the surgery.  (When Mariner was neutered we had a second vet monitoring him during the procedure.)

Consult with the vet about possibly adjusting his medications after surgery.  An increase in medication would decrease his "energy" as he is healing.  Also sometime the additional stress may put him at a higher risk for seizures.

You may want to post in the "Seizure Group" to see if anyone else has any experience with their special dog and surgery.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Many veterinary specialty centers have a veterinary anesthesiologist on staff who can be present during surgery if you request it. There is an additional charge for that. I requested an anesthesiologist to be present when Jack was scoped under general anesthetic, it gave me great piece of mind.