Last Wednesday evening I was driving Lainey home from doggy daycare and she let out a huge yelp from her cage in the back of the car. I immediately turned around to check on her, but she was laying down and seemed fine. We carried out the rest of the evening in our normal manner and she was showing no signs that anything was wrong.
That same night we went to bed and Lainey seemed a little restless. She seemed like she couldn't get comfortable and would get up repeatedly, walk in a circle and lay back down. A few hours after falling asleep I was awakened by a blood curdling yelp from her. I jumped up, grabbed my glasses off the nightstand and she was once again just laying down in her cage. I slept with her the rest of the night and she seemed a lot more comfortable and a lot less restless.
In the morning when I got her up, I noticed that she was refusing to walk on her leg. I looked it over and didn't see anything out of the ordinary so I assumed it was probably just sore.
She continued to not use that leg for the rest of the week. I was even having trouble getting through her therapy because she DID NOT want me touching her leg. But, other than not putting any weight on the leg, she seemed normal. Her eating habits had not changed and she was still perky and wanting to play.
Then Saturday came and her whole demeanor changed. Not only was she not wanting to put any weight on the leg, but she was not even willing to stand up. You had to force her into a standing position when it was time to go potty. By Saturday evening she started shaking, and refused to eat. You could tell she was not feeling good. At this point my husband and I started discussing whether we should call the emergency vet or not. We decided to wait until Sunday and see if she improved any.
By Sunday she was feeling a little better but she slept most of the day. We decided to wait until Monday morning to call the surgeon and not take her to the emergency vet. Not only would it be cheaper, but the surgeon obviously knows her history and we felt more comfortable having him calling the shots.
Our jack russell, Stewie, must have known that Lainey wasn't feeling well, because he wouldn't leave her side for most of the day on Sunday. The dogs get along great, but Stewie tends to keep to himself most of the time and it isn't very often that he will "cuddle" up next to her. At one point Sunday afternoon I was laying on the floor with Lainey while she napped. I got up to use the bathroom and this is what I saw when I walked back into the room.
My heart was overflowing.....Big brother Stewie knew just what to do.
Doesn't Lainey just look miserable in that last picture?
Anyways.....long story short, Lainey had an appointment with the surgeon last night. My biggest fear was that she tore the ACL replacement band that they put in during surgery and that we would be back at square one. My stomach was in knots all day yesterday.
Fortunately, the x-rays showed that everything was perfect!!! He thinks that she may have "tweaked" her leg and then tried to stand on it and due to the extreme pain she has refused to use that leg again, anticipating it to hurt like that every time. As for the shaking and the lack of appetite...those are both symptoms from the pain and are normal. Needless to say, we are back on pain meds for the time being. Doctor thinks that in a week or so she should be progressing as well as before. We will continue with her therapy and take things day by day. I will definitely not rush her recovery and will let her take it at her own pace.
It's frustrating having to take "two steps back", but it could have been much worse.
And since we are on the topic....here is a picture of Lainey's back legs. You will notice all the wrinkles in her left leg...this is all the muscle she has lost since surgery. It makes me sad :(
So we are back at square one, but I still love her to death and will do anything to help in the recovery process. Wish me luck (and patience)!
2 comments:
Awww poor Lainey. I'm glad that she just "tweaked" the leg inside of doing anything worse.
so glad she is ok!! Love the pic of the babies together :)
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