Update on Raven

 Raven has improved since his last post.
We have not let his issues (still popping, still in pain, awkward gait) go untreated.  Turned out that our surgeon had never seen such an outcome from TPO surgery.  This led to further studies at a neurology clinic in another state, which revealed that Raven has fibrotic myopathy of his gracilis muscle. No idea how it happened, but we apparently caught it early enough to treat it so it doesn't cripple him.
 .
After a solid month of physical therapy, hydo-therapy, muscle stimulation, massage, heat therapy, laser and ultrasound therapy, Raven seems to be in less pain and more physically active, less limping and less painful.  He can now even jump to catch a ball.  He will need to continue water therapy and possibly laser for life.  He has also been taking herbs and tinctures (black walnut, irish moss, ligaplex 1,vitamin c, and others) to build up his ligaments, and the popping has lessened, but not gone away completely.  He is finally up to 83 pounds.


 

Sula has been on herbs and tinctures as well (osha, mullein, ligaplex 1, vitamin C and cod liver oil) to help her build ligament strength, and her hip popping has decreased far more than Raven's.  She is still much smaller than Raven (around 65 pounds), probably due to some lack of minerals during early development.  She was markedly smaller than Raven as a puppy, so she'll just be my little Hobbit agility dog. 

Hopefully they both will continue to improve. And again, if you are interested in getting a German Shepherd, make sure that the breeder has ALL dogs OFA certified.  Save yourself a lot of trouble.  I also recommend insurance for at-risk puppies as well, and get it as soon as you get the puppy so nothing is pre-existing.  It's been a life-saver for us and our dogs.

Week 13, only 1 week left

Raven and Sula enjoying the cooler weather outside...no leashes!

 Thursday marked the last stretch for Raven's recovery from TPO.  One week left before we're technically "out of the woods".  This week, Raven has had significant free-play time, off leash walks, and a seemingly normal life. Our concern is still the popping, along with his preference to STILL lay down.  His eating once again returned to "not eating", which led us to seek an allergy test.

Raven and his funky hair cut, a bit of length to it now.

 The allergy test revealed what we suspected:  He is literally allergic to everything we've been feeding him.  The vet alluded to his stomach-lining being raw like a burn victim's skin, causing him pain at every meal.  For now, the only things he isn't allergic to meat-wise are beef, bison, and lamb, without any additives found in kibble or even packaged raw-meat on the market (he is allergic to kale, flax, apples, peas, oats, venison, chicken, and eggs.) .  We bought straight-up raw beef with kidney and heart along with a gallon of aloe for his stomach.  The past few days on this diet have been remarkable, my mom even started tearing up at the sight of Raven's enthusiasm to eat a full meal. We can only hope that this will help him to be in less pain.

Raven relaxing on his pillow pal, Sula.

Our next mission for Raven is to get to the bottom of why he is still hurting.  The new vet we tried suggested two new procedures: removing a hip muscle that is causing Raven pain due to it's tightness from the TPO surgery, or prolotherapy to re-grow and tighten the loose ligaments in his hips.  We are willing to do either or both depending on what will get Raven into a pain-free life.  With Sula's laxity in her hips, prolotherapy might be a God-send for us, because other than loose ligaments, her hips are very close to normal.  TPO seems to only be an option for dogs without hip laxity, because after all the trouble we went through, we are still searching for a way to correct our original problem: the hips popping out of socket, and the pain associated with the laxity.  I will recommend to anyone to do JPS (only works for young puppies) and prolotherapy (for any age dog) before looking into TPO or total hip replacement.  It will save you money, time, and pain.  JPS has a recovery time of no more than 4 weeks and has a small amount of pain (mostly due to the incision), and prolotherapy is maybe one or 2 days of rest with hardly any pain.  TPO and THR both have a downtime of 3 months, and cost you an arm and a leg, plus cause severe pain which might even cause allergies and other health issues like ulcers in sensitive dogs.
 TPO has worked wonders for so many dogs I'm sure, and on X-rays, Raven's hip "look" perfect.  But if you have a dog with any amount of laxity due to ligament damage like Raven...think twice about TPO surgery.  I will continue this blog in order to document our findings about prolotherapy, and hopefully we will give Raven the happy, painless life he's never known.

Week 12! Only 2 more to go!

 Raven has had a very good week.  He almost has total freedom in the house, and we've even let him off leash outside in our fenced-in barnyard and round pen, where he's been allowed to run.  We all forgot how fast he used to be, so it was amazing to see him go.  We made him stop after a few laps, but he was so happy that he started eating a full breakfast every day, which hasn't happened in a month.  We've been giving him slippery elm powder as well, so maybe the combination has helped his stomach and appetite. 

 It was a little rough at first dealing with these two in the house unrestrained, mostly because we don't want either of them to get accidentally hurt.  So far we've been lucky, and the more they are allowed to interact, the better and more calm they seem.  They are even returning to their old habit of sleeping close to each other after a walk outside or romp in the round pen.

After another 2 weeks, we will start letting Raven swim to help build his muscles back.  Both of their hips are still popping, but at this point there is nothing we can do, so we're trying to just let them be puppies.

Week 11 post op

 This is week 11 and 9 for Raven's hips.  They are still popping, no explanation as to why.  Anyway, Raven has had a good week:  He has been able to run on a leash several times much to his amusement.  He's such a good boy, he sometimes stops abruptly with a sheepish look in his eyes as if he thinks he's doing something wrong.  We have to tell him it's ok to run around a bit.  Still having issues eating.

Raven being a worm

 Raven has perfected what we call "the Worm", due to being conditioned to lay down at all times. He plays mostly laying down, and rolls around stretching, and lunging on his belly like a seal.  Sula is not as good about laying down, but when she does, she has a more "Viper" technique, striking and snapping.  

Sula only has one more week to go before she can be let off leash.  Can't wait, this puppy is ferocious and needs a lot of exercise, so keeping her contained hasn't been easy.  She's not as cool and collected as Raven.  Unfortunately, her hips are popping more and more.  I'm already set against doing TPO surgery with her simply based on her personality and energy level, especially because Raven's hips are still popping even after his TPO.  I'd rather do total hip down the road if needed when she's mellowed out.  And still hoping the JPS will do the trick.

Week 10 post op

Sula and Raven playing

 Week 10 and 8 for Raven.  The end seems so close, but it's still a month away.  Raven now has free roam of the bedroom at night, and most of the house is open to him off-leash.  The only reason the gates are still up is to keep Raven and Sula apart so that they don't play with each other without supervision...although they sometimes sneak by opening the gate..or crawling through the cat-door.

 Thankfully, Raven is eating more consistently, although we still feel like there's something wrong with his stomach.  He's not really gaining weight due to his lack of appetite, and his coat looks dingy since he's not eating his omega oils.  Today he trotted alongside me around 2 acres, twice.  We're trying to get him back into shape since his muscles are underdeveloped.

 Sula had a rough week. Her incision site developed big purple and red boils near her stitches, which swelled so big that they covered the incision and kept it wet.  We took her to the vet and he did a course of three laser treatments on the site, and prescribed antibiotics.  We also sprinkled the wound with ionic silver and talc powder to dry it out and prevent further infection.  Within a few days the problem cleared up.

Both Sula and Raven can't wait to finally play freely. 

Week 9 post op

Raven and Sula in the car coming home from the vet

 Sula has mild hip dysplasia.  Of course the x-rays looked pretty good in comparison to Raven's before his surgery, but the problem wasn't just in the x-rays:  The Ortolani test revealed that she has laxity in her hips as well.  So I decided to do the JPS surgery instead of "waiting to see how her hips turn out". With our luck, waiting would turn out to be a huge mistake, and I'd punch myself in the face if she ended up needing TPO surgery because we decided to "wait". 

Sula flaunting her new battle wound on her belly

 It is such a difference as far as the amount of stress and trauma involved with this procedure.  She will only need to be on a leash/controlled environment for 3-4 weeks, and then hopefully her hips will grow to a better conformation on their own.  She's almost completely normal, other than wanting to lick her stitches. 

Raven waiting for his much-deserved freedom.

Raven's hips look amazing on the x-rays due to the TPO surgery, even better than Sula's, but they are still popping (of course the vet could not replicate it.)  Right now he's very happy with his frequent walks and larger amount of freedom in the house.  While in Alabama, Raven got to stay with us overnight in a hotel, and he had a very good time walking through the parking lot medians and even got to go on a woodland trail off the side of a road.  He was quite pleased.  This poor dog has had a miserable beginning, and such little things make him so happy.  And he even had the chance to bark at strangers at night.  Let me just say that even with a dog like Raven (bad hips and silly haircut), I had no fear of walking in a strange place at night. Still, he will not be allowed to be off leash outside until after Sula's surgery.  Anyway, this is week 9 and 7 for his hips.  Almost there!

Week 8 post op

Week 8 for the left hip, week 6 for the right.  Raven is a bit sore lately due to his level of activity.  He sometimes tries to do acrobatics that he forgets he shouldn't do, which seems to make him sore.  I don't know if this is from the bones in his hip hurting, or the damaged ligaments. It's discouraging to say the least.  His hips are still popping.  I've been reading more about TPO, and apparently it only corrects the conformation...it doesn't fix the loose ligaments.  Really hoping that his ligaments heal and tighten...otherwise, what was the point of the surgery if he still will need total hip replacement in a few years?

We are taking Sula and Raven to the vet on Monday, for Raven's checkup, and Sula's first x-rays.  Since she's just over 5 months old, I want to suggest JPS surgery instead of TPO.  It is minimally invasive, and the puppy can resume normal activity in a couple weeks.  The only issue is the puppy must be very young since it involves cauterizing the growth plates in one part of the hip, so hoping we can do this if we need to and that we haven't waited too long.  Sula has no glaring signs of HD right now, but she lazy-sits and has had a few popping incidents, and Raven didn't start showing signs until he was this age as well.  Again, hoping more than anything right now that she has normal hips, and that if not, that JPS will improve the problem.

 Based on Raven's situation, I'd be very reluctant to do TPO again with a dog who has major laxity in the joint, simply because it's so horribly painful and stressful for everyone, especially with a high-energy dog with such a need for mental and physical stimulation, and incredibly frustrating that the hips are STILL popping.  The only issue with total hip replacement at such a young age is that the cement would probably wear out in a few years, and he'd need to go under the knife again. The money at this point isn't our biggest concern because we bought insurance on these puppies as soon as we brought them home (the best decision we made).   It's been a lifesaver (a nearly $8,000 lifesaver).  We;re hoping to get the x-rays from the parents of these dogs to compare their hips, and to give us an idea of what to expect with Sula.

Week 7 post op

Raven and Sula sharing a bone

 This marks week 7 for the left hip, week 5 for the right.  This week has been slightly less stressful, mostly due to the lack of "new" problems.  We still are dealing with Raven's energy excess, and trying to keep him calm yet happy.  His daily walks (several times a day now) really help.  He looks up at me every few seconds with happiness in his eyes on his walks. The popping is still happening, though, but he seems to not even care.  He's feeling so good that he doesn't even think twice before trying to jump onto a couch or lunge at fireflies (although we still have him on a leash, so thankfully we've prevented these things from happening).  He's being so good despite all the restrictions, especially considering his young age.

Sula and Raven in the kitchen as we cook

 We've given him more freedom in the house, but we are constantly hovering, keeping him close.  When we go into a room, we gate off the doorways so he's still confined, but we've been letting him off the leash (as long as he's calm), which he loves.

He is eating more, although not his kibble.  He seems to only like raw lamb meat or canned food and tripe...basically the best stuff. Not sure if this is due to his stomach issues or his fine dining preferences.  Next weekend is Sula's appointment with the surgeon for x-rays to make sure her hips are alright.  I am hoping she doesn't have hip dysplasia....I do NOT want to go through this ever again! And I do NOT want her to have to go through it either.  I'm hiring a trainer for her next week to help with extra obedience, just in case she needs surgery and we have to stop all our important training.  Praying that she doesn't soon get her own blog....

Week 6 post op

It's been 6 weeks for Raven's left leg, 4 weeks for the right.  I've been teaching him new tricks along with Sula to help his mind to avoid spiral of madness and boredom.  Daily walks in our pasture also help, and he's finally started eating again after a week.  We had him on medicine for ulcers, which could have been caused by all the pain medications and such.

His hip is popping more frequently, which is definitely very upsetting to us, even though the vet could not replicate it coming out of the socket.  So we're still not sure what is going on, but hopefully it will lessen as he continues to heal.

Week 5 post op

Raven and Sula eating some peanut butter

 This has been week 5 for the left leg, week 3 for the right.  We noticed Raven's left leg still making popping noises, so we took him back to the surgeon to get to the bottom of it.  After a re-evaluation and X-rays, our surgeon (Dr. James Milton) discovered that the popping wasn't his bone popping out of joint; rather, it was from a ligament that had been damaged from his pre-surgery hips being too lax.  So he hopes that will heal with rest.  He didn't charge us for the visit.  While in Alabama, my mom (who was traveling with Raven) opted to stay overnight at a hotel rather than drive 3 hours back home.  Raven was not very happy about that, but considering it wasn't a kennel at the vet, he should have been thankful.  Shout out to Paula at the Comfort Inn Suites for making sure Raven and my mom were taken care of!

Again, our biggest struggle at this time is keeping Raven contained.  He is starting to behave very neurotic lately, and wouldn't eat for 3 days.  His tongue is currently a dark pink, so there's one more thing we need to figure out.  I thought that he might need more exercise to help with his appetite and behavior, and figured that walking him every hour would be safer than leaving him to jump and twist around in his confined area.  The past few days of exercise have really improved his mood, and he even started eating again. 

Week 4 post op.

One month down on the left leg, 2 weeks for the right.  All stitches are out now.  Only 10 more weeks to go before we can start getting back to normal...which seems at this point still a far point on the horizon. 

Raven's left leg still seems to be a bit more painful than his right, and if he walks too much he cries when he stretches.  Every couple of nights, he'll wake us up with his pitiful wails signifying he just stretched, but all we can do is hold him in our arms and pet him for comfort...along with pain meds of course.

It's getting harder to keep Raven safe with his energy returning combined with his pain reducing because he just want to play so desperately.  He groans with boredom, and we can tell he is sick of laying down all the time, and so is Sula.  We constantly have to monitor them when they are together and make sure they are at least laying down while playing.   They make due, even though they want to rough-house and rip each other to shreds (playfully, of course).  We never leave them alone in a room together just in case Raven might trip over Sula, or she might pounce on him and knock his wobbly body over. 

Week 3:post op.

 So this is week 3 for his left hip, but only week 1 for his right hip.  So far, Raven is much better than he was after his first surgery.  The surgeon only had to rotate the right one 20 degrees since it was in better shape than the left, so perhaps that's why.

 This is the new setup in the master bedroom for sleeping.  We combined 2 doggie-playpens on top of a rug (so he won't slip) and put one of his plush dog-beds in there for night time. 

 During the day, Raven switches from our office mattress to the sun room doggie beds.

 The hardest part right now is holding back their puppy instincts.  Raven has cried out a few times, it seems to happen when he is laying on his side and trying to stretch, like something catches.  We also noticed the right hip is clicking slightly.  Of course this worried us, but the surgeon said that it is normal until he builds back his strength...Really hope he's right about that.

Sula and Raven are learning certain things (like patience) a little faster than they would have had the surgery not happened.  It's important because if they don't learn, Raven could get hurt.  It's upsetting because they are being restricted from doing typical puppy activities, and they don't understand why.  One of the other downsides to doing this surgery on a young dog is the loss of training time for basic obedience.  We are very quick trainers as it is.  Both Raven and Sula learned "come" "sit" "down" "stay""leave it" "spin" "paw" and to some extent "heel" before they were 4 months old; however, this is the time we had hoped to send Raven to special supplemental training, to help with his instinct to chase and bark at other animals, and to be easier to control in those situations.  That is no longer an option.

Home from surgery: round 2

Back to square one with Raven, except this time, both hips are hurting.  Since he stayed for 4 days instead of 2, he is a little better about crying, but still very lethargic.  He just started eating his meals again, so we hope to get him back to his original weight.

The incision is a bit worse than the last one, not sure why.  He still leaves it alone.

The other hip is growing hair back, and the cut had its' stitches removed.  Looking a little better.

Raven is conflicted about Sula:  His inner puppy wants to play, but he hurts, so he gets cranky with her.  This happened last time as well, but it gradually returned to normal around 2 weeks.

Day after surgery on second hip.

I think the photo speaks for itself.

Thankfully, Raven has been kept very sedated, so he doesn't have to feel as much pain.  Unfortunately, all of the stress (from the surgery, the pain, and the hospital setting) is getting to him, and he hasn't eaten in 3 days, and has lost several pounds.  

We are looking forward to bringing him home so he can rest in the grass outside, and be in his home environment.  We hope these coming days will be the last of his bad days, and that we can all move forward so he can live his life as a young, happy dog, as he originally should have.

Crossing our fingers for his cousin Sula so she doesn't have to go through this same ordeal.

Day before surgery number 2

Raven's one hip is still popping (the one that hasn't had surgery), while the other one hasn't made a sound.  We are hoping he won't need the other surgery, yet the popping doesn't bode well.  He is spending the day being walked to his favorite places on the property, being given extra attention and time with Sula, and treats. 

His cut is almost healed and ready for the stitches to come off.  The hair is at least growing back, giving him some shred of dignity.

It's hard to see him so happy knowing what the next day entails.  This time he will be staying for 5 nights instead of 2, to help with the pain as well as to give my mom a few more nights of much needed sleep.  This vet is a great guy.  Raven will be visited every day until he can come home.

He enjoyed his pre-surgery night by dozing on the office mattress with his family doting on his every need.

Week 2 post op

This week we saw Raven's old happy self re-emerge.  His eyes were alert and playful, and his crying was down to soft whines only when he tried to stand up on his bad leg.  The hardest part is keeping him contained when he wants to play and run, and even protect us from birds and horses. :)  He still loves to play with Sula, and they both steal each others chew bones for fun. 

His cut looks much better, and his hair is growing back.  

At night he now sleeps in a kennel (big enough for a Great Dane) as opposed to sleeping in a room with my mom on the floor.  He's getting used to the routine again, and we can tell at night when he's ready for bed.

We just hate that he has to go back for surgery number two, just as his inner goofball is waking up again. 

Week 1 Post op

This week was basically measuring Raven's number of cries.  By the end of week 1, he rarely cried, except on occasions where he tried to get up too fast or took an off step going down some steps (assisted, of course).  Towards the end of this week, we noticed that he wanted to be more active, although the lethargic and  drugged look was still in his eyes.

We re-introduced his puppy friend Sula carefully so that she wouldn't hurt him or make him hurt himself by playing too rough.  Thankfully, Raven had already been accustomed to playing with her while laying on his side because we taught him to when Sula first came home as she was so tiny.  Playing with her while laying down really made Raven happy.  He also enjoyed resting outside in the grass.  These small things seemed to make him improve mentally.

Raven spending quality time with Sula

Home from surgery: round one

Our surgeon suggested that he keep Raven for 2-3 days after his surgery to monitor him and to keep him on heavy pain medicine.  I'm sure this helped Raven physically, but mentally he had never been away from us for more than 3 hours...so a few days might be hard for him to cope with.  By the time we brought him home, he was a wreck...mentally, he had no idea why he was hurting, and he was so relieved to be home again.  He cried with every exhale.

For the first night, he had some ace, although not enough.  He kept trying to get up throughout the night, restless and uncomfortable.  Our new rules were to always keep Raven on a leash, to keep him supported by a sling under his belly, to give him soft padding to lay on, and to keep him off slippery surfaces.  We lined our hallways with rugs to help him, brought a mattress into our office, bought several foam-filled dog beds, and put pillows as buffers between him and hard objects.

His cut looked painful and red, and he had some rashes due to the stress.  He would not calm down with the cone of shame on his head, and since he showed no interest in biting the staples, we let him be.  He's never needed to wear it.

It took him 5 days from the surgery to finally go #2.  He tried several times, but cried because the position made him uncomfortable.  He mostly sleeps on his "good" side, but tried to flip around...which makes him cry in pain.  We give him plenty of probiotics and omega supplements to help him detox from the anesthesia, to get his bowels moving, and to help his skin stop itching.