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.