Hello Milo is 8 months old he has just had his two elbows operated on for elbow displasia. He is used to sleeping upstairs with us and our other dog. I dont know what to do for the best, as we are a week on and he is still getting himself into a state by cying and digging trying to get out. Its so hard
Hi Sharon and welcome . So sorry to hear of your problems , would it be possible for you to carry Milo upstairs for the night , he may settle much better in his crate if he can see you and things are as normal as possible ? Poor love, what rotten luck to have had both elbows operated on x
Hi and welcome to you and Milo. Sorry to hear of Milo's operation on both elbows for ED. It's now nearly 11 months since my girl had her right elbow operated on when she was 8-9 months old. Unfortunately here is no simple answer . Can you safely carry Milo up and downstairs every night plus carrying a crate up and down, bearing in mind that in the future you should also restrict his trips up and downstairs to ease the stresses on his elbows? I notice that you say that he is used to sleeping with you and your other dog. is it possible to get your other dog to sleep with Milo in the kitchen. Your other dog may not be too happy but Milo is more likely to settle without the crying and scrabbling (which is bad for his elbows). The only other alternative I can see is for you to stay with him until he settles or perhaps move his crate into the lounge and sleep on the sofa which I'm guessing would not be a good solution for the longer term. What's your recovery plan with the surgeon for Milo? There is a lot of help and support here when recovering and on restricted exercise. Let us know what you decide to do for the sleeping arrangements.
I think I would be tempted to sleep downstairs, by the crate with the dog and slowly move further away. It must be really hard for you all
I second the suggestion of seeing if you can safely get him and the crate upstairs. If he's really that distressed being on his own it won't be doing his recovery any good. If you can get him to settle in the crate upstairs you can then work on slowly moving the crate away from your room and back downstairs so it's a gradual adjustment rather than a big change straight away. Failing that can you sleep downstairs with him for a few nights and once he gets used to that then start moving yourself further away until you are back in your own bed?
Hello thank you all very much for your replies. I have decided to sleep downstairs with him. He is to big to carry up stairs and its not fair on him to get any more stressed. I haven't yet got a recovery plan Rosemary. He goes to have his stitches out on Monday. But I had to take him to my local vet today as he seems to be walking oddly on his back legs. Thankfully the vet couldn't find any problems. The vet dosnt know why this is. Has anyone else had this problem? . Im so worried its such a big responsibility. This site and you people have helped me understand lot. But still a lot more to learn. And so many more questions
Hopefully he will start to settle better with you downstairs. Try not to worry too much about funny walks with his back legs. I'm sure he had a very thorough check when the ED was diagnosed to ensure that there was no problem. Ask as many questions as you like and members will try to answer. Between us we have a fair amount of experience of ED, HD, ruptured knees, restricted exercise and even if we have no experience there is always lots of support.
Thank you. Its so helpful to read things and to talk to people. We had such a dilemma as to whether or not to go through with the op as he has hip displasia too! But the vet did assure me that his hips would be fine.
@sharon 6 Poor little boy to have both HD and ED and he's so young. What form of surgery did Milo have? ED is such a catch all description for what are quite complex problems. Nowadays I regard myself as incredibly lucky that Juno only has one affected elbow and this time last year thought she would never have fun again, would never run again, play fetch - now there's not much she doesn't do. In fact yesterday she had the most fantastic zoomies on our walk - think she covered at least 3 times the distance we did on the trail and that does include zooming up and down the banks on the trail.
I dont know what its called. But he had fragments removed and in both legs the bone cut. Im glad your Juno is doing well.
Juno had fragments removed from her elbow but there's nothing else they can do for her elbow as she has malformation and slightly overlong ulna , everything else is down to management and prevention. Having the bone cut in both legs sounds very painful, poor little boy. We had 8 weeks of rest with 3 x 3 minute walks a day and the forum certainly helped to keep me sane
Yes its not very nice . But he is so good and surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Well apart from the nights. But im sleeping down stairs with our other dog and he is much better. Did you keep Juno in her crate all the time. Because my vet didn't actually tell me to keep him in a crate. I do let him out to lay down in a small room if im sitting down.
Hello there When my boy was recovering from surgery, we just slept downstairs with him - well, my OH slept downstairs, mainly. I think it was just as much for OH, who can't sleep without the dog, as for the dog! Note my OH can sleep without me though.... Charlie used to sleep downstairs as a puppy, and I reckon he'd have been fine. But we wanted to be with him, and make sure he was ok. I'm sure Milo is grateful someone is with him at night, and perhaps when he's feeling a bit better you could slowly get him used to being on his own overnight if that's the practical long term solution for everyone. Best of luck with the recovery, I hope Milo heals well and is back to enjoying life very soon. Our downstairs sleeping arrangements post op.... IMG_1372 by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
My surgeon's advice was crate rest, no stairs, no jumping, no running and exercise of 3 x 3 minutes per day for 6 - 8 weeks . I am very lucky though as Juno has always been a very calm girl and as she was so good I had already de-crated her and sold the crate prior to her operation , the advice was also to use a cone while she had her stitches in which I did when she was left alone apart from that I had a no-cone policy . I re-introduced the stair gate after her operation so I could restrict her to the kitchen when she had to be alone apart from that she was with me. I'm surprised your vet didn't say for crate rest as it tends to be standard after surgery, the main aim of course being to keep the dog quiet while the healing process occurs and to avoid the jumping, zoomies, running etc.. Personally I think Juno would have become depressed if she had been crated all day and only let out for her exercise and food but you can only trust your own instincts knowing your dog. We would love to see some photos of Milo and hear more about him and your other dog
That looks comfy. Milo sleeps just the same way. I feel so much better knowing Im not the only one that worries nd is prpered to sleep down stairs
Thank you for that info. Im doing basically the same. I only take Milo outside when he need the loo. Im not sure how to put photps on. But Tilly is a rescue Staffie. She is 11yrs and such a good mummy figure x
Love your avatar . Photos have to be hosted on a site like Flickr, Imgur etc and there's help on Technical and Help section of the forum. You may also find some of the suggestions on the link below useful http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/things-to-do-for-dogs-on-restricted-exercise.10654/
