How is Bella doing? I do hope you managed to relax a bit over Christmas and it wasn't too stressful....
She's doing ok thank you, seems to be much brighter after the second op than the first, it's keeping her occupied that's the struggle as she keeps constantly barking ( unless I'm eating.... Or training... Or playing gently with her) she's just frustrated and bored. She kicked off royally when I put her in her crate with everyone here , over Xmas, even when ignored, so my mums boxer ended up in Bella's crate and Bella sat next to her in the living room ha, she was happy with that arrangement! So Xmas turned out quite well!! Back to the vets New Year's Eve for week 1 check up then 7 weeks to go , counting down the days!!!! I got her a wooden pet puzzle from pets at home yesterday, rubbish, too easy and Bella thought it tasted nice!!!! We have been lucky not seeing many dogs but just saw another yellow labrador pup , as stubborn as Bella that they both refused to move until they said hi quickly from a distance ...!!!!
Glad to hear she's doing ok....hopefully once Christmas is over you can get a routine established that will help with managing boredom. The official countdown can begin, yippee! Once summer hits you will have left this far behind you!
I counted down the days by marking milestones along the route to recovery - 1st check up, Stitches removed, 2nd check up, first increase in walks etc. etc., whatever is relevant and helps you through. It really worked for me and time seems to go more quickly because you're only focusing on a week or w at a time. Good to near that Bella's doing fine so far.
Thanks. She's famous on the vets face book page - the pre warming before surgery pics looks so cute! I wish I could upload photos on here never works for me!!
I hope the time passes quickly for you both - it'll feel like a long time now, but eventually things will be back to normal, and this time just a faint memory.
Week 1 check on the other knee and all is looking ok, beck in another 2 weeks, but physio is coming out to see us next week and then we start hydro in another few weeks. She says the risk of meniscus tear in the future is 1/3 and there's nothing I can do to prevent that , if it happens it happens but will need surgery to repair , that's just stressed me out even more, I thought once the 8 weeks were over we were in the clear ..... she's going to be x rayd again at 8 weeks to check both knees.
So glad things are still going well - take it nice and slow, make sure she recovers well, then you'll never have to think about it again. Don't stress about a future meniscus tear that might never happen. If it happens, it is absolutely obvious,and is fixed by keyhole surgery - it's not a huge deal. Put it right out of your mind, it's not worth bothering about (apart from to know about it so you get your dog to a surgeon pronto if it happens).
Thanks Julie, fingers crossed all goes ok...... She's a nightmare barker at the moment, was even barking at the vet, embarrassing!!!!!! She's so loud !!!!!! We will get back to some normality tomorrow hopefully when everyone's gone home. She seems to be more agitated with other people here and doesn't understand why she can't play with her bestie. I need to do some clicker training with the barking this week before my neighbours report me ... Happy New Year
Happy New Year to you too - I hope it's a good one for you. Try to up her activity in terms of things to do, and when it's safe get her to new places for her to sniff a few minutes. All the tiny things you can do for her like this add up and will help her cope better. Take your neighbours a bottle of wine, explain, and tell them it won't be for long and then she'll be back to normal. Most people are understanding if you explain your dog is poorly.
Good to hear that all is going well. As Julie T has said don't stress on what or may not happen in the future. Focus on the recovery plan and enter the new year on a positive note. Happy New Year
I'm sure the stress level for all of you will go down once the holidays are over and you get into a routine. Glad to hear things are progressing well as far as the vet is concerned!
Parents left early New Year's Day as Bella was crazy barking and unsettled. She's better when it's just us but still barking, it goes through me, when I ignore her she doesn't always carry on but nipped me on the arm today little tinker. The only way I can get her to stop is by leaving the room, I don't want to put her in her crate as that's supposed to be the nice place not the punishment and as I can't let her out of the living room, I leave. Then all is quiet. So we are having some alone time at the minute!!! Just did some clicker training and that calmed her down a bit. Poor girl, I hope I get my puppy back as she was after all of this!!!! Some lady told my mum I should spray her with water or muzzle her when she barks and she'll soon learn as her dog did .... I think I would be shouting if I had had 2 major knee operations!!! But I can't take another 7 weeks of high pitched shouting.....luckily I'm back at work next week and she's quiet when I'm not home.
I'm sure when life is back to a normal routine Bella will be much improved and the barking will stop. Christmas and New Year can very unsettling for dogs and throw in 2 knee operations as well it just increases the possibility of craziness. Hope "normal" life resumes next week
