Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Broken, broken dog.

About a year ago Zen came up lame while chasing a frisbee and landing in wet grass. Crate rest overnight (I was about 18hour drive from my vet), and a plane ride back home and he was mostly fine. I rested him for 3 months. I instilled a strict "no frisbee" policy. I also pretty much didn't let him do anything that involved him chasing articles at high speeds. I threw a toy and made him wait until it landed and then sent him to said toy.

He would come up with a limp every now and then after strenuous exercise etc. I'm still thinking pulled muscle at this point. Commence more rest, anti-inflammatories and leash walks. Add in some strengthening exercises and stretches and chiropractor visits. He gets better. We start competing in agility. He's doing great. Zen starts refusing weaves in trials. Never at home, just trials.

More chiropractor, more stretches, more controlled exercise (treadmill/walking/swimming), massage, extensive warm-up and cool-down routines etc. We are taking time off from trialing for the summer as it's already hitting 80 degrees and I figured we needed to go back and rehash some things anyway. I signed up for Silvia Trkman's Agility Foundations class and I'm running through it with all three dogs. (TONS of video to be posted later) So, we get to the part with weaves, and after a good weaves session I notice Zen slightly (oh, so slightly) favoring that leg again.

Vet visit. I LOVE my vet, but to tell you the truth, throughout this whole thing I was scared to find out what the problem was. I honestly though it was a soft tissue injury and was doing my best with what I had. We don't have access to MRI or laser treatment in this area and was worried my vet wouldn't be able to do much for a soft tissue injury. Vets around here aren't big advocates of rehab programs. Heck, I have probably the only agility dogs my vet has ever seen. (Aside from one friend I know of who also does agility)

So after an exam, x-rays, and a long talk with my vet we have a game plan. Zen has Luxating Patella Grade II in his left rear leg. Surgery will be done Monday and Zen will be on 6 weeks of rest. He said in most pet dogs this would never be a problem, but since Zen is so active he said the surgery would be the best route. Prognosis is good, he said since he's not a large dog (54lbs) he expects him to be able to heal and be fully functional again. His words were "I'd be disappointed if this dog didn't go back to being an athlete". He also said, looking at x-rays there was no joint effusion and no reason to believe that there was any ligament tears or anything more serious than just the luxating patella. Of course, he won't be 100% sure until Mr.Zen's knee is opened up and he can see everything.

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