As a bunch of you know, my beagle, Ryno, was on the DL for a few months with sporadic pain in his right hind leg. Unlike some people, I think he injured it legitimately, possibly while chasing a rabbit, knocking over a garbage can, digging under a fence, or humping one of our kitchen chairs. Earlier this week, he was diagnosed with a torn CCL (the dog equivalent of our ACL), so he went in for surgery this morning.
The surgery was a success. His CCL was completely torn through, so the doctor removed it and inserted a plate and screws into his leg to support his knee. He had no torn cartilage, and just a touch of arthritis, treatable with the dog equivalent of aspirin. Thanks to all of the well-wishers. Keep your fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
Just wanted to let you know that I had this surgery done on both of my dog’s hind legs in the past couple of years. The recovery period is stressful but he will be good as new after that. I have my fingers crossed for you and Ryno.
That’s really good to hear. How in the world did you keep your dog from doing all of the things dogs love doing for the first two weeks?
“chasing a rabbit, knocking over a garbage can, digging under a fence, or humping one of our kitchen chairs.”
Sounds like Ryno has got it better than a poodle in Skokie.
Good luck with towel drills dogden.
Are we sure he wasn’t out chasing cougars?
OR would that infringe on Oleg’s turf?
Go pooch! Maybe, while you’re waiting to be able to dig again, you could just chew on mom and dad’s sex toys. Good luck on your recovery!
Due to today’s recent developments, Matt Murton will now be reporting to Naperville to hump Kerm’s kitchen chairs.
Which is odd, because that’s the perfect job for a Patterson.
John Fogerty was the lead singer of CCL, right?
Hop Sing:
Light!! Cleedance Clealwatel Leevival!!
Now waiting for the love from the Asian guys. It’s a joke, Kosuke, OK?
Hope Ryno’s back to happily humping everything soon.
Ryno,
Woof, grrrr, woof. Arf Arf. Woof.
Get better.
Once the red lipstick starts sticking out again, then you know he’s ready to play
Kerm,
Long time reader, first time poster. I saw the story about your dog, and couldn’t resist to post. I’ve had two golden retrievers that have had hind leg surgeries, one had two surgeries.
I saw you were wondering about keeping them from doing their normal activities. When you’re home, the best bet is to try and stay with them to prevent them from getting excited when someone comes to the door (if people visit you) or need to bark at something. We would leash them in the house to keep them in grabbing distance before they tried to sprint off. When you aren’t home, you’re best bet is keep them into a confined area at first.
Once they know they have limitations due to the pain, the dog will get used to it. I’m sure you’ll be required to cone the dog’s head off. Both of our golden’s would get really depressed with the cones on. We would cone them when they were home alone, but do our best to keep them from eating themselves when we were home.
A good amount of positive reinforcement from you will help them from getting too down.
Godspeed to your beagle.
Today I spoke to Joe Morgan about your beagle, Ryno. He said he could never understand why Ryno was rated as highly as he was. He himself played beagle on a Big Red Machine that included Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion. He said that when it came down to it, Ryno needed to learn to concetrate and make the big plays when they counted.
I punched him in the nose.
Hope Ryno feels better soon.
When will congress do something about these chair manufacturers that keep making chairs unsafe for humping?
I only got to second base with that damn chair. Your fridge is a slut though.
They used to call that cone thing Banks’ Basket.
When I had the surgeries on my dog, we would keep him confined to one room with kiddie gates when he was home alone. He was not allowed to do stairs for something like 6 weeks and the problem is they start feeling better so quick that they can overdo it very easily. As for the cone, Petco sells an inflatable contraption that goes around the neck that prevents the dog from getting to the stitches. It seems much more comfortable because they can rest their head on it like a pillow. It looks pretty funny though, kind of like a bright blue life preserver. Good luck!
Christine, the inflatable e-collar suggestion is about as clutch as suggestions come. I just picked one up for Ryno this morning, since he spent much of yesterday looking sulkily at me in his plastic collar. He looks MUCH more comfortable now. Thanks for the suggestion!
Just keep him away from the Cubs training staff, and I’m sure Ryno will be doing the towel drill in no time.
As you most likely already know, this is a pretty common surgery for dogs these days. We had to have this done to one of my dogs legs this winter. As Christine commented already, the first part of the recovery is pretty stressful. We basically spent our nights with the dog in one of the smaller rooms in our home listening to her whimper and basically wondering if we had done the right thing. When we weren’t there, we locked her in our office with the cone (adorable and heartbreaking at the same time).
After about six weeks and beyond, she started to get better and we allowed more and more movement, but still restricted her outside time to just bathroom breaks and inside time to hanging out in a 6X6 fenced-in area we created in our Living Room. It was still hard seeing her limping around and generally depressed, but at least she was getting better.
Fast forward to yesterday…she is now fully recovered and she got to return to her favorite activity, tearing ass around the dog park.
We were a little wary of this procedure at first, but after seeing how much better she is now, it was worth every damn cent.
Hang in there, good days are on the horizon! Trust me.
When did this become Oprah’s fucking website? Jeebus.
Hey, everyone, thanks for all the advice. It’s great to hear that everyone’s dogs are doing much better after the procedure. I just got Ryno home a little while ago. After Maddux (his little sister) sniffed him out, he went outside, and he’s now passed out on the couch. I have a cone for him, but the vet said I didn’t need to use it unless he shows interest in the stitches. When we’re away, he’s used to being in a crate, anyhow, so that will keep him from getting into any trouble, which is good news. He also has a sling for his rear end that will help me support him when he does need to walk around a little bit, just so he doesn’t hurt the other leg compensating.
All of your well-wishes and advice are much appreciated. I’m thrilled to have him home (as is Maddux).
Ryno AND Maddux? Awesome, BK. I had bassets growing up, so I hope Ryno toughs it out with style my friend.
Hope Ryno is feeling better today, BK.
He seems to be. He was a little depressed for a while, as I had to put the dreaded lampshade on his head to keep him from licking the sutures. But he seems to be resting comfortably now, and he even moved around a little bit, with me helping support his hind legs with a sling.
So, what you are saying is, your dog’s ass is in a sling?
That’s exactly what I’m saying.
I wish I’d of known about the e-collar when my dog had surgery.
Glad to hear your dog is doing okay. I also wish I’d known about the e-collar.
I don’t know how this one got bumped, but he is completely 100% now. It’s like he never had the tear. Thanks for the well-wishes.