Saturday, June 5, 2010

Bear's Story

Bear went in for surgery on two weeks ago. They put her to sleep, and put a 5 inch incision in her right hind knee. They then removed the old tendon that was holding together her knee. They shaved down the bones in her legs so it would rotate properly. They placed the knee cap back where it should be -- it was over a good three inches to one side. They then put in a rubber band that will hold the whole thing together, and closed her up with a staple gun. For recovery, she cannot run or climb any stairs for 2 months, and then another 4 months after that of reduced activity. During this time, we had to ice her leg three times a day (for the first two weeks), and give her physiotherapy three times a day (for 6 months). She cannot be left unsupervised outside of her crate. Deviating from any of this in any way could result in her tearing the replacement tendon and dislocating the knee -- meaning she would need to head back in for another major surgery.


Bear is taking it all like a trooper. We had to move her bed downstairs (she can't take stairs for six months), and had to wear a cone that kept her from her stitches. She is terrified of the cone; she has literally stood frozen for an entire hour wearing one -- she would not even come for food. Sleeping by herself also scares the big wussy; the first night she cried for hours before finally settling down to sleep. It breaks my heart to see my sweet little Bear suffering like this, but I know in the end she will live a better, fuller life.

Bear is only three. In my admittedly limited experience she is the best dog I have ever seen; she is the absolute perfect dog for me. Faced with the choice of possibly numerous expensive surgeries, or putting her down at such a young age, it was really a no brainer. No way would I put her down. NO WAY.

When we first brought her home, I could hold her in one hand. She was a clumsy little monster, curious, loving. She chased the cats and Kasey (the beagle) around the house with no hope of actually catching them. She was sad when we left, and ecstatic when we returned. She played with toys, wrestled with me, played tag with Kasey. She sat on the floor next to us as we watched TV, or slowly wormed her way onto the couch beside us. As she grew up, she pretty much kept all those qualities -- she just got bigger.

Some good friends of ours came to visit and bring us some things for the baby. They also brought their two children (aged two point five and five). Bear got along with them great, (though she has never really been around kids much), and loved the attention. She is taking rehabilitation perfectly, even though we have to do therapy with her three times a day, exercising her sore knee. She gets sad when we have to lock her in her crate for the day, but I think she loves the extra attention she gets when we get home.

So she’s on the mend, but it’s the beginning of a very long road. Between Bear and getting ready for the arrival of our little parasite, we have been pretty busy. Hopefully I can get this thing updated a little more often!

Until next time!