After thinking long and hard, I decided to go ahead and have the TPLO surgery to try to repair Xena’s messed up ACL. It was really tough leaving her at the vet yesterday knowing what she was facing. When I picked her up last night, she was totally drugged so I’m not sure she reallized what was going on. This photo shows the bandages shortly after she got home …
This morning, she’s doing pretty well. She gives me a few tail wags when I say her name, and she’s sleeping pretty soundly in the kitchen. Getting her out is really tough. I’m hoping that as the drugs abate she’ll be a little more eager to get to her feet.
Why did I have a TPLO done on a 10-year-old dog whose breed lifespan is 10 years? Part of it was because she’s in really good shape for a Newf her age. I think she’s got several more years left in her, and if I didn’t fix the leg I was afraid the stress would cause her to blow out the other. Then she’d definitely be a goner. The other part was watching her sit at the gate and cry while Gilligan, Ozzy and I were down at the dock. I had to take a chance on this, if for no other reason to give her a shot at being able to get down to the dock and beat the hell out of Gilligan in the shallow water.
Keep your fingers crossed. I’ll post occasional updates on how she’s doing. My main hope is that she’ll leave it alone and I won’t have to use a cone on her. What a nightmare …