4/21/12
My GSP, Ike, has seemed
to be favoring his left back foot on and off since the end of January/beginning
of February. Just while at rest - standing around or eating. He would just hold
it up but when playing or running (or hunting) he was fine and showed no ill
signs. I thought that it was just a sore pad or maybe a pulled muscle and he
would get better. Well he hasn't -tried a couple days of Rimydal I had left
over from my SD trip last October but wasn't comfortable doing that for any
length of time without a vet seeing him. So I had some days off and got him
into the vet and they took some Xrays and bewteen my normal vet and the
Orthopedic surgeon she referred me to, it has been decided that he has a
partially torn Achilles Tendon. Treatment no surgery, but casting for the next
3-5 weeks after a cortisone shot to reduce the inflamation. Here is a pic of
him getting along well with the splint we are to use until he can get cast
Monday.  |
| Ike in his first splint |
4/30/12
In fact they said the swelling was
down enough from the splint they didn't even give him a cortisone shot - seemed
to not be necessary in the eyes of the Vet. He had developed an abrasion at the
very top of his first cast and I re-padded it and treated it with some EMT gel.
It has scabbed over an appears to be healing nicely - the Vets put the seocnd
cast a little lower and added additional soft cast materials to the very top.
My biggest issue is he seems to be feeling much better and in turn his activity level is racheting up there. First week or so he seemed to sleep more and more sedate (no sedatives I just think he was healing). I hope the next couple weeks go as well.
I asked the vet about the painkiller - They said we could give it to him- but they didn't seem to think he showed symptoms of pain while they observed him (they kept him for the whole day after each casting to make sure all went well).
My biggest issue is he seems to be feeling much better and in turn his activity level is racheting up there. First week or so he seemed to sleep more and more sedate (no sedatives I just think he was healing). I hope the next couple weeks go as well.
I asked the vet about the painkiller - They said we could give it to him- but they didn't seem to think he showed symptoms of pain while they observed him (they kept him for the whole day after each casting to make sure all went well).
5/5/12
Ike got
his third cast Thursday morning this week. No X-rays yet but Vet says right on
plan for healing and looks very good. He does think tho that he may want to go
to one more cast - but will Xray after this one is removed to make final
decision. I have to say the Clinic(s) both my primary one and the referal one
seem to really be doing a fine job. I believe that is one of the
reasons we are looking at one additional cast - just to keep him under control
for a longer period of time.
5/13/12
FYI
everyone - I have been misunderstanding the Surgeon, thinking each week they
are replacing the cast with a new (albeit slightly) adjusted one. But no, each
week for the past 4 has only been a "re-wrap" of the same cast and it
will be at least 10 more days before he gets his 2nd cast. Man I feel like an
idiot, I was thinking, "geeze, this isn't so bad." But it turns out
it will most likely be all of June before he is cast or splint free. That's the
bad news - the good news is the Dr. says everything is heal up just fine and
actually is ahead of where he thought he would be. I just want to make sure he
heals up and I figure out how to balance his high energy play with not wanting
it to happen again. More to come when I know it.
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| Ike with the walking cast - man does that tear up floors |
5/22/12
Latest
update- Ike is presently exceeding recovery plans. The Surgeon thinks that we
may be ready to skip the last cast and go to a splint in a couple weeks. His swelling
is almost down to nothing and upon physical inpection the Vet says about 2
weeks ahead of his schedule. I sure hope so - as he is really wanting to get
back to his old self. On the other good side, he hasn't had a seizure in 8
weeks.... longest span (usually 6 weeks) sine they started on Labor Day last
year. Have stopped all treats except solid Chicken Breast slices and milk bones
to help clean his teeth and staying on Purina Pro Plan high performancefor
daily food.
5/30/12
Ike is now in his splint - Vet has
bee very supportive and yesterday said he was amazed at how well the achilles
has healed. Swelling is completely down and will leave him in the splint with
significantly more "bend" in his hock thus putting more pressure on
the tendon than there has been in the casts for a week or two. Hope all
continues as it has and in a week or two I will post a pic of Ike cast and
splint free. Man I have to tell you he is getting darn bored with leash only
walks... and that "cone of shame" he has to wear.
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| back into a splint |
6/10/12
Update
on Ike;
Went to the vet this week, hoping we would get the "all clear" no more splint result, but no joy here. While the swelling and injury looks very good, (Vet said swelling is completely gone) he says he still observes Ike holding his leg up not putting equal pressure on it and favoring it some. He said 2 more weeks in a splint (with even more natural bend to the hock/achilles tendon area) then if all goes well no more splint and one month of continued limited activity and if all looks good then he will release him. Just not sure why but seems to be favoring it more again... Holding it up when he eats, hopping on 3 legs when I walk him. I don't know I am a little disheartened and just feel he went backwards. Guess I'll just observe and make sure to limit his activities and then take him back. I don't know I may splurge for an MRI on the leg as an X-ray won't really be conclusive on soft tissue...I'll ask and see what Vet says. He seems to have been pretty straight forward with me to date.
Went to the vet this week, hoping we would get the "all clear" no more splint result, but no joy here. While the swelling and injury looks very good, (Vet said swelling is completely gone) he says he still observes Ike holding his leg up not putting equal pressure on it and favoring it some. He said 2 more weeks in a splint (with even more natural bend to the hock/achilles tendon area) then if all goes well no more splint and one month of continued limited activity and if all looks good then he will release him. Just not sure why but seems to be favoring it more again... Holding it up when he eats, hopping on 3 legs when I walk him. I don't know I am a little disheartened and just feel he went backwards. Guess I'll just observe and make sure to limit his activities and then take him back. I don't know I may splurge for an MRI on the leg as an X-ray won't really be conclusive on soft tissue...I'll ask and see what Vet says. He seems to have been pretty straight forward with me to date.
6/18/12
Latest on Ike: Last Thursday I
noticed a little sore developing under his splint and because I was going to be
out of town for a couple of days and it was forecast to be hot and humid
through the weekend, I decided to see if I could take him to the vet and get
the splint and the sore taken care of. Well the Vet removed the splint, treated
the sore (he said it was good idea to come in as getting it treated early will
be key to keeping it from getting really nasty). He also decided the leg was
looking so good he took the hard splint completely off, and gave just a
protective soft wrap with almost total flexibility to the hock and tendon. He
said that he may be a little tender on it for a couple days, as his tendon
hasn't been this "natural" for 8-9 weeks. Well, Ike must be ready to
go as he really has shown no signs of holding it up or favoring the left leg at
all. I will keep it this way for another week and hopefully get it off
completely. The other good news is that the vet didn't even charge me for this
visit... I gotta tell ya, I am very pleased with the clinic as a whole...
6/21/12
Well today we got the soft wrap off
and Ike is au natural. Gaskin muscle looks a little atrophied, and sure was
glad to give him a bath as his skin got a little funky under the vaious wraps.
But all in all, he is doing fine and we are all glad his recovery has been as
good as it has been.
As stated above very happy with the Vet - we are on a month long limited activity protocol, then if all still ok, start him on a conditioning program to get him ready for Hunting season. Weighed the little guy (thought he might have gained a few pounds during this period of reduced activity) but he only gained 6/10ths of a pound... Heck, I gained more than that
Think we are on a good path.
As stated above very happy with the Vet - we are on a month long limited activity protocol, then if all still ok, start him on a conditioning program to get him ready for Hunting season. Weighed the little guy (thought he might have gained a few pounds during this period of reduced activity) but he only gained 6/10ths of a pound... Heck, I gained more than that
Think we are on a good path.
7/3/12
Well it has been two week without
any protection still under restricted activity and things seem to be going
along fine. No swelling whatsoever and he sure doesn't seem to be in any pain
at all. I am still concerned Ike hold up the foot on occasion. Seems like he
does it out of habit. Muscle atrophy was more than I thought when you compare
the two legs but another couple weeks and we'll go back to the vet. WIth the
heat it is just as good we are keeping him inside... While no fires here (man
those people in CO and NM have my sympathies) the heat and lack of rain are
getting scary. Only time we get rain the storms and accompanying micorbursts
have caused tremendous damage. There were still at last count 144K of people
without power last night in various suburbs... Sorry I digress
Anyway, While Ike is
doing better I don't know if he will ever be 100% -
7/18/12
Final update for all interested
parties... Yesterday Ike visited the Vet and was given a final release. Vet
spent quite a bit of time (in 100* weather no less) watching him walk,
"cantor" and stop and turn and said that as non-invasive procedure
results go he couldn't be happier. Says ok to go off leash and while he
wouldn't advise any activities requiring sharp cuts or twists (no more KONG in
the back yard) he says start him out slow and if we see him favoring it back it
down a notch and start increasing activity more slowly. The last couple weeks
he sure seemed like his old self. He had been
off the leg for quite a while and it just took him a little time to get back
into the swing. Still don't know how he did it so just going to start over and
cross my fingers we don't do something stupid..
All things considered I couldn't be happier with the Vet, the Vet Techs and the clinic as a whole. The last 3 visits they didn't even charge me..... Total bill just a little shy of $800 (lots cheaper than the surgery) and my VPI ins will most likely pick up 70-75% of that bill.
I will give the group a strong thumbs up for both medical skill and bedside manner.
We'll be in SD last week of Oct, God willin'
All things considered I couldn't be happier with the Vet, the Vet Techs and the clinic as a whole. The last 3 visits they didn't even charge me..... Total bill just a little shy of $800 (lots cheaper than the surgery) and my VPI ins will most likely pick up 70-75% of that bill.
I will give the group a strong thumbs up for both medical skill and bedside manner.
We'll be in SD last week of Oct, God willin'
Here's a little something I saw... Kind of small but click on it an it will enlarge enough to read it.
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| A little thing to think about |
