Knee surgery for Coltrane - again!

[Dan Gould]

Last Sunday Coltrane once again came up lame after reacting to someone walking behind our property. We knew it was serious when he still wouldn't put any weight on his right knee hours later and as it turns out he tore the ACL and damaged the meniscus, too. But he's back home now, looking at three months of strict limitation on his activity level. Funny thing is that we thought he had re-injured the knee that has had two surgeries before (detached knee cap when he was young, torn ACL almost two years to the day of this injury) but as it turns out that was the left knee as you can see in the attached pictures.

We asked the doctor if we would have to keep him on a leash and be extra careful for the rest of his life but the good news was that she basically said it would be really hard for him to injure either knee in the future, because they don't replace a torn ligament, they use a plate. My boy's the bionic dog!

Kinda disheartening to dig out the pictures from his prior surgery just two years ago. The gray hair has really invaded these past two years. Our boy isn't young anymore but we're glad he's on the road to recovery.

[papsrus]

Beautiful dog, Dan. Looks like he's taking things in stride.

[Dan Gould]

Thanks James. Its Gracie who doesn't do too well when these things happen. Her separation anxiety is so bad, she has been totally beside herself when Susan has taken Coltrane to the vet and only more so when she left him there yesterday and then went to get him this morning. Just totally out of control howling in despair - but oh so happy when he got home.

[Quincy]

Get well soon Coltrane. These times are tough for you as Coltrane & Gracie never took the time to fully understand English or time, so "Don't worry, we'll be back in a couple of hours" means nothing to them. Lazy dogs, start studying these subjects!

[BERIGAN]

Dan, that's just incredible! Glad he'll be ok, and bionic!

Have you talked to him about stretching before running?

[ghost of miles]

Best wishes to Coltrane for a robust recovery, Dan, and glad to know that Gracie's separation anxiety has been alleviated.

[BruceH]

What a great looking dog! All the best to him!

[Guy Berger]

What an awesome dog, Dan. Props for taking care of him so well!

Guy

[Dave James]

Dan,

One of the great things about dogs is their resilience. Whether it's something small like misbehaving or something much bigger like surgery, they manage to stay on an even keel. They don't get depressed, they don't feel sorry for themselves, they just deal with it. Some people would say that's because they're not so smart. I happen to think it's because they are.

All the best to your little guy.

[Dan Gould]

Well today was the day the stitches came out, and the doctor said she was very pleased with his progress and that his X-rays looked fine. Its definitely been a long process of recovery, as it took a good week for him to start to use his injured leg consistently and even now he still perceptibly limps and hops on the other three legs about 5% of the time. And two more months with restrictions on his movements and no stairs, so he will continue to be the sole customer of the Daddy Taxi Service.

Also on the positive side is that Gracie is handling his absence much better, with almost no howling, just a lot more clinging. Amazing how she went from snapping at him when we first got her to not being able to stand to be apart from him.

[papsrus]

That's great news Dan. Lucky dog.