Princess Abby had her consult and surgery completed all in one day. We were contacted on Saturday telling us to bring Abby in on Monday, ready for surgery if it was needed. It was thought Abby had a torn ACL when she came into RAGOM and when we last took X-rays, the vet had thought it did not seem like an ACL tear. They dug through the vet records and saw mention of a Ruptured Cruciate Ligament. Either way, the surgery would be invasive with a long recovery.

The good news is when opening up Abby's leg, they found out the issue was much less invasive. The surgery performed was a Patella Luxation Stabilization (in layman’s terms, a dislocated kneecap). The description says it is usually a long-standing condition, meaning she has most likely had this from puppyhood. The condition may have worsened with age or trauma. The repair was made surgically and she will have a slightly shorter recovering time. She is already putting a little weight on the leg, but we are encouraging her to rest as much as possible to promote good healing. We need to keep her on a short leash outside to keep her from chasing squirrels. We also need to kennel her while we are away, so she does not slip on the wood floors or jump on the couch. We have been sitting next to her on the floor, to keep her from jumping on the couch. (She just wants to be by us and to receive scritches….we are happy to oblige.)

We are starting her physical therapy and she is taking pain meds. We have instructions for 6 weeks’ worth of therapy notes. We need to take her into the vet in 10-14 days to have her sutures removed. We should hear back sometime this week about the biopsy they did on a bump they removed. Last but not least, we need to take her back in 30 days for a blood draw. Princess Abby’s ALT levels were high (liver levels). It is believed the anti-inflammatory medication was the cause of the high levels. We are ramping her off the anti-inflammatory, which should improve her levels. It will be so nice for Princess Abby to be off the medications now she has had surgery.

Once she is fully recovered, it will be time to work on weight loss with some walks. She should continue glucosamine and fish oils for the rest of her life. Glucosamine is good for her joints and fish oils are a natural anti-inflammatory.

Abby is checked out to a family who is excited to meet her. Since the surgery is done, we will work on getting the meeting set up. We are so excited for Abby. She is truly a sweetheart!

Thanks to Inver Grove Animal Hospital and Dr. Razz for taking care of Princess Abby. She trusted you to take care of her and you did an wonderful job!!

Princess Abby here…reporting for duty…hehehe. Foster Mom and Foster Dad said I have a family interested in me! I get to meet them at their house over the weekend. The biggest part will be if their resident dog likes me. I am excited to meet them and see if I will be a good fit for them. Thanks for checking in on me! Foster Mom will tell you about the yucky cone! Oh! Looks like the little human has a hand free. I better go see if he wants to pet me!!

Okay, Foster Mom here. Abby has been such a great houseguest. She is just the sweetest girl. I took her to the vet last week to get her up to date on shots, and I think Rabies was the only one she was due for. She tested negative for heartworm and her fecal test was good. Last but not least, we are still waiting to hear back on her possible needed surgery. It takes a while to consult all of the people we do, so the decision process takes a while. The good thing is the medications she takes helps manage her pain so surgery is not an emergency. We have the luxury to take our time to make the right decision for her. Her vet records show she had a Ruptured Cruciate Ligament on the right rear leg, but no surgery was performed at the time. Her pain has been managed, with Tramadol and Anti-Inflammatory since. She is a happy girl, so I think it is hard to know exactly how much pain she is in. We did switch her Anti-Inflammatory medication and had to go two days without any, to wash out the system. Day two was tough. You could tell she was feeling yucky; she would lay down and stay put instead of following us from room to room. Once we gave her the new medication, she was back to her old self! The X-rays show that she has joint thickening and obvious osteoarthritis. We will see what the experts recommend.

Unfortunately in the meantime, between Saturday night and Sunday morning, she scratched her chin raw. Abby now needs to wear the “Cone of Shame” to protect her from scratching it more. We give her a reprieve from the cone when we are home and awake. We spray the wound with wound spray 3 times a day and she is taking antibiotics to clear up the infection. Her chin is shaved to relive the itchiness. She is pretty sad with the cone on. If she runs into a door way and leg, she will stop dead in her track until you help her out. It is pretty cute!

She loves any and all attention and she even seeks out pets from or 6-month-old son. We always supervise to make sure he does not grab her, because I do not think she would care and I would not want him the scratch her.

I will report back on how her visit goes with the family she is checked out to, and I will also let you know when I hear back on any health decisions. Thanks for checking in!