CCL Surgery Post Op

We picked up Willa this afternoon from the surgical center. Central Texas Veterinary Specialty Hospital is where Willa’s boyfriend Kobe had his knee repaired last year. Dr. Kerpsack is all business, he came highly recommended and I totally understand why. He educated us on what went wrong and different techniques to fix it. He squeezed us in, evaluated and admitted Willa immediately. I was relieved when he called to tell us that the surgery was “Boring and uneventful”. One of the possible complications that result from a Cranial Cruciate Ligament tear is a torn meniscus. In our case Willa only transected her CCL and the meniscus was intact.

So, her post-op radiograph look like this:

If you love your dogs coat as much as we do you have to prepare yourself for the shave job they do on your dog. Not only is Willa shaved from hock to her spine, but she has a little midline patch taken off of her spine where they administered her epidural. Plus her front paw is shaved for the IV.

Elizabethan Collar

Willa was sent home with an Elizabethan collar. The E-collar is a royal pain in the ass. Quite a while ago we trained Willa to not mess with bandages, sutures or staples. “How?” you may wonder…after she was spayed we spent a couple hours pumping her full of treats when she stayed away from them and put an e-collar on when she would not. She caught on pretty fast. All your hard work on obedience training pays huge dividends at difficult times like these. We don’t take our eyes off of her. So far she is staying away from her sutures.

Therapy and love

We were sent home with very specific instructions for Willa’s mobility. She is only allowed to walk to go out to eliminate and then back to rest. Willa is a dog of action. If she hears the squirrels in the back yard it is her DUTY to scare them off. She will have to transfer that responsibility to Ruby for the time being. They recommended ice packs 4 times a day for 10 minutes if Willa would tolerate it. She does. In fact I am pleased that she just wants the attention.

For today I think that’s it. Gotta figure out where we’re gonna sleep.