The past fourteen months have been a rollercoaster. Poor Betty tore her first cruciate ligament at the beginning of 2021, followed by a tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) in May of the same year. We had no idea back then of how major this surgery was and at that point, were simply praying it would help Betty walk without pain.
When Betty was discharged from doggy hospital after spending a post op night with the nursing staff, she amazed us by walking to the car when we went to collect her and at that point, we breathed our first sigh of relief ... but little did we know things would take a turn for the worse a couple of weeks later, when a nasty infection set into the surgical wound. Betty was very poorly so we raced her back to our vet and he was kind enough to open the surgery on a Sunday to see her. Thankfully she recovered from her infection and seroma (I had no idea what that was ... a fluid swelling in the wound site) reasonably quickly and then the process of rehabilitation slowly began. Betty was enthusiastic about walking again and very determined, so following the restrictive exercise programme set by our vet wasn't a problem and she was soon taking short, steady, lead walks.
By three months, Betty was signed off by her vet and free to run again. That was such a joyous moment! Sadly, that too was short lived as within four weeks, Betty tore her second cruciate ligament. I was so upset for her. There was a wait of several weeks while her injury was assessed and we waited for an appointment for TPLO surgery number two. During that time, Betty's mobility deteroriated dramatically and I made the decision to stop walking her as it was just too painful. Thankfully, five weeks after the injury, we were given an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon and Betty was taken back into surgery. Unfortunately, after surgery she developed another seroma and in view of the first infection, our vet decided to keep her in doggy hospital for five days to make absolutely certain she received the best care. Those five days were very hard, I knew she would be confused and stressed by our absence and it broke my heart when each night I rang to ask about her progress, to be told she needed to stay in hospital for another night.
When she was finally allowed home, Betty burst through the surgery door into the waiting room and flew into my arms ... there was no way she was going to allow us to leave her behind again! We took her home, slept in the living room with her for weeks yet again and slowly, carefully, began a rehab programme for the second time in six months.
Betty was incredible. She understood what she had to do and was determined to not only walk again, but run too. The second surgery was six months ago, which will give you an idea of how long recovery for TPLO surgery takes ... Betty has only just been signed off by the specialist orthopaedic vet for her second surgery, fifteen months after her first cruciate tear. This surgery quite literally puts an owner's life on hold. We abandoned any notion of a holiday last year or trips out; we were focused completely on getting Betty strong again.
Even after more than a year of injury, surgery and rehabilitation, Betty is still not completely out of the woods as she has subsequently developed arthritis in her first surgical leg (which we were warned could happen), so she is a little lame in that leg from time to time BUT and this is the important BUT ....
BETTY CAN RUN AGAIN!!!!
She runs like the wind in fact. Just like she used to before her injuries. She loves to run, it is the dog she is and the dog I wanted to allow her to be again. Yes, there is slight lameness in one leg, it tires more readily than before BUT she is doing great, she is loving life and she is strong. The exercise I made sure she had every day and continue with, has rebuilt her muscle mass, given her flexibility and made her strong once more. It can be done!
I don't mind admitting that at times I wondered if surgery was the best route. I was so scared for Betty, hated seeing her in pain and didn't know how we would cope when her world turned upside down ... but we took our vet's advice to heart, believed in him, gave him our trust and thankfully, it was well placed. Without surgery Betty wouldn't have been able to walk, let alone run, but now she enjoys her old life, is back to walking, playing and running freely each day for at least an hour and a half. A little arthritis is a small price to pay and it can be managed by our local vet; also it is only fair to keep in mind that Betty is now seven years old, not a youngster any more ... mind you, to see her run now, you would never believe it!
