My westie has had a hip operation and 2 knee ops. He has recovered well from the hip and one of the knee ops but seems to be struggling this time. It's been about 6 weeks since the op on his 2nd knee but he walks funny and if he turns funny he can't bear weight on the leg for a little while. I feel abit helpless really at the mo. Anyone else had a similar experience and how long before he will recover from this as he seems really down in himself too.

Hi Emma

How is your dog doing?? I do sympathise as my goldie had a Luxating patella, she had the op 10 weeks ago and had to have the op again a week later as she managed to twist the joint around again. We are now eight weeks after the second op and fingers crossed she is doing ok and has been on 3x 15 minute walks for the past 3 weeks, she also had a nasty infected pad which held up the recovery but last week was able to have her first hydrotherapy session. She had fulltime cage rest for two weeks and then our vet suggested that that she started to put some weight on the affected leg and rather than keep her caged keep her confined to one room so that she could have some movement but obviously not to get on settees or go mad,fortunately me being at home i was able to be with her and keep an eye on her but it was not easy with a two year old bouncy retriever and did make me feel very restricted for several weeks.. I kept her amused with filled kongs and lots of toys, grooming etc & they do seem to adapt better than we imagine, i am sure that i was more upset than she was but having said all that its not something that i relish experiencing again..We still have a way to go before she is back to full fitness but vet thinks that another month and she should be able to go off lead, although i will be very nervous.. Anyway hope your dog is making good progress and you are coping ok... regards micky

Thanks Micky, Bert seems to be doing well at the moment. We had another check up at the vet yesterday and we are now allowed to take him on short lead walks, only for 5 minutes a few times a day but good news. He also has his 1st Hydrotherapy session on monday.
You're right, they do seem to cope better than we do. Bert seems fine in his crate, if anything i feel more frustrated at not being able to take him out for walks.

Good luck with your dog, a month will fly by. Keep in touch with how she does.
Emma

Hi

Henry has been through the mill abit with his legs. Over the last couple of weeks since i wrote my last message Henry has done really well. I have taken him to hydrotherapy 4 times and he is fantastic on his legs now. It has been three months since he had his last patella surgery. After his first swim he was a little stiff but now he is running around the garden etc... They do limit the amount of activity they do for themselves as at first it's uncomfortable for them. Henry didn't attempt to jump on the settee for weeks but he is now on and off it if your back is turned but I am in the mindset now that he must be comfortable to try it. I am the world's worst for worrying about him and because he is only nearly 2 he has lots of energy and i'm always worried he will hurt his leg when he charges about.

Poor henry he really has been through it for such a youngster, hopefully he will be fit and healthy now for a long time to come and have no more problems and you can relax a bit now.. I am still puting things on the setee to stop my Goldie getting on/off it and had to put up a stair gate as stairs are obviously off limits now, I did get into the habit of letting her on the bed with me at night which she can longer do, takes a bit of getting used to all the changes/restrictions...

Hi Mikey,

I did really feel for little Henry as it was one thing after another and it's so upsetting to see them when they are poorly. I restricted him to the living room and put the baby gate on the living room door, i took him on his lead to do his business so he wasn't jumping around but i didn't put him in his cage when i was in as it seemed better for his legs as he was able to move about a little bit and get comfy. I always put him in his cage if i went out and still do so he doesn't go mad if the postman comes. I have let him off in the garden the last couple of weeks and he has been ok. He did twist funny and held his leg up for a few minutes but i expect he will always have off moments. The hardest thing is we can't stop them from being dogs and they have so much energy so they need to have a run. When we go on walks he is always on the lead and i run around the park with him. He puts weight on the leg fine now and i have lowered his medication. He had an x ray to check his implants were ok on Friday and he has a check up in a few weeks but he is fine. Hope your dog is ok and gets better soon. Keep in touch