Life is a Menace: Part One

Mar 16, 2012 by Lauren

The past week and a half has been a total whirlwind.  First, we found out Bella needed ACL surgery.  We were told it is imperative that after the surgery we keep her from jumping, running, rough play, etc.  Consequently, our whole focus was what to do in order to prevent her from jumping on the couch, since that’s her all-time favorite place to sleep. We finally figured out how to properly block it off, but when it came time to pick her up post-surgery, we quickly realized our focus had been totally misguided.

 

It’s the most pathetic thing I think I’ve ever seen.  Her back leg was completely shaved except her paw, like some ridiculous poodle.  Most of that leg was covered in a neon yellow bandage.  Her eyes were super droopy and covered in drainage goo.  We knew she wouldn’t be able to walk normally, but she could barely stand up, let alone walk at all.  She had a giant plastic cone, which she seemed embarrassed about and couldn’t see out of, so the little bit that she could hop didn’t end up going very well because she kept bumping into things and getting the cone stuck on other things.

 

We got her home, she refused to eat or drink, even when we tried to hand feed her with treats.  Refusing treats is pretty major for her!  Due to basic physics (not eating or drinking) she didn’t use the bathroom for over 18 hours, and when she finally did need to go, since she couldn’t bend her leg, she couldn’t squat, so she paced around the yard for 30 minutes, before finally doing some awkward karate-type leg move so she could get close enough to the ground.  For the first 2-3 nights, she cried at least half the night, we attempted to take her outside 3x each night…basically it was like having a newborn again.  Go figure, we finally get G$ sleeping through the night and now we’re going through it all over again with the dog.  Ugh.

 

Since the cone was such a problem for her, we sought out advice from friends, and they all recommended an inflatable collar so she could regain peripheral vision.  This seemed like a good idea and it was…until G$ got involved.  Stay tuned for Part Two!