It definitely sounds like a story there! She has flipped it off once, but I think that was user error. We are very fortunate so far. She hasn't been fighting us on trying to lick the wound. She didn't wear it hardly at all today and I only had to reprimand her twice. We will still make her wear it at night though.

How is it going?

Thanks for checking in socks! We are at a week today since surgery and overall things are going well. She is starting to put some pressure on her foot when she walks and the incision is healing well. They warned us there would be lots of bruising and swelling but the bruising was pretty minimal and she never swelled. I did ice her the first two days home a couple of times a day though- I know that helped a lot. We are having to keep her sedated - we are alternating her pain meds and trazadone ( half the dose they sent us home with) so she doesn't get too active. Earlier this week when I kenneled her to walk Sam, she decided she didn't want to be in the kennel and while we were gone ( 15 minutes) she managed to push her kong under the mat, bend the door frame and chew through her harness in two places. Needless to say, that was when I had to commit to sedation for her own good. My hubby ( who has had several major surgeries) thinks it would be better for her anyways if this time of healing was just a blur.

We did have some issues with her drinking water though- took her off of the Rimadyl at day 5 in case her kidneys were being affected ( talked with surgeon's office). I didn't want her dehydrating though so we diluted some low sodium chicken broth and she drank that right up. Her appetite is good, pee and poop look fine and tonight we just might try to see if she has graduated to the no "cone of shame" at bedtime. Lots of snuggles and even a low key game or two of find it. When her new harness arrives we might start taking her out in the front yard for sniffs and change of scenery ( lol, as long as the neighbor cats are not around).

LBF, thanks for updating! I've been following your thread as mine has 4 (yes 4!) grade 4 luxating patellas and we are dreading the day that surgery is imminent. He had one severe flare and the vet told us to keep him quiet, which is like keeping this hyper pup from breathing! Our hearts jump every time he does:(

Oh wow Nannygoat! Is your pup big or small? That is tough ( and expensive)!! I have been surprised because Poppie is an active girl too but overall she has been a really good patient. She loves to be outside and right now she is fine going out to potty and coming right in ( all on leash of course). We are keeping her on some level of sedatives, but even then, not as much as I had anticipated. Pain meds in the am and pm with meals and 1/2 dose of trazadone in the afternoon and bed time. The surgeon gave us ace sedatives too, but I hate how groggy it makes them. I may give her one tonight though as she has still not graduated from the "cone of shame" at bedtime. Lil stinker pulled it off last night twice and was licking the incisions. I know they are getting itchy from healing and that's good, but we are also done with antibiotics. I have been taking pictures of it daily to track progress which is also helpful in watching for infection. So far so good though, even with the naughtiness.

Kirby weighs 10#-the vet said it’s common in small dogs so I’m surprised that Poppie was affected as well. Yes, it’s a pricy surgery as it needs to be done by an orthopedic vet as mine won’t touch it. PT will also be necessary post op. Poppie is a real trooper!

Oh she is a stinker too( broke out of her "prison" this morning while Sam and I were on walk( thankfully she plopped down in entry way to greet us)...but cute enough I can over look it as long as she doesn't mess up the knee ( and then I will just cry...a lot). Our ortho usually lets them start small walks, rehab after 3 weeks but Poppie's was so bad that he stressed doing nothing but resting for 8 weeks! She won't even go back for a first checkup until week 4. ( again, usually 2 weeks is the first check up). We had a great ortho though- came highly recommended and we were impressed with the whole experience from first appt to surgery and follow up from them thus far.

I hope for your and Kirby's sake that you won't have to do it.

Our previous dog, Lucie, was adopted with a broken leg so we scheduled immediate surgery. At home, the cast would not stay on since we were unable to keep her still so we placed her in a rehab hospital. That was a huge mistake as she developed severe separation anxiety. But we were never offered sedatives which would have altered the entire course of events:(

It’s gratifying that your experience is a lot smoother.

And I’d shed buckets of tears if she injured that leg!