Crackers are not Bulletproof

Loki and I had butterflies as we waited for him to be admitted on Thursday morning.

His surgery went well. By 3:00 the doctor called me and said he behaved very well before surgery for all the ladies and the doctor. It was a completely torn cruciate ligament. His meniscus is intact. He has no arthritis. He also had a few minor cosmetic procedures  (nip/tuck, moles, skin tags and fatty lumps removed) to maintain his youthful appearance. Prognosis: he will return to full cracker status in 12 weeks provided we strictly keep him on lock down. He stayed the night for observation and had a lovely chicken and rice dinner. Mr. Wild Dingo returned home on Thursday night from his 10 day trip.

I need to be reminded that crackers aren't bullet proof. Surgery was the last thing I'd expect to see on a dog as athletic and perfectly built as Loki. We fully expected Juno to be our surgical dog.  But even the best athletes aren't bulletproof and you never know what turns life is going to take.

Mr. Wild Dingo and I picked him up this morning and naturally, regardless of the 20 tons of narcotics and sedatives running through his veins, he went full on cracker-knock-down when he saw us. Completely uncontrollable, Internet. It's embarrassing. I don't care what kind of drugs he's on, you can't hold a cracker down if he's off his rocker.  Especially, when he hasn't seen Mr. Wild Dingo in 10 days. This is going to be the longest 12 weeks of my life Internet. And I've had to deal with laying in bed myself for 2 years!

Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) surgeries for dogs have been around for about 25 years. It's a fascinating surgery because it doesn't involve repairing the ligament because a large dog will just damage any newly repaired ligament. Small dogs can handle a nylon repair but not large dogs. The cruciate ligament holds the femur and tibia in place. When it breaks, it causes the femur and tibia to hit, causing pain and arthritis. This surgery involves cutting the tibia head and moving it back, holding it in place with a plate and screws so that when the knee is mobile and in use, the femur and tibia no longer hit at the front of the knee. In fact the entire 8% of the force that the cruciate ligament takes from mobility impact is now redistributed into the quadriceps. There is no need for a ligament at all.  The bone grows back in 8 weeks, if he rests completely.

Now he's resting comfortably in my office where he will stay 24/7 for the next 8 weeks.

Juno wasn't too thrilled with this set up. She had to prove to me that she was calm before she could come in and act like the caring sisfur she is and not a banana head like the cracker taught her to be. Once she tried to lick his wound but that was a strict no-no and after telling her once, she hasn't tried again and is laying quietly next to her man while he snoozes away on his Fentanyl Patch.

"Cracker's Log 0012016: I keep having recurring nightmares of jumping through the Agility ring at school. I have no idea why."