I had Falkor into the vet last week for his heartworm test and the vet and I started chatting about his knee issue. He has been doing very well with our continued therapies but will still toe touch on occasion and very occasionally he will be slightly gimpy after certain activities. Our vet just got a new fancy schmancy x-ray machine and we decided to take some x-rays of his knees to get a better look. We lightly sedated him so we could get some nice clear shots without him wiggling all over. The vet was also able to do very thorough physical exams on both of his knees. Now the good news is that the vet doesn't think Falkor had an ACL issue after all. Based on the exam and the x-rays both of the knee joints are very solid. Now the only way we would know for 100% is if we scoped the knee. The bad news is that there are some minor arthritic changes in both knees. There has to be a reason that a dog that just turned two had these issues. The vet suggested possibly Osteochrondritis Dissecans (although that usually presents in very young dogs) or that he just has bad knee structure. :( Obviously I'm not happy with either of those possibilities but I am happy that he doesn't have an acute injury.
Even with this possible new diagnosis we will be sticking with our current rehab/physical therapy plan which has been working very well for Falkor. I am hoping to find somewhere outside where I can swim him 4-5 times a week. We've done the swim therapy with the underwater treadmill but I can't afford to do that as much as I would like to. With this new information I don't know what our future hold in regards to performance events (especially agility) which makes me really sad but I can only take one day at a time. I am hoping and praying that the rehab and physical therapy can get us to a place where we can compete in all performance events safely, but we'll see.
I know that things could be so much worse and that it certainly won't be the end of the world if we aren't able to compete in certain events, it's just that I had such big dreams when I welcomed Falkor into our home and hearts. And obviously none of this makes me love him any less. Falkor is my heart and I just adore him. I am just saddened at the thought of not being able to do everything I intended to do with him. Who knows...maybe everything will be just fine and all this worry will be for nothing....I can only hope.
Even with this possible new diagnosis we will be sticking with our current rehab/physical therapy plan which has been working very well for Falkor. I am hoping to find somewhere outside where I can swim him 4-5 times a week. We've done the swim therapy with the underwater treadmill but I can't afford to do that as much as I would like to. With this new information I don't know what our future hold in regards to performance events (especially agility) which makes me really sad but I can only take one day at a time. I am hoping and praying that the rehab and physical therapy can get us to a place where we can compete in all performance events safely, but we'll see.
I know that things could be so much worse and that it certainly won't be the end of the world if we aren't able to compete in certain events, it's just that I had such big dreams when I welcomed Falkor into our home and hearts. And obviously none of this makes me love him any less. Falkor is my heart and I just adore him. I am just saddened at the thought of not being able to do everything I intended to do with him. Who knows...maybe everything will be just fine and all this worry will be for nothing....I can only hope.
2 comments:
I totally understand your feeling of disappointment that you might not be able to do everything you've dreamed of doing with him. But, you never know! There's always hope.
Thank you so much for your comment about Layla. I really appreciate all the positive vibes, and here's a bunch for you and Falkor! {{{{{{{{{{{}}}}}}}}}}
I'm hoping for you guys that it's just a matter of a little more time to get him 100%! It's hard when you're staying that length of time in the face at the beginning, but then the time goes by and it's well worth it. It sounds like you guys have such a solid rehabbing plan that I just can't seem him NOT recovering. Hang in there!
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