Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc.

December 18, 2007

Ellie went to see Dr. Stubbs at the Animal Hospital Center yesterday for an initial consultation. He took a look at her x-rays and did a physical exam and said she is in pretty rough shape. She has bone spurs in both knees, her joint is full of fluid, and it appears she is suffering from chronic ACL disease as well as arthritis. Her front left shoulder is also fairly painful due to compensating for her sore knees, so it is definitely important to address her knees before she causes further problems.

Dr. Stubbs has recommended that we do an orthopedic procedure to repair Ellie's deficient cranial cruciate ligaments in both knees called Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA). This is a less invasive procedure than some other techniques for stabilizing the ligament, such as Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) and Tibial Wedge Osteotomy (TWO), as it does not disrupt the primary loading axis of the tibia. The cranial cruciate ligament stabilizes the knee joint and limits the tibia from sliding forward in relation to the femur. Damage to this ligament is one of the most common injuries in dogs and can cause severe lameness. The objective of the TTA is to advance the tibial tuberosity, which changes the angle of the patellar tendon to neutralize the tibiofemoral shear force during weight bearing. Dr. Stubbs will basically make a cut in the front of the bone at the anchor point which should relieve tension and cause a decrease in swelling. He will put in a titanium cage in the gap, which screws to the bone. He will fill in the defect with a bone graft and drill holes in the tuberosity for the plate.

TTA is a relatively new procedure, but they have been doing it for the past 4 years and there have been 25,000 cases worldwide with 250 surgeons doing the procedure with huge success. Ellie's recovery will be around 8-12 weeks total and there is only a 5-10% chance of complications, which is very low for an orthopedic procedure and better than TPLO. Dr. Stubbs has suggested that we do staged procedures with Ellie, so we are going to start with her left knee and once she is fully recovered, we will do the right knee. She is scheduled for her first surgery on Thursday, December 20th.

December 21, 2007

Ellie underwent surgery yesterday at the Animal Hospital Center. They had to special order the plate because her tibia was so big, so her procedure did not happen until later in the day due to a fedex delay. Dr. Stubbs called late last night when she was waking up from anesthesia and said he was very pleased with the outcome. The TTA procedure was challenging, due to her size, and there was a lot more instability in her knee than he had even expected from her initial x-rays. Her post-op films look great though and Dr. Stubbs is confident that she will see significant improvements in her overall quality of life long-term thanks to the surgery. Her ACL was nearly completely torn and there was quite a bit of knee cartilege damage that they were able to clean up.

Ellie's bandage was removed today and she is still on antibiotics and pain medication to fight off infection and keep her comfortable. She is already wanting to bear weight on her knee, but is having a tough time at the hospital due to the slick surfaces, so they are hoping she will be ready to go home as soon as tomorrow! She does have some fairly significant bruising, but that is fairly typical after a surgery like this.

I went to visit Ellie this afternoon and she was moaning and groaning with happiness to be loved on! She kept laying her head in my lap and I could tell she was a bit uncomfortable from laying for so long because she kept shifting positions, but she didn't want me to stop petting her or leave. Everyone at the hospital is wonderful and she is getting lots of special attention!

January 15, 2008

Ellie went to the vet yesterday for a post-op check-up. Dr. Stubbs said the x-rays showed that she was healing well and he is pleased with her progress! He said her range of motion in her knee is good. She can start going up and down stairs and is able to go on walks now starting out at 10 minutes for the first week and increasing the time each week until she is walking for 15 minutes per outing. Her next appointment will be in 4 weeks and we will discuss timing of repairing her other knee at that time. We are very happy that things are going smoothly for this sweet girl and are anxious to continue her weight loss program to give her as much comfort as possible in the coming years.

February 14, 2008

Ellie underwent her second TTA procedure on her other knee on Tuesday at the Animal Hospital Center. Dr. Stubbs said everything went perfectly and it was another successful surgery! She woke up from anesthesia without any problems and they have been keeping her very comfortable on pain meds and antibiotics to fend off any infection. As usual, the staff there has been giving her lots of love and keeping a good eye on her and she should be sent home from the hospital today. Send healing thoughts her way over the upcoming months as she recovers from another big surgery!

RMGDRI has had some tremendous medical expenses lately and our funds are extremely low. You can help - Donate Now Online: http://www.rmgreatd ane.org/store/ ?show=donate% 20to%20rmgdri% 20now!!.html.

February 22, 2008

Ellie's recovery continues to go well. She is much more active and it has been a bit challenging to keep her confined since she is feeling so much better now. She is going outside to go potty a lot easier than she was before her most recent surgery. Her other leg (that she already had surgery on) was giving out at times due to weakness in her bad knee and she needed to be motivated to go to the bathroom because she was so scared she was going to fall. Now, all you have to do is say her name and she gets up and won't even let you help her anymore! Yesterday, she even decided to get on the couch by herself and maneuvered her body up there with ease. She still has her moments when she gets a bit sore and she needs pain medicine, but mostly she is doing great and is much stronger and extremely mobile with two strong knees! Ellie's weight is also down to 135 lbs and she is looking very chic.

February 27, 2008

Ellie had her staples removed today and she weighed in at 129 lbs! She had some inflammation from the staples, so to be safe Dr. Stubbs sent her home with antibiotics. Her next appointment is March 14th for another recheck. Dr Stubbs said she has good range of motion and he continues to be very pleased with her progress!

March 14, 2008

Ellie had another check up appointment with Dr. Stubbs today and he said she was approximately 80 percent healed! He gave the okay to start walking for fifteen minutes at first and then gradually begin walking her longer in 5 minute increments. He wants to see Ellie back in 4 weeks - April 16th - for her last appointment and expects her to be 100 percent healed by then! She is feeling much better and yesterday she was actually running after the other dogs! That was the first time her foster mom has ever seen galloping - usually she does a very fast walk.