Pets
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Torn Ligament! oh no!
So my 6 1/2 year old boxer/pit bull tore his ligament in his knee over the weekend and the vet confirmed that he needs surgery to have a fake ligament put in (i guess it's like a rubber band) 
He goes in for surgery this Thursday and I'm just wondering if anyone has gone through this and has any imput? The hardest thing right now is trying to keep him quiet cause he has a sister that he wants to play with!
Thanks!!
Re: Torn Ligament! oh no!
He will probably handle this way better than you! My dog was pretty lethargic the first week from the painkillers. Which is also a tricky...the painkillers make them think they are ok and can use the leg fully and to play! Do Not Permit!
We just have one dog, a corgi, so she's pretty small. When we could not give her 100% of our attention, she was in her pen with her cone. If I was reading our watching tv, I let her snuggle as long as she let me keep an arm around her so that I knew the instant she tried to move. As she slowly healed, I would tether her to me, but that was after about a month of healing.
Icing really helps. Some dogs don't like it. We found wrapping a bag of frozen peas several times in a tshirt of DH's would work. She would snuggle and let the ice sit.
Our dog's bruising was very dramatic. It got worse on days two and three before getting better. Dog bruises look different than people bruises. You know how,people bruises kind of look like they have depth in the skin? Dog bruises are right on the skin, and it looks like a people black eye right after the punch. But what I describe is normal...between the scrubbing to sterilize and the actual procedure, this was expected.
Swimming after her doc gave the go ahead was the best thing we could've done. It really strengthens that bad leg without impact, and the extension movement really helps. This is very important, strengthening the bad leg, because the likelihood of tearing the other knee increases a ton. One third to half depending on who you ask. Luckily my dog now loves swimming so much, and it is excellent exercise! I can't even tell which leg was operated on! Today, we made huge progress, she was running ahead of me and used her bad leg to support her weight for a few steps! Her surgery was in Sept 2011, and it really can take a year for healing to complete. The dog will never go back to 100% of where he was prior to injury, but the surgery will seriously improve the quality of life. If I had to guess, I'd say my dog is at least at 90% of where she was before injury. That is amazing to me.
Also, for the rest of his life, you must keep him in shape! Same as humans, limit food intake and proper exercise (swimming!). Also, since he will now be sedentary for two months, watch his weight...he isn't burning calories and may gain which is bad. The first few times he is permitted to run free, he might yelp or react weird, because I'm sure the knee feels so strange.
If you need support or have questions, you can page me on the Nest Book Club board.