Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Do-Don’t, Will-Won’t

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I’ve been getting some conflicting opinions on how to deal with Sampson’s recovery from ACL surgery.  The problem is the complication of the Iliospsoas Muscle strain/tear.  

DO:

When our vet saw him a couple of weeks ago she told me to help heal the strain/tear I should be stretching Sampson’s leg out.

DON’T:

When I saw the physical therapist last week, she told me you do not stretch a muscle that is strained.

DO:

The physical therapist was using the underwater treadmill with Sampson once a week and didn’t have a problem with Sampson walking for 1/2 an hour twice a day.

DON’T:

My vet said his walks could be between 15 to 20 minutes, but at a very slow pace.

DO:

When I met with the surgeon last week, I was telling him how much Sampson loved his wood walks and how I was afraid to take him up there because I was afraid he would slip in the dried leaves.  The surgeon said, don’t worry about the leaves, take him up there, let him have his wood walks.

DON’T:

I told him my concern with the wood walks was the off-leash dogs and how excited Sampson is when he sees a person or dog.  The surgeon said, don’t let him get excited and bounce around like a ping pong ball.

MY WAY

I started thinking about the time that Hubby tore a muscle in his back.  And how incapacitated he was for almost a full week while that muscle began healing.  For the first couple of days he couldn’t move at all, then gradually he began limited movement by using a walker.

I thought about what made sense to me in terms of dealing with a muscle strain, I talked it over with Hubby and we decided a course of action.

WILL:

I will continue to walk Sampson, but the walks will be very, very slow and limited in time.  I will strive to keep his walks to between 15 to 20 minutes twice a day.

WON’T:

I won’t have Sampson use the underwater treadmill.  I spoke to the physical therapist and we swapped the treadmill out for cold laser therapy.  Once the package is up, which is the end of this month, I can continue taking Sampson to our own vet to continue the cold laser.

WILL:

Once a week I will take Sampson up to his beloved woods for a walk.

That WILL be lovely Mama. The field is nice, but I LOVE my woods.

That WILL be lovely Mama. The field is nice, but I LOVE my woods.

WON’T:

I will try to choose a path in the woods where I can see people/dogs approaching and do my best to not let him get too excited.

WILL:

As soon as I can schedule it, I will set Sampson up with some more acupuncture treatments.

I will also work on getting my DIY cavaletti’s made so in a couple of weeks we can begin building his muscle up again.

I’m not sure this is the right course of action, but to me it makes sense.

I’d be interested to hear what you all think, especially if you’ve had a pet with these issues or work in the veterinary field.

Treats I Can Trust

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This post is sponsored by Jones Natural Chews.  While I have been compensated with product for this post, Heart Like a Dog only shares products and services we feel are of value to our readers and would never promote something we didn’t use ourselves.

Today we are helping our friend Flea celebrate her second blogiversary.  For those of you who don’t know Flea (I’m shocked, really I am) she is the official blogger for Jones Natural Chews.  Flea is funny and smart, she’s so good at integrating Jones into her post, that you actually forget she’s blogging for Jones. 

I met Flea last year when I attended BlogPaws in D.C.  Over the course of the past year, we’ve developed a friendship so when she asked me to help celebrate her Blogiversary with a Jones Natural Chew giveaway, I was totally thrilled.

Turns out my dogs are too.

I picked up the delivery from the front steps and set it on my interior stairs when I got home from work.  I hitched Delilah up for her walk and watched her head whip around as we walked past the package on the stairs.  Siriusly, I thought for a minute there she would give up her walk for the box.  She forgot all about that little indiscretion when I placed the box on the floor.

Holy woof, something smells amazing in here. Why did they put so much tape on there?

Holy woof, something smells amazing. Why did they put so much tape on there?

She tried opening it, but she was too slow, so I helped her out.

Siriusly, you want me to wait? What the woof is wrong with you?

Siriusly, you want me to wait? What the woof is wrong with you?

 She tried a different tactic, but I insisted we do a thorough review.

Maybe there's no tape on this.

Who staples treats?  What the woof?

Today we are reviewing Jones Natural Chews Beef Tracheas and Jones Natural Chews Lamb Lung Puffs and at the end we’re going to tell you how you can win a package of lamb lung puffs or beef tracheas for your pet.

We started out with the beef tracheas.  Guess what’s in them?

Beef trachea, that’s it!  I love a treat that isn’t chock full of stuff I can’t pronounce.  (I really can pronounce trachea, I promise.)

Sampson was first.  He’s such a good boy, I actually set the treat down and made him wait while I took a picture, but he looked so sad, I didn’t have the heart to post it.

Oh my, this is tasty. What did you call it?

Jones beef trachea you say?  Nom, nom.

Apparently it was so good, he felt the need to make sure there was nothing left on the carpet.

Yes it's true, I licked the carpet.

Yes it’s true, I licked the carpet.

I had to place the treats quite some distance from Delilah, she’s fast that one.

Well now you're just woofing with me. You're cruel Mama, very cruel.

Well now you’re just woofing with me. You’re cruel Mama, very cruel.

I shall simply say, Delilah enjoyed the treat as well, if she in fact tasted it on it’s way down.

Sampson and Delilah give the beef trachea from Jones, a four paws up.

We moved to the lamb lungs.  Guess what’s in them?

Lamb Lung!  I know, I feel like we hit the lottery and so do Sampson and Delilah!

The first thing I noticed was how LARGE they were.  Folks, these were hanging out of my treat bag.  Don’t believe me?  Look.

That's a damn quarter! See how small it is compared to the treat?

That’s a damn quarter! See how small it is compared to the treat?

Again we went with the easy dog first.  (I wanted to make sure I still had fingers to operate the camera.)

Nom, nom. This is way bigger and better then those stingy pieces you give us Mama.

Nom, nom. This is way bigger and better then those stingy pieces you give us Mama.

Yes it’s true.  I use the lamb lungs for my recall treats and I break them into bits. I know, I’m a bad Mama.

Then it was Jaw’s turn.  What?  You think I’m kidding?

You gotta be quicker than that Mama. Grass don't grow under these feet.

You gotta be quicker than that Mama. Grass don’t grow under these feet.

Dog’s so damn fast the camera couldn’t capture it. 

Sampson and Delilah give the Jones Natural Chews lamb lung puffs another four paws up.

 In honor of Flea’s Blogiversary I was working on a little ditty.  I was trying to tie it in with Delilah’s broken tooth, but I could only get so far.  Sing it to the tune of Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks.

Blame it all on my tooth, the dang thing went poof and ruined my chewing affair,
The vet seemed to know and to my mama did show, I was hoping she just wouldn’t care
But I saw the surprise and the fear in her eyes
When the vet said this tooth has to go
I said hold it right there, this just isn’t fair
There’s something I want you to know
I’ve got friends at Jones Che-ews, who make treats so good they’re better than booze.

 

I told you I could only get so far.

I also told you there was also a chance for you to win the treat of your choice, so here goes.  Leave me a comment and tell me how you think I could wrap up the end of that song.

I’m just kidding!!  Siriusly, tell me in the comments which treat your dog would like.  The winner will be determined by random.org, contest will remain open until midnight (EST) July 7th and winner will be announced Thursday, July 10th.

I want to thank my friend Flea for the privilege of helping her celebrate her 2nd Blogiversary.  It’s a real honor, I enjoy your blog immensely and I treasure your friendship.  For those of you who don’t know Flea, you can find Flea in all her hilarity HERE.
 

Today we’re joining the Tasty Tuesday blog hop, hosted by Kol’s Notes and Sugar the Golden Retriever.

 

 

Western Medicine vs Eastern Medicine For Dogs

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Where to start?

Sampson had surgery to repair a full ACL tear just over 3 months (almost 14 weeks ago).  

I heard from a lot of people whose dog(s) had ACL surgery and was told it was nothing to worry about, their dog was back to running, chasing squirrels etc in no time.

That hasn’t been Sampson’s experience at all.

Western Medicine

The surgery itself went very well.  Sampson’s meniscus was intact, so the surgeon repaired the ACL and made a slight incision in the meniscus to keep it from tearing.  One week after surgery Sampson developed a seroma on his knee, which is basically an accumulation of fluid.  This was treated with hot compresses and it reduced the seroma within a couple of days.

His six week check up and x-ray showed the leg was healing well.

And yet, he was still not putting the weight he should have been on that foot.  When the surgeon examined him he diagnosed him with a strained or sore Iliopsoas muscle.  This muscle runs from the hip to the chest and is a very deep muscle.  It’s also very hard to treat.  The surgeon put him on Gabapentin and he seemed to be doing much better.  When he checked him three weeks later he said, “I think we just have a slow healer.”

Then ten days ago I noticed he was not putting weight on his foot in the house, in fact there were times when he was actually holding it up!  I mentioned this to his physical therapist who said, to speak to the surgeon, maybe it was time for him to go back in there and see what was going on.  Her gut was telling her that something just wasn’t right.

I was very upset.  Besides the fact that I don’t want to put him through another surgery so soon after the first one, as well as the expense of another surgery, I just don’t roll that way.  As luck (fate) would have it, I had a call into my own vet about Delilah and after we discussed that issue I asked her to spend a few minutes discussing Sampson.

There’s a reason I love my vet.  Besides the fact she leans towards the holistic side, she always makes me feel better.  Bottom line, she agreed with not going back in for surgery, she suggested I keep an eye on him over the weekend and if I didn’t see an improvement, she wanted to see him.

She saw him last Monday, she checked his knee extensively and said it seemed fine, she pressed into his Iliopsoas muscle and he whipped around like he’d been pinched.  Yup, the poor punkin, his Iliopsoas muscle is hurting him.  And because of this he doesn’t place his weight properly and because he doesn’t place his weight properly, his Iliopsoas muscle is sore.   Dr. Soutter said a dog with a “Psoas” muscle issue can be very frustrating.

So what to do?

Well to start with I’m stretching his hip out twice per day.  Holding his leg at the top of his thigh and supporting the bottom, I extend the leg and then gently guide it back. 

Golden-Labrador-Mix

One stretch, then some rubbies.

Labrador-Golden-Mix

Eastern Medicine

Sometimes I was told, sometimes Acupuncture can release the muscle, and as luck would have the owner of the practice could perform Acupuncture AND he had a spot available on Thursday!  So Thursday Sampson and I headed over to our vet’s office.  Dr. Atz examined Sampson’s knee, he asked a lot of questions and then he began Sampson’s acupuncture treatment.

It was hard to see him anxious about the treatment, but I knew it was our best chance at helping him, so I did the best I could to remain calm, and keep him calm and focused.  I gave him lots of treats and lots of rubbies.

Since he hurt himself, Sampson has been hard at work on some lick granulomas, so while we waited for the acupuncture treatment to be completed, Dr. Atz gave Sampson some cold laser treatment on his Granulomas. Dr. Atz also had a pill form of Body Sore, a Chinese herb that I’ve been trying to get him to take in powder form and I haven’t been having much luck.  These pills are smaller than a Tic Tac and all fit into a slab of liverwurst and down the hatch with no problem.

Has the acupuncture helped?

 Well it’s hard to say (and I’m afraid to jinx my dog) but we went from acupuncture straight to the physical therapist and for the first time in six months, Sampson went into the vet’s office and stood on his back legs with his front paws on the counter and announced himself, not once, not twice but three times.  THREE TIMES.

Then when we got home….

Golden-Labrador-Mix

He did this.  Yes, he climbed up on his couch.  BUT I notice he’s still, at times holding that leg up.  

It’s like we’re on a hamster wheel, the Iliosoas muscle is strained so he’s not putting the proper weight on his foot, BUT by not putting the proper weight on his foot, the Iliosoas is not getting better. 

I’m not really sure what we are going to do, but he sees the surgeon again on Wednesday, so stay tuned.

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