22/04/2023
The past 18 weeks have been very odd and stressful. Kate (the younger of our two) injured her left rear leg when she and Molly decided to chase a deer we had collectively flushed on the trail we use almost every day.
They both came back in a minute or two (I mean, let's be real here, I was out of sight!). The next day Kate was showing a little bit of lameness when standing up. Leash walking only for Kate. Both were being walked together as usual.
A month later, now the beginning of a new year, Molly, who has begun her third childhood, instigated a play fight with Kate. It was a prolonged and very active event. he next day Kate was not putting any weight on her left leg. Off to the Vet for x-rays.
No damage revealed in the x-rays but the Vet thought there was a knee injury and we should see a surgeon. Easier said than done, seems there is an epidemic of dog knee injuries!
Located a highly regarded and experienced surgeon 50 miles away and off we went (now it is another month since the great deer chase injury). His opinion, "she isn't acting normally for a knee injury". Get a $3,000 MRI or highly restrict her activity for a week or so and see how she is doing. Next date available for a TPLO surgery is the beginning of April. Pencil us in for that.
Two weeks later Kate is still acting "not normally" and I'm feeling bad about the delayed surgery so I go looking for another good surgeon. Finally locate one and off we go for another exam.
Now it is three months since the injury. This surgeon says she feels no evidence of a knee injury but there appears to be a soft tissue injury to her upper thigh. Another month of highly restricted activity needed. This means no walks with Molly! Two very unhappy dogs here! Then Kate needs to go to Physical Therapy.
Now four months A I (after injury) and a 4th exam by a Vet and therapist. Agreed it is a soft issue injury but a different muscle than the surgeon thought. Here's a list of 19 massages, exercises and stretches to do twice a day for two weeks.
Two weeks pass, Kate is supercharged to get in the car to go to therapy. She gets ahead of me and climbs into the car (Kate is not big on jumping but she climbs like crazy) using her left leg to boost herself into the backseat. I can tell by the shaking leg that she has reinjured her leg. She is not weight bearing when we get to the therapist.
This time it is yet another muscle that seems to be injured. Here is a different set of 19 massages, stretches and exercises to do twice a day.
Three days later Kate finally starts using her leg again.
I do not know how long it will be until Kate can resume normal activity.
So the point of all this is that breeding either Molly or Kate has not been thought about or planned.
I am curious as to when they will go into season this upcoming time - a year or nine months after the last? Will they synchronize again like last year? Kate says she will keep us all guessing.
