March 26, 2020

Until Akeela gets her stitches out (14 days after surgery), she is only allowed out on short potty walks. We use a towel to help her down the stairs at our apartment, and she typically needs our help less first thing in the morning. By the end of the night we are all but carrying her up the stairs.

What we realized is that it is important to let her go at her own pace – or even slow her down sometimes if she gets cruising too fast. On the second day after surgery I let her walk around a bit more on her afternoon outing, but it left her completely exhausted and we could barely get her up for her evening potty walk. Although she felt like she could get up and moving, it was still a lot of strain on her remaining 3 legs. The most important thing for her to do for the first two weeks after surgery was SLEEP.

As soon as her stitches come out, I plan to meet with a rehabilitative specialist to help her recover. Although most vets find that rehab isn’t necessary since dogs recover quickly, I want to provide Akeela with as much support as I can. If there are ways to make the transition easier for her, then I am all about learning how!

Simple tasks that she used to do without thinking have now become incredibly difficult, if not impossible for her to do. Things that I never thought of before she had her surgery – such as going up and down stairs, lifting her leg to pee (yeah … she is an alpha), shaking, or circling a dozen times on her bed to curl up into a tiny cozy ball. I am hoping that rehab therapy will make relearning these day to day tasks a little easier for her.

One of the main differences that I noticed right away is that she is no longer comfortable turning to the right (she had her right front leg removed). She will only externally rotate her left leg, which makes it so she can only turn left. She is no longer an ambi-turner (Zoolander reference)! With a little treat-persuasion I can get her to internally rotate to the right, but the movement is not her first instinct.

The specialist who operated on Akeela recommended that we start a Glucosamine supplement to help her joints. I was currently already giving her a Petnc Natural Care supplement, but she also recommended Dasuquin. I’ll likely add that to the shopping list after she goes through her current supply.

Being in Colorado, I have heard a LOT about CBD lately and how it can have some major health benefits. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try, so I started incorporating this into wolfie’s daily diet as well. The instructions are to give 1 mg for every 10 lbs of weight. Akeela is approximately 70 lbs (or was before surgery), so she gets 7 mg per day.

She is taking 750 mg of antibiotics 2 times per day for 10 days. Antibiotics tend to cause indigestion, so we confirmed with the vet that it’s alright to give her a probiotic at the same time. I usually give her the Natural Dog Company brand of probiotics, but I also stocked up on Trader Joes Greek yogurt. The combination seems to help settle her stomach.