I have been dog sitting my Bichon, Angel for nearly 6 weeks now. She decided on May 19 to race out of the bedroom and her intent was to race down the stairs to the recreation room. She managed one step and tore the ACL (anterior crucial ligament) in her left knee. I had just come home from an appointment in the afternoon and went into the bedroom to put my shoes away. I heard a couple of soft cries and went out to investigate. I won’t go into all the details but I made a phone call to the Vet’s office the next day and took Angel to see the Vet the following day (Friday). She was sure Angel had torn her ACL and I had to take her back the next Tuesday for anesthetic and x-rays. The x-rays confirmed that she indeed had torn the ACL and needed surgery. The surgery was done the following Wednesday – 2 weeks to the day that Angel tore the ligament. I had just taken Angel to the Vet 2 days before she hurt her leg – she had her annual exam, vaccines, heart worm test. When I left the office – I thought that should be it for another year. Ya, right!! I don’t think I will ever say that again.

I have spent about $2000. on Angel since the day she had her annual exam. The surgery alone was $1200. The treatment is pain patches for the initial couple of weeks, rest (which Angel doesn’t understand), cruciate surgery of course, ice pack on the suture line, manual exercise of the affected leg, (I feel like I am back nursing again) NO STAIRS, no jumping, etc. I have carried Angel up and down the deck stairs for the past 6 weeks and I have 4 more weeks to go – I don’t know if I will survive. It doesn’t matter which way I go when I leave my house – I have stairs to contend with. Thank goodness she isn’t a large dog and thank goodness it isn’t winter time. It is bad enough going up and down the deck stairs when it has rained – I hang on to the railing for dear life! I have slipped a couple of times but I haven’t fallen yet.

I am getting weary of the days and I am sure Angel is as well. I have the inside stairs blocked off with a baby gate that I used when she was a puppy. I have a piece of plywood on the love seat in my living room to stop her from jumping up. She did jump on to the love seat about 3 days after the surgery – I was ready to kill her! I came home with 2 pages of instructions following her surgery – they really stress the importance of the first 2 weeks and the dog not doing anything that will undo what was done at the time of surgery. Try and explain that to a dog. I am so glad when bed time comes again – this is how I felt when she was a puppy. When I get into bed – I am thankful I made it through another day.

Angel is now putting her leg down when she walks and bearing some weight. When she runs – she still holds her leg up. I tell her not to run but I might as well talk to the wall.

Speaking of bed time – it is time for me to take Angel out for her last trip and then off to the bed room to watch some TV. I think it is raining again – we didn’t have rain for a long time and now we are getting a fair bit. Angel is making good use of her yellow raincoat these days.

Goodnight from Gail and Angel