denali-tplo surgery day 1 post op

We brought Denali in on Friday, 8/24/12 for her surgery. She made it through anesthesia just fine, the surgery was "textbook" and went really well according to the surgeon tech. We got to pick her up on Saturday morning. She was pretty looped up on drugs, which was weird to see. They also shaved a ton of her back/leg/etc. We weren't expecting to see so much hair gone, but it'll grow back. There was a bandage on her leg in case the sutures leaked a little. They actually did sutures on the inside that eventually dissolve. This way, we won't have to go back in to have them removed and she won't be as tempted to lick at them. 

She sort of seemed happy to see us but then laid down on the floor and had to be coaxed into getting up to go to the car. However, with the help from a sling, she was already putting weight on her leg! The tech said that was a good sign. She couldn't quite figure out the backseat of the car so this was most of the drive home:

Poor baby!! We made it in and tried to just make her as comfortable as possible. It was hard to see her in pain and she spent time whining today. However, once she was able to go to the bathroom, she seemed in better spirits. Oh, and as long as both Luke and I were sitting with her on the floor, no more whining. :) Of course, she has no issues with eating. A lot of dogs will lose their appetite post surgery, but not Denali. She's up for any kind of treats and scraps you want to pass her way.

The surgery she had is: Tibial-Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) and is the common surgery done with this type of injury. Basically they shaved her tibia (shin bone) to make it level (instead of at a slant like it is in dogs), rotated it then attached everything back together with a metal plate and screws. This allows dogs faster recovery time and they are able to get back to daily activities without long term effects or a need to be on meds forever. So in a few months, she'll be back to running and jumping and playing (fingers crossed!). Unfortunately, they say that 30-50% of dogs end up with the same injury in the other leg, sometimes quickly after recovering from the first surgery. We are praying this is not the case, but aware of the chance. So this is day 1 post op: