I don’t write much about our first two babies here because I started this blog to be about Emily. Today though, it’s our first baby we’re really thinking about—Gracie. A couple of months ago, Bella started limping on her front leg—when it hadn’t improved in several days, we took her to the vet and after x-rays revealed nothing wrong, we took her home to wait it out. The doctor guessed that she had pulled a muscle, and sure enough, in about a week, she was fine. Then about three weeks ago, Gracie started limping on her back leg. We thought we’d take the same approach, but there was no real improvement after two weeks, so we took her in. Apparently, dogs’ hind legs are much easier to diagnose than their front legs, and the doctor knew immediately what was wrong.
Gracie had ruptured her cranial cruciate ligament—it’s basically the ligament that stabilizes her knee, and is said to be the most common knee injury in dogs. The doctor said if we didn’t have it surgically repaired, her knee would be unstable and her bones would begin to wear unevenly, causing a long list of other problems. We felt like there was no decision to make—she needed to have the surgery.
So this morning, Gracie rode to Gateway with us, waited in the car while I dropped Emily off, and then we headed to the vet. She has a long day, and a very long recovery in front of her! The procedure she’s going in for is called a Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA), and it will require several months of very limited activity, which will be tough for Gracie. I should hear from the doctor around noon to find out how she’s doing. We’re worried about our sweet girl!
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