Jeep the Dog

This morning, Jeep was all tail wags to visit her friends at Martin School.  She has yet to make it back to Thompson, Hooper, and Palombi, but don’t worry – she will!

Jeep is still limping slightly and favoring her right back leg.  Stairs remain off-limits.  After our visit to Martin, we took the elevator up to our second-floor office at Palombi where she gulped some water, chomped down some yummy beef liver treats, and slept the afternoon away.  Jeep will have to build her stamina back up before she can handle two schools in one day.

Special thanks to my husband for driving down here so he could lift the fluff ball in and out of the Jeep vehicle so she didn’t have to use her ramp.  You’re the best!

Jeep has been healing for 3 1/2 weeks and is getting a bit antsy to play with Dot Com.  Likewise, Dottie also wants to play and teases her with toys.  Of course, Jeep can’t resist a stuffie, especially one covered in Dot spit.

It is getting harder and harder to keep Jeep calm with all four paws on the ground.

Check out this video of these two buddies playing softly together.

Today marks two weeks since the Big Fluff’s surgery.  She is doing very well! Yesterday, she went to the vet’s office and had her staples removed.  She loved the Jeep ride over – she had her head outside the window almost the entire way.

When we arrived at the vet’s, Jeep was her usual calm self and didn’t seem to mind a bit as two vet technicians pulled her staples out.  Her leg is healing nicely and her fur is starting to grow back.  But, she has a long way to go before she gets her fuzzypants back!

The big fluff is doing very well five days since surgery.  She likes being outside in the cold so she has her own small spot.  We are using heavy outdoor furniture to block her in, but no doubt in a few weeks she will figure out her own escape route and then we will have to be even more creative.

We put the purple tape on this morning for a few hours to stop her from  licking her leg.  She is not licking the part where the stitches are – just the part of her leg she can reach.  If she is not careful, she will end up wearing a cone around her neck!

Here is a quick video of her taking a very short walk with me.  Of course being the friend that she is,  Dot had to check in with Jeep.

Thanks to Dr. Scot and his team at Lake Geneva Animal Hospital, our friend Jeep is well on the road to recovery.  She came home tonight and is finally sleeping.  She was a bit out of it from her pain medication.  She tends to whimper when I leave her side so guess who will be spending the night on the floor in my sleeping bag beside the big fluff?   Come on, who wouldn’t want to snuggle up with all that fluff?

Here are pictures of her surgery that went SO well!!  Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers and concern for Mrs. Fuzzypants – well she isn’t so fuzzy on one side of her pants now, but the magic fluff will grow back.  BTW Dottie Com has been very worried about her sister.  Good girl, Dot!

Dot seemed sad not to have her friend Jeep to play with her today – so was I!  Dottie kept looking out the window awaiting Jeep’s return.  Dot does have a great snuggly side about her.

 

Jeep did very well during surgery thanks to her talented vet team.

Dottie really wants to help her friend, but we can’t allow her to get too close to Jeep who is sore.  Poor Dottie, but what a good friend she is to keep watch.

Dottie and I are SO happy to have Jeep back home and doing well!!!!  Now we just have to pass the weeks and let our girl heal.  Good girl, Jeep!

This morning we took Jeep to the veterinarian for her knee repair procedure. So far so good!  We know she is in excellent hands with Dr. Scot and his team at Lake Geneva Animal Hospital!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago in the big (and only) snowstorm of the season, Dottie and Jeep were up to their usual antics of snow wrestling when we saw Jeep jump up and land at an odd angle on her back left leg.  She immediately pulled her leg up in pain and hobbled into the house. Playtime was over.

A few weeks later, Jeep was still limping and having greater trouble moving from a sitting position to a standing position.  We brought her to the vet (whom she loves) to find out what was wrong.

Through x-rays and tests, we learned that Jeep tore her CCL which is a ligament (much like a rubber band) that allows her knee to bend.  (It is similar to the ACL ligament in people.)

Tomorrow Jeep will have a special type of surgery to repair the damage.  A cut will be made into her tibia (shin) bone to separate it into two pieces then a screw will be placed in between to allow the knee to move in alignment.  A bone plate will then be attached to the screw to stop it from moving.  Then Jeep ‘s leg will be stitched up and she can come home.  In 6-8 weeks her bone will grow around the metal pieces to give her a strong knee once more.

I am thankful Jeep will get to come home after the surgery because the vet will place pain medication right into her knee so she won’t feel any discomfort for at least three days.  After that, she will have pain medication as she slowly mends.   She will have to go back to visit the vet as she recovers.

The hard part will be that there will be NO running, NO playing, No climbing, NO jumping, NO horseplay and NO working for 6 – 8  weeks.  Every time she goes outside she will have to be on a short leash.  It is very important that she doesn’t damage her leg further.  Jeep will not be able to come to school until sometime around Valentine’s Day.  No doubt she will greatly miss all of her friends at school.

Keep your paws crossed for a smooth surgery and a speedy recovery for our fluff ball!!  Stay tuned for weekly updates on her progress.

P.S.  I sure hope Dot Com gets the “NO playfighting” message and lets our friend rest.

Below is a short video of Jeep limping around the house with Dot.  We placed new carpet runners on the floors until she gets better so she won’t slip.  It also helps her hobble away from Dot when she has a yummy treat to munch.

 

 

 

 

 

Jeep and I hope you have a terrific winter break and find lots of time to relax.  You can see that Jeep is starting the relaxing part a bit early — it is exhausting to be a Santa Paws!

Jeep hopes you enjoyed your snow day as much as she did!  It is quite hard trying to get her to come back inside and warm up her frosty paws.  Maybe we should look into boots for her.