Samson is my Spanish mastiff, who is now close to three years old. He was born with birth defects in his leg, which has caused twisting and wrinkling of his long bones in a rear leg. That has caused his kneecap to sublux to the side, and made him limp.
Over the past two years, Sam has had five surgeries on his leg to correct the issue. His orthopedic specialist vet has worked hard to avoid having to do a hip replacement as the last resort to fix the leg, and with his fourth surgery, we were finally successful. In December, he had to have some of the more recent hardware removed, as it was causing too much tissue reaction and swelling.
Each time he's had surgery, Sam gets off his feed. As in he lost 15 lbs in a week after his fourth surgery, and it takes 2-3 months to get him back to eating well again. He's been looking like a starving child from Biafra (shows how old I am), and I am surprised I haven't been questioned about neglect on him. With the hardware removal, I asked the vet and her vet tech if they would change how they did his anesthesia to a method we use on humans who get bad post-operative nausea and vomiting. They listened, I taught them how to do it, and Sam actually came home and ate TWO CANS of dog food that night. Still a small helping compared to the 5-6 cups twice a day he normally eats, but a significant improvement over what he's done before after surgery.
Sam is back to running full speed, playing with the other dogs and his toys, and in general being a goofy puppy, and he now outweighs me.
I'm glad Samson is recovering well. It's been a while since I've commented (I've turned into a lurker on most blogs I read) but the photo of you & Samson brought me out of the woodwork. So beautiful! Such love.
Posted by: Yarnyoldkim | Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 10:16
I'm so glad you have a vet willing to listen and change his SOP for Samson's benefit. Glad to hear the giant is doing so well now!
Posted by: michelle | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 13:56
All pets should be so lucky as to have a mom like you. Thanks for the good report!
Posted by: Nancy | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 10:49
Poor baby. But he is in good hands. :)
Posted by: Francesca | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 10:34
What a great photo of you two! And I'm so very glad he's doing so well!!! (It's obvious that his choice of "parent" was a good one)
(((hugs)))
Posted by: Knitnana | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 08:36
Glad to hear he's doing better!
Posted by: Amy Boogie | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 08:21
He looks like the best snuggly buddy. I just want to curl up there with him.
I'm glad everything went well with the surgeries and he is back to his normal self.
Posted by: Kelly | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 08:20
That is awesome news tho! Two is definitely better than 1 and infinitely better than none! Hope he continues to do just as well!!
Posted by: Anne | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 07:53
Poor guy, but lucky too to have you as his mom. His head is bigger than yours. He's huge! All the best to him, and you!
Posted by: Monika | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 07:27
quite the saga for the poor fella. I hope he's done with all that and goes on for many a year pain and surgery free. And happily eating you out of house and home. :)
Posted by: Chris | Friday, February 11, 2011 at 07:10