Kalli is upstaging me. 😉

She needs surgery on her injured leg. The one she hurt two weeks ago, chasing an evil squirrel.

On the day after Christmas, I called her regular vet and took the first available appointment, which was this past Wednesday. If I’d still been hospitalized my family would have taken her without me. But I got out in time to take a short nap at home, then go with to the appointment, while my family handled the leash. (To avoid jolts, jerks, and the potential trauma if she saw a squirrel.)

Her vet said he thought she obliterated ligaments, destabilizing the carpus joint (between her shoulder and paw) on her right front leg. He referred us to a specialist (who did surgery on his dogs – no better recommendation.)

She came home wearing a splint wrapped in bright purple tape and covered with a plastic bag. At first she was horrified by it. She held it out to the side like she wanted it to go away. But in short order she was getting around very well. In fact, she backed up on her peg leg at high speed when there was a goodie in the offing.

The next day we went to the specialist. The diagnosis was confirmed and she’s been scheduled for surgery Wednesday, Jan. 6.

The surgery is to fuse the joint, using a plate, to stabilize her leg. She’ll likely have a stiffened leg, but be able to get around very well. Certainly better than in the previous two weeks.

This was expected after talking with her regular vet.

What wasn’t is that she’ll then be on a 16-week program of confinement. Minimal movement is required to let her leg heal and the bones fuse.

At first the vet said a crate or cage for 12 weeks – 8 in a cast and 4 in a split. (Followed by a 4-week limited and gradual reintroduction to activity.) She’s not used to either cage or crate and this doesn’t seem like the best time to start. The vet also said keep her to one floor. But that would mean she’d have no supervision at night and since I can’t move quickly, she could get very excited and very active before I could get to her.

Now the instructions are one trip down the stairs at the start of the day, one up at the end. Outside as needed with a cover over her cast, then immediately back inside. Otherwise kept to a small space so she can’t get excited. This is going to take some figuring … Away from windows that might reveal squirrels or chipmunks or other horrors, yet where I can work, get a phone hooked up, and other comforts of home as I recuperate, too.

Kalli came home from the specialist Thursday with a new splint – blue this time. She quickly became quite adept at that, too. Yes, she would whack it against the step as she came in but that was because it was a little longer than she was used to … wasn’t it?

I’m not so sure after Sunday.

Yup, she broke the splint.

That meant her leg was bending more than it should. Called the specialist’s emergency number. They said to bring her in to check for any damage to her leg (no) and to check if the splint was really broken (yes.)

We spent five hours – five hours! – getting the splint replaced. Back home now, taking a breath before my doctor’s appointment Monday.

Then Kalli’s surgery early Wednesday. And her homecoming Thursday night.

The fun never ends. 😉

Now, how am I going to work all this into a book?