Surgery

A few weeks ago, Maddy was playing with her pal Bucky and hurt her right hind leg. She was hopping a bit, holding it up. She seemed to walk it off, and we thought perhaps she had a muscle strain. So we took it easy and she got markedly better, but not 100%. She walks and runs pretty well but only at a moderate pace, and cannot play with her pals. A visit to the vet and some X-rays revealed she has a knee problem common in toy dogs: Medial Luxating Patella. Basically, her knee cap slips out of position easily and is in fact mostly out of position. A good description of the condition is here.

Maddy's right hind leg is Grade 3, and if not corrected, can lead to distorted bones and/or soft tissue injury. So, as much as we hate to put her through surgery, we decided it had to be done. The success rate is very high, the surgeon is a specialist with an excellent rating and record. Recovery to 100% is 6 to 8 weeks. We'll be reporting on progress here. She goes in tomorrow morning early, and comes home probably Tuesday late afternoon. She's a strong little girl and we'll be working to help her get to her full feisty self.