| 7/07/01 |
| We are 12 weeks and 1 days post TPLO today. Magnum continues to limp off and on. I'm not sure why, I suppose there are many things that could cause it. We're trying to rebuild muscle that has atrophied, I would imagine there is scar tissue in there that is getting stretched and there is a lot of arthritis in the joint which will always be a factor. We are still swimming 10 minutes a day. If he isn't limping by this evening, I may have the kids take him for a 10 minute walk as well. I''m trying to stretch his exercise routine slowly so as to keep him comfortable but I also want to do enough to start rebuilding the muscles. The vet pretty much said that the plate and bone are not an issue anymore. The bone is healed. To my mind, that would leave soft tissue and arthritis to deal with as far as limping. He sure does love the lake and even if all he ever does is go swimming for a little while every day, I think he'll be a happy dog. Today while we were at the lake the guy from across the street came down with his lab pup. She is almost 5 months old and ran right out in the water and got to Magnum's stick before he did. Magnum followed her in. She is black also, so it was pretty cute to watch the 2 of them. He went off in his boat with his puppy. I hope that Magnum will someday be able to walk without pain but I think it's going to be a very long road. I'm happy now that he can go swimming and do the walking that he can but would love to see some muscle come back in that leg. |