Doggy Knee Surgery

Probably one of the hardest things to go through with our little girl thus far has been her knee surgery. While chasing squirrels in the back yard, Thelma tore her doggy equivalent of the ACL and ruptured her meniscus. After her first soft tissue injury, the nervous parents Anthony and Danielle rushed her to the vet for x-rays and it ended up being completely not serious so we tried not to panic again. Three days later while in the vet for her shots, the vetrinarian urged us to do radiographs which confirmed his fears that she had in fast torn her CCL (dog equivalent to the ACL).

Prices for this type of surgery range from $3,000 to a more affordable $1,000. Anthony and I were both a little freaked out by the sticker shock as that was exactly what we had saved for a new car. I did what any smart person would do. I got on the phone and started calling EVERY specialist that performed dog knee surgeries within a 50 mile radius.

I finally found the Jacksonville Humane Society Hospital which opened approximately a year after we adopted Thelma next door and they said they understand costs concerns especially for adoptees so Thelma and I met with the surgeon veterinarian Christian Broadhurst. He was amazing! He was able to review everything with me, go over the prices, and assure me that even though we weren't going with the most expensive surgery ($3k) that Thelma would still have a great quality of life. So the real reason I am telling you this whole story to tell you how wonderful the Jacksonville Humane Society and Dr. Broadhurst is. The day of her surgery, I dropped her off and she was a little mad at me because she was hungry but was so excited to be going on an adventure... little did she know just how much of an adventure it would be. So Anthony and I were nervous most of the day but when I got the call from Dr. Broadhurst himself at 2:30 p.m. to tell me how well she did and how much work had to be done to correct the problems with the meniscus I felt so much better. He assured me that she was resting comfortably and would be ready for pick up the next day.

I picked her up that Friday and I am so glad my friend Brenda warned me about how groggy she would be and that she might cry a little in the car. Let's just say that car ride home was the worst and I don't know what I was thinking by making plans for Anthony and I that might but after the trauma of Thelma trying to stand and walk in the backseat and then she cried and then me cried. It was awful. I will never ever never pick an animal up from surgery alone. Her are some of her pictures below:

Day 2 - Leaving the hospital after surgery

Day 4 - She was super loopy on those pain meds. You can see the love on me look in her eyes.

Day 6 - Feeling better, sitting up but still not barking at the vacuum yet. You can see her 3-4 inch scar here.

 Anyway, we are 3 weeks out from surgery and our little champ is doing great. She has a gnarly scar and the hair on her leg hasn't grown all the way out yet but she is walking like a champ and even walking more than she did before the initial injury. We have a long way to go but this member of our family will be around for years and years and years. She'll be a great big sister to a human Bennett baby someday.