Here We Go Again

A bit of background: Buster is a rescued American Bulldog. We liberated him from a suburban SPCA nearly three years ago. Shortly after he joined our family, we noticed sporadic limping on his left hind leg. We had a hard time getting his damaged anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) diagnosed but thankfully Companion Pet Hospital helped us with the diagnosis and finding a surgeon. We will never be able to say enough good things about Companion Pet Hospital and highly recommend them to the denizens of Philly.

We got a double dose of bad news when Buster's left ACL was diagnosed. His right ACL was torn too. Buster needed two TPLOs! Buster is large enough (70 pounds) and active enough that he couldn't have bilateral TPLO (few dogs can). His left leg was far worse--he had started to "carry" the leg, which means he tucked it up by his side on especially painful days.

So Buster had his knee repaired. We nursed him lovingly and he healed well. At the very end of his 6 months of restriction, we learned that we were moving to California! Sadly this meant we had to find new vets and surgeons. And when your family has two cats and a dog, you need great vets, techs, and staff.

Fortunately we found some wonderful people, namely, the ladies at Tassajara Vet, who helped us find our new surgeon. Buster went for his second surgery today. This morning he visited Tassajara and we decided to start a blog about his convalescence for the ladies at Tassajara Vet. And to keep his mom sane. We'll include information from Buster's first TPLO too. Please be warned that we will show post-operative pictures, which may show swelling and bruising and may be upsetting to some readers. We apologize to anyone we offend but a dog owner going through a TPLO for the first time may find this information useful or reassuring in judging what is normal in the experience.