Barbara Uggen-Davis

Sherlock

	Welcome to "Sherlock's Dog House."  This page is dedicated to the multi-talented master sleuth, "Sherlock."  No, not the guy who runs around solving crimes for Scotland yard.  This page is about Sherlock, who investigates everything in the back-yard.   Sherlock Stats.   Formal Education.   Favorite links.   Photos
Sherlock News

News

In late September 2004, Sherlock started limping mildly on the left leg.  On Sept 23, he came back from his walk and started limping on the right leg.  A few hours later, he wasn't putting any weight on the leg and was carrying it up and hopping around on three legs.

After seeing his regular vet and a veterinary surgeon, we had to schedule Sherlock for a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) surgery.  The surgery was scheduled for October 14, 2004.

One contributing factor to the injury is Sherlock's weight.  He weighed in at a whopping 133 lb in August 2004!  He was on a diet for the 4 weeks prior to surgery and was down to 129 lb on the day of surgery. 

Sherlock's surgery went very well.  He had a lot of post-op bruising, but it faded quickly.  For 6 weeks after surgery, we kept him in a pen in the bedroom while we were at work.  I even set up a webcam so I could watch him from my office.  He was only allowed to go outside to potty and was kept confined the rest of the time.  He was pretty good about staying put, so we let him out of the pen as long as he stayed with us.

His 2 week post-op exam was good - no bruising and only a little stiffness.  Then at 6 weeks, his X-rays came back good too.  After that, he was allowed to start taking 5 minute walks for one week, gradually increasing by 5 minutes every week. 

Not long after he resumed his walks, he started limping on his left leg again.  The vet had told us to expect he'd need a TPLO on the left leg too.  Sure enough, he needed the other leg done right away.

Sherlock had his second TPLO surgery done on January 10, 2005.  He had his first post-op exam on January 25, 2005 and was doing well so far.  His post-op X-rays were done February 21, 2005 and everything looked great.

Then in March Sherlock developed an infection in the second leg. They put him on antibiotics for the infection. 

In April, he had another set of X-rays and an exam to determine whether the infection had cleared up or if he is rejecting the TPLO plates.  The infection was gone, but the vet said that it was clear that the plates were the cause and he would continue to have recurring infections if we left the plates in.  The vet did the plate removal surgery the same day.  Following the plate removal, Sherlock had to have another couple of weeks of confinement, but was gradually allowed more activity.

It is now June 2005 and almost all of the fur has grown back from the plate removal surgery.  He is fully recovered and acting more like a puppy than he has in over a year.  He's even gotten to go to the off-leash dog park twice now and will continue to go all summer. 

The surgery was worth every penny and we are very grateful to have our happy, healthy puppy back to normal.  Now that he's walking again and getting more exercise, he's even shedding the extra pounds.

See how he runs in this video clip.  It's such a joy to see him running and playing again at last! Check out Sherlock's webshots photo page. for the latest photos.

http://community.webshots.com/user/sherlock159

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