Dan Gould Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 (edited) No, not me - it happened to Coltrane last night. (For those of you unaware of which is which, Coltrane would be the non-Weimaraner in my avatar.) He and Gracie were chasing each other when all of a sudden he came up lame with the loudest cry of pain I've ever heard from him. $1000 at the emergency clinic later and we had the diagnosis. And that's before the surgery itself, though at least we've already paid for blood work and x-rays. And poor Gracie ... she already has separation anxiety and this was the longest they'd ever been apart. And when he got home after midnight, with his leg wrapped up, she was so happy to see him yet so worried when she saw his leg all wrapped up. Now she keeps checking him out head to toe, and giving him little kisses (the kisses usually go 100-1 in the other direction). Edited April 13, 2008 by Dan Gould Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Storer Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Poor Coltrane! I hope his ACL heals OK. What's an ACL, incidentally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Poor Coltrane! I hope his ACL heals OK. What's an ACL, incidentally? Knee ligament. It's a pretty well known sports injury in humans, hadn't heard of it happening to a dog before. ACL Hope Coltrane gets well quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Sorry to hear it, Dan. Is there such a thing as health insurance for pets? That's quite a steep bill if there isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 There is health insurance for pets but we've never purchased it. We always figured that if we can live without it, so can they. But its going to be very expensive for the surgery, too. I figured most people know what an ACL is, even if they don't follow American football or baseball. Or do soccer players not tear ligaments too? I know a little of what he's going through as I had a partial tear about 12 years ago. Even that was very painful. I'm no doctor but in looking at the X-Rays it looks as though it snapped at one end, not in the middle. There's one sort of curlicue along the side of his knee but you can't find the other end of it. This will actually be his second knee surgery - his other knee had a dislocated kneecap. The best doggie orthopedic surgeon in south Florida handled that surgery, hopefully we can get this one scheduled very quickly. When its fixed and he's in the full cast, I expect that he'll be able to get around much easier than he can now. Coltrane and his worried parents thank you all for the well wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Sorry to hear about your dog, Dan. One thing about this community that has always impressed me is the willingness of members to chip in for a good cause. Knowing how expensive serious care for pets can get (and very quickly, as you point out) I'd suggest this may be just such a case. There's really no choice. You'll pay whatever it takes, I'm sure. But $20 a pop from members here could go a long way toward getting old Coltrane up and running again. ... Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quincy Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Ouch! Very sorry to hear about this. I've read it's a more common injury with dogs nowadays )I'm fairly certain the Wall Street Journal had an article about it within the past year.) Of course not that many years ago nothing could be for a dog with such an injury. Hmm, let's see, and this is the year I've been on the planet longer with a rebuild ACL as opposed to the original. Yes, I can certainly empathize with Coltrane. Get well soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Leave it to Coltrane to get a sports injury! Hope he gets over it quickly, Dan. For Gracie's sake if nothing else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Sorry to learn of this. My best to Coltrane, and hopes for a speedy and full recovery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Wishing for a speedy and full recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocispepraluger102 Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 of course, trane will be fine. we do need some big pictures when they're romping again. my dachsunds over the years have needed many of those thousand dollar surgeries(spines for the dachsies), and we havent regretted one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalupa Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Aww, poor doggy. Best of luck w/ the surgery/recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Well, we were pleased when the specialist's office called Monday and moved his appointment up from Friday to this morning, and we assumed he'd have the surgery immediately since they said to bring him in on an empty stomach. Unfortunately, the doctor told us that the x-rays that were taken at the emergency clinic were fine for diagnosing the injury but that for proper treatment he needs very careful measurements, so all they are doing today is another set of x-rays to get those special numbers. So basically, aside from finding out what exactly he injured, the trip to the clinic was like flushing money down the toilet. And we won't even know when he can come back for surgery until we go to get him this afternoon. Did I mention that this specialist's office is a full hour away? What was supposed to be a good day, the start of our boy's recovery, isn't anything of the sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Hmm. Frustrating, I'm sure. You'd think they would have given you some specifics about what was going to happen (or not happen) beforehand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hmm. Frustrating, I'm sure. You'd think they would have given you some specifics about what was going to happen (or not happen) beforehand. Very frustrating, especially since they seemed to imply that having the x-rays and blood work done in advance would save time and money. Now, as it turns out, today's visit was about $700, with another $2000 due when the surgery is performed, which, due to his schedule, won't be done til the last weekend of the month. When all is said and done, this is a $4000 injury, and your suggestion of soliciting donations suddenly looks like something I wouldn't have so much trouble accepting. But in all honesty, we all have our problems and our sudden, unexpected expenses. The only thing anyone should contribute to is the care and upkeep of the board, not the care and upkeep of a member's dog - even if he is named Coltrane. Anonymous benefactors, on the other hand .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 How did the surgery go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 How did the surgery go? won't know til late this afternoon, and he won't come home til Sunday. But the doctor told my wife that it will be really be quite a while, probably 8 weeks minimum before he can be allowed off the leash or to climb the stairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Long recovery ... I'm sure all will be glad when he's home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Long recovery ... I'm sure all will be glad when he's home. Now that I've seen the care instructions, its going to be even longer than I thought. More like 8 weeks before he can even be allowed off the leash or to climb the stairs and 12 weeks before he'd be allowed to play with Gracie. And speaking of, she is just such a sad creature, moping around the house. She just misses her brother terribly. The only good thing is that now she has stopped looking for him, or going up and down the stairs. She just stays glued to my side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 How's Coltrane doing Dan? Recovery on schedule? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted May 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 How's Coltrane doing Dan? Recovery on schedule? On schedule but slow, slow, slow. On Saturday the doctor took the stiches out and took new x-rays, he said everything looks good and he's about where he expected him to be. But we're still looking at about 8 more weeks of keeping him in his crate and carrying him up and down the stairs morning and night. Oh, and my wife told me there were no fewer than five other dogs in the waiting room who had the same injury in different stages of treatment/recovery. Now, this guy is a knee specialist so its not surprising that the owners would be taking their pets to him, but all on the same day? I almost think doggie ACLs are more at risk than wideout's and running back's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 My best wishes for a speedy recovery for Coltrane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted September 24, 2008 Report Share Posted September 24, 2008 Here's hoping Coltrane recovered OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted September 24, 2008 Report Share Posted September 24, 2008 Yeah, how's he doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted September 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2008 Coltrane is doing fine, thanks for asking. We have been letting him go up and down the stairs for about a month now, but I think we both live in fear that Gracie is going to goad him into chasing her and he is going to re-injure himself. So the end result is that we regularly try to stifle her "chase me" instincts to protect him. Now if you'll excuse me, I can hear them chasing each other up and down the stairs ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.