So after giving it much thought and spending an hour talking with Millie's vet, we have decided to delay the surgery for at least a month and start with putting Millie on a very strict diet to try and get her to lose some weight. Dr. Lineberger is very concerned about her recovery after surgery with all that extra weight on her. She is entirely way to obese and he would like to see a goal weight loss of 20 lbs by spring - may be an unrealistic goal for her but we are going to try our best! SO, we are going to start her on "Weight Watchers for Bullies" today and begin with a very strict diet and special diet food. I am to take her in for weekly weigh-ins to see how she is progressing.
She is going to remain on the pain and anti-inflammatory meds and as far as I can tell, she doesn't seem uncomfortable or hurting but she does struggle to walk & get around limping on that back leg. If she can at least lose 5 lbs in a month that would be awesome & then we will do the surgery - unless we see that she is in pain all the time and miserable then we will do it sooner. To us humans, losing 5 lbs doesn't seem like alot but Dr. Lineberger says you can compare it to a human losing 25 lbs so 5 lbs of weight-loss on Millie would be quite significant!
So for the next month, she has to stay confined to a small room, no stairs or slippery floors & we have to use a sling to hold up her back end when she walks outside to potty - which is easier said than done because she HATES it. Will probably keep her down in the family room and put a baby gate at the steps to the kitchen. It is going to be a rough month but it is what we have to do.
Thanks everyone for your concern and for all your well-wishes! Will keep you posted on our progress! Hugs to you all...
1 comment:
Oh my goodness! That sounds awful. Poor Millie. :(
I had to put my pug on a diet once. He was so sad. The baby just loved to eat. And I found that the "diet" dog food makes the poop A LOT because it's packed with fiber.
Hang in there! This too will pass.
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