Leo's first few days in a cast

He was very quiet his first full day home from surgery.  He slept a lot and didn't move around much.

In this picture, it was the 2nd full day home from surgery and he has managed to jump up on the couch to sit in a sunny window. 


Information about Janice is from this website: http://www.pawsability.ca/

On June 30th, we went in for a follow-up examination. Our appointment is with both Dr. Carl Porter and the lady from PawsAbility, established in 2007 by Janice Olynich, a Certified Prosthetist. Janice's early interest in animal care started when she took a part-time job at a veterinary clinic while in high school. She has an Honours degree in Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario (London, ON), then graduated in Toronto at George Brown College from the Clinical Methods in Orthotics and Prosthetics program. When she came to Toronto to study she began working part-time at Westside Animal Hospital and kept that job for seven years, while studying and later while working full time.

She proceeded to work at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in their prosthetics department. A chance opportunity to fit a dog with a prosthetic leg led to the idea of creating a Toronto-based custom prosthetic and orthotic service for animals. At our appointment she announced she will be working with pets full time, no more humans! Prosthetics and Orthotics for animals is an emerging specialty within the broader field of Animal Rehabilitation.  Fortunately, it's accessible (in Toronto) and Leo is benefiting from its services.

Here, Janice works on the initial mold for the brace. One of TVEH's vet techs (in purple) is holding Leo. Leo was a good dog. He laid patiently (for about 45 minutes) as the cast was cut off, a mold was taken and a cast put back on.

This is the resulting "mold" which I think is more for the angling because it it not used in the end product at all.

The pack at home.

Peg Leg Leo - home from surgery

Leo is home and resting.  When he saw me at the vet's office, he was so excited and didn't want to stop licking my face!  He is so cute and it was good to see him in the same good spirits he's always in!

Leo in the back seat coming home from the vet with a temporary cast and a bandage on the front leg where he had the anesthesia:

He doesn't seem to be in pain, check out the position of his hind legs! 

It's funny too, upstairs without carpet, I can hear him following me with his little peg leg. :)  He is also shaved very close so his soft tail tickles his own backside such that he'll whip around and start chewing - but just to scratch the itch.  Poor little guy.

He wears the temporary cast for 2 days then gets fitted for a custom brace which will be ready next week.  He'll have to wear that for 6-9 weeks and he's not supposed to run, jump, use stairs or rough house.  All the things he loves to do each and every day.  Unsupervised I'm supposed to confine him to a small room or cage so that he doesn't do any of the above.  He also came home in a cloth cone because he can't chew his cast but it doesn't seem to bother him yet.

I gave him his 2 daily pain medications and now he is sleeping....

This is an itemized list of what was required for the surgery:

Leo is fine!

I finally got a call-back from the vet's office but I won't be able to go see Leo or talk to the surgeon until tomorrow afternoon.  However, the lady said that Leo is currently curled up in a ball and looking at her.  I assume he will sleep a lot and be very quiet for awhile.  I'm so happy he's fine - I can't wait to hear the details so I have a better idea about recovery time.

Dropped Leo off at TVEH this morning

I cannot believe how this morning started.  I take the dogs on a good walk because I wanted Leo to get about since he will be inactive for awhile after today.  I come back and want to turn on the radio but can't only to discover that my husband had put the dog food on top of the TV stand so Leo wouldn't get it (had to fast overnight) and the MOUSE that is living in our walls chewed through at least 4 wires to maneouver its way to the top and make a mess - not to mention destroy connection to our media devices!

I tied 3 pairs of loose ends back together so I will buy replacements before my husband gets home.  I told him about it but how frustrating!  This really is war now!  Anyway, I cleaned up some then managed to get Leo to the TVEH by 8am.  He was curious as always but was nervous once the lady put a leash around his neck and he had to stay while I walked away.

I will probably have to leave him overnight but if I don't hear back, I need to call after 3pm to see how he made out and if he can possibly come home tonight.

Toronto Veterinary Emergency Hospital (TVEH)

Bailey is better, Leo not so much

I am happy to note that Bailey has healed but still aggressive with bigger dogs. He is 10 years old and still my little Poodle baby. He regained the weight he lost from the trauma/surgeries and is a healthy 18 pounds again.

Bailey the Poodle

So last month, I took all 3 dogs for their annual check-ups, to get flea and heart-worm medication and vaccinations. For a measly $530, they all got a clean bill of health!

All 3 dogs

Not so fast! Did you think I'd get away with no extra vet bills this year? Let's go big, shall we?

Leo, the Shih-tzu (Looking rather innocent, wouldn't you say?)

On Sunday evening, May 29th, 2011 less than a week after his check-up, we notice Leo is hopping around the living room. I see that there is a small puncture in the back of his leg. I clean the blood, apply antibiotic ointment and within 4-5 days it has essentially completely healed.... however, Leo is still not using his hind right leg!

I wait about a week then see my DVM on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. He says that his Achilles tendon is torn and that he'd need to refer to a specialist in order to examine further and/or fix it. If it were a simple $800 ACL surgery, he'd do it no problem. Instead, this is a rare injury where the tendon is torn, cut or otherwise hindered from use. Leo does put weight on that foot but it drops to the elbow. Basically the tendon in his calf is cut.

I wait a couple more weeks to see how it plays out since the adhoc quote for surgeries ended up being $3-4000! Yes, I should probably wait a week or two to ponder this. So I do. The leg is no worse, but no better and it's extremely sad to see him quieter than usual (although it hasn't seem to stop him from running at high speeds. He can still keep up with the poodle!).


A couple of days ago I called my DVM friend Dr. Regan Morris, who has her own veterinary clinic now Bayview Wellington Veterinary Clinic, to ask for her professional opinion. She basically explains what my DVM said and told me what the specialist will probably say.  Thanks to her, I have more knowledge and the confidence to go see a specialist.

I called the Toronto Veterinary Emergency Hospital (TVEH) that both she and my DVM Dr. Luc Lavoie at Cedarbrae Veterinary Clinic had recommended. There are not a whole lot of specialists in the GTA! In fact, once I got there, it occurred to me that I didn't even realize that there were specialists for veterinary medicine yet it makes a whole lot of sense. I just have never needed one. :)

American College of Veterinary Surgeons This fascinates me. I'll have to share with Brittany. I told Dr. Carl D. Porter, DVM, MVSc, DACVS, that my daughter is just beginning her B.Sc this fall and wants to become a veterinarian. The "DACVS" refers to being a "Diplomate" of the ACVS.

This requires 4-8 years of specialized veterinary education including at least 3 years of surgery residency on top of the veterinary college degree! After reading the information on the wall, I told the DACVS that that is a lot of school! I then calculated in my head that it is about 16 years of POST-secondary education. For instance, if Brittany were to go that route, starting her B.Sc this fall somebody could also be starting grade 1 at the same time then complete their high school and Baccalaureate degrees to finish at the same time she would be a DACVS! WOW! Obviously, a person would be in the mid-30s before practicing outside of academia. Awesome. :)

One little perk that I like about requiring a specialist (and having to pay outrageous fees for surgery) is that the doctor gives me his business card. :) I don't know about you, but I don't often get business cards of somebody with so much education and expertise. He also called me personally to set up what will happen going forward.

Leo's Appointments

Drop off Leo by 08:00am Monday, June 27th for day surgery Temporary cast will be applied at no additional charge. Whew! This is because the prosthetic person prefers to wait until the swelling from surgery goes down.

Pick-up Leo Tuesday, June 28th

Return to TVEH at 17:30 Thursday, June 30th so the canine prosthetic specialist can take a mold of his leg for a custom prosthetic device (brace). This should take only half an hour.

Tuesday, July 5 go to Paws Ability to get the custom brace put on.

Estimate for Calcanean tendon repair 

Here's the fun part!  I'm glad my DVM gave me a heads up.  I was prepared to hear and see these numbers by the time I saw the specialist.

There is a complete 20+ line item break-down but basically the low-end price estimate (for surgery only) is $2405 and the high-end price estimate is $3175.  I just paid $186.45 for the consultation to find this out.  I should get a business card!


The custom brace will be $500-700.


I'll post an update of Leo's surgical recovery....

The 3 Muskateers - Rex, Bailey & Leo :)