Rob's German Shepherd Nellie Recovers From Leg Surgery
September 29th, 2009

Two weeks ago, our rescue dog, Nellie, a white German Shepherd was playing outside when she let out a loud YELP and went to the ground…she had torn two ligaments in her left leg and would need major surgery, requiring 4 full months of rehab and recovery.

Nellie went to the Stanford Ranch Animal Medical Center where her personal vet, Dr. Katrina Estes, assisted in what’s called a TPLO surgery to re-attach the ligaments to the bone, a procedure that involves literally slicing into Nellie’s leg bone. As a result, Nellie can’t put weight on her back legs for the first two weeks…that’s right, a 95 pound immobile German Shepherd lives in my house.

Here is Nellie when we first got her home Friday night. AT this point she is still doped up on morphine and getting used to the tight quarters we had to create for her recovery. Please take note of the adorable purple cast

We took the corner of our main family room and created a narrow, fluffy alley for Nellie to lay in for the first two weeks. She isn’t even allowed to stand on her own to roll over so she has to be in a tight space where we have a 24/7 view of her.

Once Nellie got settled we made sure she had some warmth on her back legs with a variety of blankets.

We also took turns getting into her  area with her so that she knew everything was okay. Nellie loves to be loved anyways so she needs a lot of hands on reassurance.

This is the view from opposite corner of our main family room…notice Nellie’s brother, Shep, in the background as he guards the front door and wonders what the hell is going on. He has been such a good boy through this whole thing!

Obviously Nellie was sent home with a variety of medications to keep her comfortable…and just the meds cost nearly $400

I, of course, also have my own form of medication to keep me comfortable.

Part of the challenge of this recovery is keeping Shep well exercised and letting him know that everything is okay…but since Nellie needs non-stop supervision, I go outside and run Shep while my wife stays in with Nellie (or vice-versa, of course).

Since we’re basically trapped in our home, it’s a damn good thing I am an awesome cook. On Saturday I made a grilled pizza for lunch.

A lot of time was spent on our family room couch…this is a picture of my feet and the TV I was watching in the background.

Another big challenge is feeding time since Nellie can’t be allowed to stand. So, my wife or I will crawl into Nellie enclosure with her and keep her comfortably laying down while she eats.

The obvious question is “what about when she has to go to the bathroom? Well, that is quite an undertaking involving both my wife and I simultaneously lifting, slinging, and leading Nellie to her bathroom area outside and then holding her back legs aloft while encouraging her to pee. I am on the Nellie Workout as I get to lift 95 pounds of dog twice per day!  Just to be safe though, we also put doggie diapers under her while she sleeps…fortunately, she’s been a perfect girl and hasn’t had any accidents yet! (Although, the day that I came back to work after this weekend, Nelly had an accident while my wife was watching over her. Better her than me!)

Since Nellie had major surgery, she occasionally has major pain. Sometimes the best way to comfort her is to just lie down with her for a few minutes and she calms down.

To pass the time, my wife and I played some UNO while Nellie listened

My wife and I sleep in shifts. On the first night, though, neither one of us was comfortable leaving the family room so I just slept on the sofa for a few hours and then my wife did the same thing.

I know what you’re all asking…what does something like this cost? You’ve already seen the prescription bill…this is the bill for the surgery.

Shoot us an e-mail for questions or comments.