Roo's mysterious hair growth

[Paula]

ok this is so strange - but awesome. Roo is growing back hair on her legs! The ortho had her legs completely shaved although she had almost no hair there to begin with. Well, oddly with the regrowing of her hair her legs are furry now whereas before they were almost bare! I notice it especially on the tops of her knees where she had zero hair before.

I also noticed she seems to be growing some of the missing hair on her spine back ever so slightly. I'm baffled by it. I know with color dilute alopecia they say the hair never grows back as the follicles are damaged. I haven't changed anything really, although I stopped giving her the missing link and she now gets nupro. I've also been giving her HK Force a few days a week instead of Embark mixed with her Ziwi. She does have more bald spots on her head than before, but otherwise her coat has suddenly taken a turn for the better. Weird eh?

[Sarah]

Very bizarre!! Good bizarre tho

How is she doing?

[Paula]

She's doing really well, hun. Thanks for asking. We're at the 6 week mark next Wednesday and she goes in for her recheck on the 19th of this month which will be 7 weeks. I think they will take xrays then to check healing and pin migration. Her legs look really good. After the surgery they were really bony, you could virtually feel the pins/wires in there. Now there's obviously muscle and bone grown over them as they are much thicker and sturdier.

The only problem is her right leg seems weaker. That's the one she always lifted outside. I don't really understand why it should be weaker as she used it all the time inside, but for whatever reason, it just seems weaker. I'm thinking she may need rehab for it as she just doesn't seem completely confident on it and has even lifted it a few times which is distressing. I don't know if that is out of habit or because it just feels funny to her, I'm not sure. The ortho told me he thinks she may need rehab for it. It's definitely solid and not luxating at all which is the good news.

The crating is doing my head in. I feel it's almost too much to ask of a young dog. I have let her loose in my bedroom with the door closed a couple times this week (my bedroom is small) and she almost loses it she gets so excited. I can tell she just wants to tear around the place. She's a very happy playful little girl so that aspect has been really hard on her.

[Sarah]

Oh bless her heart!!

When can she get back to normal??

Extensive leg surgery like that on humans would normally have physio and hydro with it to build up the muscles and strengthen the tendons around it It maybe worth looking into roo having that. I know with abi hydro and and her exercises make a huge difference to how she copes on a day to day basis.

Another thing I willsay isthat she will have good days and bad days it takes a long time for full repair to happen. A whole bunch of things effect abi from cold weather to theheating and stuff so it may effect roo?

[Paula]

I'm not sure when she can have full unrestricted activity. It will depend on what the ortho thinks when he sees her for her recheck. He told me they will take xrays at that point and advise me further depending on how she has healed. I'm guessing she will have more freedom, but I'm assuming he'll likely still want me to curtail jumping and unrestricted outdoor activity, such as running and so forth.

I think she will be given more freedom in the house though. I hope, at least, because the whole thing is driving me around the bend and making me feel so guilty. I do think she is healing really nicely. It's definitely something for her to get used to because with the pinning they literally move the position of the muscles. Her left leg (the one she pretty much never lifted) has more muscle on the side. The other leg does look weaker. I watch it extremely closely outside and I've felt around on it and it definitely is not luxating at all, it's very solid, but it does seem weaker. Before surgery they were like wobbly toothpicks.

I agree with you that she will need rehab. He did mention hydro at our last recheck. Like you said about Abi, it will make a big difference. I have also read online that complete healing can take up to 6 months for the legs to be 100%. The whole thing just adds to my disgust toward irresponsible backyard breeders. It's horrible having to put a dog through this.

The good news is that she does use the leg 100 times better than before with no luxation, so yay for that. It's awesome seeing her legs straight and not bowlegged anymore.

[Sarah]

She's lucky you found her

So many things effect them! They should be able to give you exercises to increase her muscle tone as that would really help her too I think obv that's what hydro would do too!!!

[Paula]

I agree exercises will increase her muscle strength. I'll be very interested to hear what the ortho says on her recheck, I'll keep everyone posted, of course.

Oh and I feel sooo lucky to have found her! It's kinda nuts how much I love her. I'm in love with a dog. lol. She really is just the sweetest most lovable little girl. She just has a special charm about her, she's just always so happy and good natured.

[brodysmom]

Paula, so happy to see this message! I love it that she gets more hair. But I love it even more to hear how good she is doing.

I don't have any advice on the weaker leg. Once your ortho checks her out, maybe he will have suggestions on therapy. I know we had a dachshund when growing up that had a slipped disc and we would put her in the bathtub and let her swim for about 20 minutes a day.