Some X-Rays of Tycho

I got a disc of Tycho's hip X-rays from the surgeon so I thought I would share them. First off for comparison this is an x-ray of good dog hips.

And Tycho....ouch

But alas he is bionic now, and soon he will be better than new!

His recovery is going well, but we need to wait until his bone grows into the implant before he can get back to any sort of an active lifestyle. 6 weeks after the surgery (we're 2 and 1/2 weeks in now) we will repeat the x-rays to assess how quickly his bone is fusing with the implant. He is going stir crazy from cabin fever and I'm sure he is packing on the pounds thanks to grandparents who are giving him more treats than ever! Luckily the grandparents are leaving town next week and we get get Tycho on a proper diet.

Tycho update and pics

Tycho has been home from the hospital for 4 nights now and he is doing very well. Almost too well. He's no longer thrilled with the idea of being locked in a pen all day and wants to get back to his usual job of patrolling the house. Unfortunately, he needs to be confined and only taken out on leash for pee/poo breaks for the next 2 months! Towards the end of the 2 months we are able to start incorporating short leash walks. He is walking very well, the right leg was operated on, and he even stands on it while lifting his left to pee! (I cringe when he does that). Tyke is still a bit grumpy with Kepler (who incidentally will be a patient himself next week as it is time for his neuter) but other than that his is pretty happy.

At home his first night.

The shave job seems a bit excessive, I guess they wanted to make the left side even

A sleepy drugged-up Tyke

A look at his incision (remember Tyke, chicks dig scars!)

Unhappy in his lock-up

The Bionic Dog!

Good news to report. Tycho had his surgery today and everything went as well as could be expected. After a sleepless night, Tyke and I had an early morning. I dropped him off at the specialty hospital in Langley at 7 am. Around 3:30pm I heard the good news that he made it through the 2 hour anesthetic and surgery well and was finally recovering. He will stay at the hospital overnight for monitoring, and should be ready to come home tomorrow afternoon. It will be a lonely night without him, but I am so relieved that this surgery is finally over. Thank you to all his aunties for all your support and good wishes.

Why does time go so slow...

...when you're really worried about something.

It's official! Tycho will be having his surgery on Monday, October 18th. Yes thats right, 5 days from now. This is what I wanted for him, I should be (and I am!) thrilled, but of course now that it's happening, all I do is worry. I haven't slept well the last few nights because it's all I can think about. I'm worried about his anesthetic, I'm worried about how well the operation will go, I'm worried about his recovery... but, by this time next week, he will be back home with me, new hip and all! Please everybody cross your fingers, send out good thoughts and think of Tycho in your prayers over the next week so that everything goes smoothly for him.

I love my puppy!

I must say that I was a proud mama last weekend. Faren, Heather and I all took our dogs to Hope on Saturday to give sheep herding a try. All the dogs did great! It was fun to try something different with my dog. I had not idea what to expect from Kepler, but he was a star. When he first entered the pen he didn't seem phased by the sheep at all, and it wasn't long before the instinct tester asked me to drop his leash and let him do his thing. He chased the sheep around, and when one left the herd he made sure to bring it back to the group. Herding is definitely something I would like to try again with him, both of us had a fun day!

To top off the weekend I brought Kepler to my football game on Sunday. It was his first game and I was worried that he would get bored and bark a lot, or dig, or chew, or do any one of his many annoying puppy habits. But he surprised me and was a perfect angel the whole time. There were kids playing around, people yelling and running past, balls flying and nothing set him off. He was rewarded with tons of attention, a bully stick, and a romp on the field after with Beezer and Amigo.

After such a great weekend he must have been feeling pretty full of himself so he decided to lift his leg and pee like a man for the first time! What a proud mama I was!

A photo from our herding day, movie to follow when I have more time to load it!

Everyone cross your fingers!

Today Tycho had his surgical consult at Boundary Bay Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Langley. My dad and I took him out to his appointment, and we met with Dr. Geoffrey Hutchinson for over 2 hours. He answered all of our questions and explained all the benefits of the new hip joint model that they will be using for this surgery. After meeting with the doctor a lot of my fears of the unknown went away. The doctor was very experienced and extremely knowledgeable. And if that wasn't enough, the man who designed the hip joint, not to mention numerous other human and dog joints, will be flying in from Zurich for the first two cases of surgery that Dr. Hutchinson will be performing. All sounds good right! Well here is the catch, they only need 2 dogs for this study. That is 2 dogs that will get the amazing discounted rate for surgery. We're talking $2500 instead of $7000! Before today I thought that there were no other dogs in the running for a spot, but it turns out that Dr. Hutchinson is evaluating a few other dogs for this study, and will choose the two best candidates for the study. Everyone please cross your fingers for Tycho as it will be a great opportunity if he gets chosen.

On a side note we confirmed Tycho's diagnosis of Addison's disease last week and he is now being treated with prednisone. Since being on the pred he is without a doubt a new dog. The dog who refused to walk more than a couple blocks now pulls on his walks and goes for over an hour very happily. His energy level is higher than it has been in over a year and he is doing great. Addison's disease does create a higher anesthetic risk for Tycho, but if properly treated he should do fine in surgery.

Just so Kepler doesn't feel forgotten about I should tell everyone that he is heading to Hope tomorrow for his herding instinct test. I am very excited to see what this so-called Border Collie mix does with sheep. He is 5 and a half months now and I think he is ready to play with the sheep!

Look how grown-up

Sad announcement, Kepler's friend Salt broke his femur a couple weeks ago, he is now recovering very well, but the boys can't understand why we won't let them play together anymore

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw him in his kennel like this, he lay like this for hours!

Turns out he might just be a German Shepherd!

On Friday Tycho had an ultrasound. His recent blood work showed some concerns for his kidneys and liver so I wanted to make sure everything looked ok before he undergoes his total hip replacement surgery (hopefully next month!). Thankfully his kidneys and liver looked good on ultrasound, but the big surprise was that the radiologist could not find his adrenal glands. Well she found something on one side that looked like a very small, misshapen adrenal gland, but nothing on the other side. This indicates he might have Addison's disease, a blood test will confirm or deny this diagnosis next week. If he does have Addison's disease it could explain a lot of Tycho's symptoms, including stunted growth! Thats right, my little Corgi Shepherd might not be a corgi afterall. Maybe he is just a shepherd that was stunted in growth during development. It could also explain his bad skin and coat, vomiting episodes, lethargy, muscle waste and a host of other things that have plagued my poor boy. I don't know a lot about Addison's yet, but I've been doing a lot of research since Friday.

Some of my token favorite Tycho photos for today!

Puppy Tyke (definitely a German Shepherd)

Zeus and Tycho

He's often goofy...

...more goofy

...but occasionally handsome