Well, it's been one week since the accident & Riley is healing much slower than I had hoped. She has started using the injured leg again, but just a little... mainly for balance. I read online that for every day the limb goes unused it takes 3x as long to rebuild the muscles. So, we are currently looking at about 3 weeks rehab (if there is nothing else wrong with the leg). She is going in for a follow up appointment this week and I am petrified at the thought of dealing with ligament damage. The surgery for a torn ACL is around $3,500 and that's not including therapy. *sigh*
We are currently searching for a pool we can use to help strengthen her leg.
If you (or someone you know) has a pool we can use in the CA Bay Area please let me know!
What about the ocean??? or a river/lake? I wish I had a pool to offer you, hopefully you can find one out there. May do a search for one you can rent for a while for dogs. I wouldn't worry yourself so much about being able to build her muscle back up, it'll happen eventually. Luna had a big foot injury that kept her in bandages and off her foot for a solid month... by the time it was healed she had become so proficient with 3 legs that I actually had to force her to use her other leg by putting a cap between her good toes. That way it was not comfortable to use her good foot thus making her realize she could actually use her foot again. Anyway what I mean to say is nobody would know she had been off her leg for a month if they watched her boogy these days. I know ligament stuff is different but I am sure she will come around just fine. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteAnna
www.akginspiration.com