My dog is so lame….

So we thought Holly was finally on the mend, and then on Thursday night she went out for a final pee and saw a cat in the parking lot and took off after it. She managed to undo all the healing she’s done and came back unable to put her right, front paw on the ground.

We went to the vet on Friday, and she confirmed that nothing is broken and she has torn something in her carpal (wrist) joint. In an ideal world she would be put on total “crate rest”- in the crate 24/7 unless she’s going outside to pee or poo, but that is just not feasible for her sanity or ours. So we’re going to try and do what we can to let her heal by keeping her as quiet as we can inside and immobilizing the joint as much as we can when she’s outside for very limited walks.

We have gotten her a “wrist wrap” that wraps and supports the joint while she’s in the house, and she’ll wear that all day and just take it off when we go to bed. And we’ve also got a full carpal splint that goes from under the paw to about half way up her leg and straps tightly to keep the joint immobile and supported, and she will wear that  whenever she goes outside.

She’s not crazy about it, but she already seems to be getting used to it and is putting weight on that leg when she’s wearing it. We took a very gentle stroll around the short church block this afternoon and she did very well.

We will continue the Rimadyl that she is on, and I will probably also give her Benadryl during the day when she’s in the house alone (this is the vet’s recommendation to mildly sedate her).

It’s gonna be tough, but with luck we can get her back to (or close to) normal 🙂