Hey everyone! Kirkie made it through Thursday's neuter uneventfully. He was better behaved than he has been at the clinic previously, even staying still for catheterization. He was also really quiet, well after surgery anyway, and then until I got there to pick him up, haha. I think my co-workers were impressed!

Funny thing is....nugget #2 dropped just in time! Six days prior to his neuter when I had him in for pre-op bloodwork, nug #2 was still in hiding. However, after shaving him for a cryptorchid neuter (oops) they discovered that both of his little 'men' were hanging, LOL. So because it was a much lower risk procedure, the vet student was okayed to do his surgery (instead of Dr. Z). She did a great job, and the site is healing up very nicely. Kirkie is not even licking, even though the shave job is probably a bit itchy. Good boy!! After his TPO he is going to look soo ridiculous with so much of his fur gone....

Okay, that brings me to the next thing. On the day of his neuter, the board-cert. surgeon (Dr. Y) was there doing a TPLO on a co-woker's pittie girl. It was a nice coincidence and enabled him to see Kirk's frog leg x-rays hot of the press and even gave him a chance to rotate Kirk's hips while he was under. Thankfully the femoral head sits well in the acetabulum (ball in cup analogy) in this position, and this makes him a good candidate for the TPO. Good, albeit expensive, news!!

Surgery is scheduled for:
Thursday, September 14th at 8:30am (Hawaii time).

We will probably do his right side first. They want to do the more severe side first, but x-rays don't show much difference between his hips – both are equally bad. However, back when his bunny hopping/limping was irregular, I noticed him favoring the right side more. On tonight's walk I tried to focus on his gait extra carefully and it still seems like the right side might be causing him a bit more trouble. We will do his other hip in 4-6 weeks, depending on recovery.

We may try post-op acupuncture for him, depending on how he tolerates it, hehe. On Saturday I asked Dr. A (acupuncturist & vet I work most closely with) if she would do one treatment, teaching me the points, and then perhaps let me take some needles home and try doing it myself. I can't afford to pay for acupuncture (after these surgeries!) and Kirkie will probably be too hyped up at the clinic anyway. She immediately pulled out her books and showed me the three main hip points, which she had actually just needled in an older pug in front of me. Then we took out one of our boarding dogs and she helped me find the points on the dog. So I think I had a pretty clear idea of the location of the points. She gave me two sizes of needles and wished me luck, LOL. I needled his left hip this afternoon and actually got him to keep the needles in for a full half an hour! I felt pretty confident in their placement and did see some drooling and his nose dripped some too, both signs indicative of endorphin release. Hopefully he'll continue to tolerate it!

Well, I think that about covers everything. Please keep him in your prayers Thursday! This is a major surgery, not without risks, and he will be under anesthesia for approximately an hour.

Thanks, PT!

Kate