Poor Murray. His kneecap is dislocated and he will most likely need surgery to correct it.
I’m waiting to hear from the vet, but it looks like the earliest we can get him back in is next Tuesday. It’s just awful to see that he’s in pain (and has been for several days already).
Comments
90 responses to “Murray Needs Knee Surgery”
Our dog just dislocated her knee too and had surgery on Friday. It requires quite an extensive recovery period – luckily you guys work from home! Crating a dog for six weeks is no fun!
Awwww poor guy!!!! i know how you feel, my doggie had some issues awhile back and it made me soo sad to see her hurting!
Oh, I’m sorry to hear Murray is feeling less than 100%. It’s just awful when a pet is sick. Hopefully the surgery will be successful in making him better :)
Our Boston Terrier, Esther, had surgery on both her knees about 6 months ago. She is a very active puppy, so the most difficult part was keeping her from running around and such during recovery. She seems mostly impervious to pain, so luckily we didn’t have to feel guilty about that.
It’s tough, but Murray will be better before you know it. Good luck!
do you have an emergency care vet? that seems like an awful long time for both Murray and you to have to wait :(
p.s. i’ve been stalking your lovely blog for a while now, it’s about time i left a comment :)
Is it a luxating patella? It’s funny, we adopted our dog, Jersey a few weeks before you adopted Murray, and Jersey had LP surgery literally one week after we had our first baby. Her recovery took 12 weeks (my entire maternity leave), but I am so thankful we were the ones who adopted her. There was no questioning whether she would have the surgery, and I had the time to spend with her when she needed the attention. Hang in there, dogs are worth every ounce of effort :)
By the way, her recovery was way better than anticipated, and she is 100% back to normal almost 8 months post-surgery :)
So sorry to hear about Murray’s knee. Burger sends him lots of suspicious sniffs and a few semi-friendly growl barks for good measure. Feel better Murray!
Oh, he looks so sad! Poor little guy. And poor you, too. Caring for an ill pet is stressful.
oh that poor baby :( give him extra smooches for me. i hate seeing sad animals.
Marybeth, yes it’s a luxating patella. I’m glad to hear your dog recovered so well! We’re worried that we’ll go through the surgery and it will happen again or that he won’t heal properly. Luckily I AM home all day to look after him.
My dog, Josie, had to get her patella reattached when she was under a year old. It was a tough surgery but she recovered beautifully. She is about 8 years old today and you would never know she had this surgery long ago.
When you first bring your dog home it will break your heart to watch him be confused and uncomfortable. We were shocked though how quick it took Josie to start moving around on three legs and be able to use the bathroom outside.
I hope your furry love recovers quickly.
Aw! Poor poochie! We send hugs and good surgery wishes. Hang in there – it’s tough seeing your pet go through something like that.
Oh my goodness, look at that sweet face! Poor baby. Hope all goes well with the surgery and recovery.
Oh no! Poor baby. I hope he feels better soon. At least he has a comfy and stylish spot to lay down.
Oh, poor Murray! Our last dog was a frequent vet visitor, so I’ve been there. Give Murray lots of hugs and treats from me.
Aw, poor little guy! Like many of the other commenters, my pooch had the exact same thing happen and we got the surgery. He is still recovering from this past summer and has difficulty jumping onto things, but he is just a seven pound poodle. I’m sure Murray, being larger, will have less difficulty getting around. :)
I’ve heard that pouring salted water on the area helps temporarily. Hope he gets better !!
I totally understand your concerns! We had a long list of physical therapy exercises for the dog, and we followed them to a T for the first six weeks. After that, we relaxed a bit as the main portion of the healing was complete.
You can be thankful Murray is a mellow dog to begin with. I think that will help immensely as you approach your due date and try to keep a healing pup happy :)
Aw, I hope he mends up soon! I just had to take one of mine to the vet yesterday for several things. This morning she’s starting to get back to her normal self.
AWWWW. What a sad sad puppy. And I’m sure he has no idea what’s going on too. I hope he feels better soon!
Oh, he just looks so sad. :( Poor Murray.
Sending you and the pup nothing but good vibes. She is such a beauty. Well wishes!
Poor little guy!
His eyes are adorable!
Sabine
Oh Nicole I have been a lurking reader for ages but had to comment & say poor Murray, hope he gets better soon.
Poor baby! I hope the vet is able to give him something to help with his pain – you could try baby aspirin (not sure of the dosage).
Poor pup! We recently had to take our Cavalier in for hip surgery because it kept dislocating. She is back to normal now, and I am sure Murray will be back to normal soon after!
May I ask where you purchased this lovely zig-zag pink rug?
your pup is adorable! i hope he gets well soon!
Poor Murray! Hopefully he recovers quickly.
Is there not an emergency vet around there? That is so sad! :(
Get Well Soon Murray!!
Poor Murray :( Sending him lots of get wells, treats, and kisses!
My dog hurt a disc in his back and we had to keep him on bed rest for several weeks. The hardest part was to keep my independent guy from running, playing, and using the stairs when he started to feel better.
Get Well Soon Murray!
Poor little guy!!
Hope he gets well soon after the surgery!
Meanwhile, is he taking any pain medication?
Sometimes vets overlack it… If he’s not, as dogs and cats can’t deal with human ones (they’re quite poisonous to them), it’s probably better to fetch a prescription.
Anyway, i know how nerve-wrecking it is to have an ill pet.
Best of luck. I’ll keep him on my thoughts!!
Yes, the vet gave us something for the pain. It does help, but then he’s more active and we have to keep trying to get him to rest! At least he feels better though.
Awwww…poor puppy!! It’s the worst when you pet is ill :(. Hope he feels better soon!!!
So sorry to hear about Murray. Hopefully he will have a quick recovry. He’s lucky to have you home to take care of him
Take care,
Lisa
sending you healing energy and hoping for a quick recovery.
Poor baby. Get well soon.
Oh my gosh poor Murray! Hope everything goes well…he is too cute! What kind of dog is he?
Aww, poor thing! We’ve been there. Our bullmastiff Lucy (my not-so-little munchkin) had a torn ligament in her left knee and had TPLO surgery in 2007. Our vet told us it will only be a matter of time before the right knee goes too :( Fortunately, she recovered really well and we had no problems with her bothering her staples or anything. Pups really are quite pathetic when they’re convalescing (we were quite pathetic too with all the baby talk and extra spoiling)…the first couple days are the worst but I think they forget about their injury more quickly than we do!
Good luck with surgery and I hope Murry recovers quickly!
My dog, too, had surgery for her knee. There were two things that ended up helping us quite a bit with the recovery. Hopefully Murray won’t try to get at his bandages/sutures, but we ended up having to get an alternative e-collar. It was horrible watching her try to sleep with a big cone on her head. So, we got one of those soft ones. The other thing was an x-pen for inside the house. I didn’t want to crate her the entire time, so it was a good mix between having her loose and have her contained. Just thought I’d share.
I agree with not giving too much pain killer. It can mask their pain and allow them to do things that they shouldn’t do in the mean time. A little is ok, but not too much!
I’m surprised your vet didn’t refer you to someone else would could operate sooner. Waiting a week seems pretty cruel when an animal is in pain.
Sorry to say, but my vet would not be my vet anymore if they put off surgery for a week. There are plenty of vets out there. Perhaps you should make some calls and get the little one out of pain sooner.
My heart goes out to Murray. My rabbit had a luxated patella and the surgery was wonderful~! I also work at an animal hospital and we have an orthopedic specialist so we see this all the time. Poor guy! Give him lots of love for me and email me if you have any questions :)
Poor Murray! I’ll go home and hug my puppies for him. Maybe it will help a little.
I hope he’s better soon, this photo makes him look so sad:(
Oh poor pup! I’ve been following your tweets about him. I’ll hope for a cancellation and you can get him in soon.
Until then give him some extra love and cuddles.
Poor guy! I know i can’t stand it when my pup is in even slight discomfort! It’s so hard on everyone.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery Murray. XXOO
poor sweet baby. hope he feels better soon. keep the good thought.
I have been following your blog for a while and love it! I’ve never commented before, but poor little Murray made me want to wish him all the best for his surgery, he looks like such a sweet little one.
Keep up the wonderful job with the blog and good luck with Murray! S.
oh no, poor murray! he is so lucky that he has such wonderful parents to take care of him. i’ll be thinking of him and wishing you guys nothing but the best!
Poor Murray… My parents cavalier had to have the same surgery. That was 5 years ago and he’s been doing great ever since he recovered. You’re probably already doing this
but lots of chew treats or a new toy seem to really help distract them from the pain.
lots of love and hugs to Murray…I hope he heals well.
I hope Murray recovers quickly! He sure is a cutie! It’s hard to see our pets in pain.
On another note I just noticed that you have a smiley face in the flowers at the bottom of your screen.. How very cute. :) Has anybody else noticed?
screen was supposed to be page… I have pregnancy brain. :D
Oh NO! Here’s wishing a speedy recovery from all of us (especially Miss Maggie) at the shore house.
awww poor Murray:( My heart goes out to him. Sending thoughts your way for a safe surgery and a quick recovery.
I hope he’s feeling better soon!
Poor thing! We are sending good thoughts his way and hopes for a speedy recovery.
Oh my gosh- too cute!! So sad that he’s in pain! He is soo adorable!
Feel better Murray!
Hugs to Murray!!!
From,
Slappy, Pokey, Beans & Sassafras! (My 4 rescue doggies)
oh no! poor murray. i hope he is feeling better soon!
Oh no! I hope he feels better soon!
Aw, poor pup! Hope the surgery goes well and he heals quickly!
Brutus sends his dog love to Murray! Hope he get’s better fast!
Get well soon Murray! He looks so sad. Sounds like his condition is one that other dogs have recovered well from though, so don’t worry too much, he’ll be OK!
Aw poor Murray! i hate seeing dogs be sad :( And that’s insane that you’re going to have to wait a week to get him into the vet…i’d have to agree with the other poster that said that vet would not be my vet anymore.
Poor Murray!
I’ve been reading you for a while but don’t know if I’ve commented before. My dog had to have patella luxation surgery two years ago. I think, from what you are saying, that Murray is having the same thing.
It’s really tough to not be able to do anything about their pain. Make sure they give him the pain patch the day before the surgery. I found a lot of great info about healing, keeping them occupied when they can’t run around, and general advice on Yahoo Orthodogs Group — I think that’s the name.
Good luck to you both and please keep us updated.
Poor Murray! He sure is cute & I wish him a speedy recovery.
Our Murphy had that surgery when she was just shy of a year. Actually they did both knees at the same time so she wouldn’t favor one. Both knees would come out of their socket all the time. It was so sad because she would hop over to you and lean on you while you tried to put it back in place:( I am happy to say that she is now 10 and just now starting to limp if she runs too much. It is amazing how well they bounce back and it was well worth the surgery. Good luck.
Get well Murray!
He looks like such a sweet pup:)
I know this doesn’t have to do with this post, but could you recommend a few places to order card racks like you used in stationery shows? Thanks so much!
Get well soon Mr. Murray! Get well soon!
That just breaks my heart!
Sending good thoughts to Mr. Murray! What a cutie-it would be awful to see him in pain-but he’s obviously got good people taking care of him, so he should recover just fine.
Poor Murray :-( But I’m sure after he has the surgery, he’ll recover fine and he’ll be as good as new :-)
Good doggie vibes from our crew to yours!!
Kelly @ DesignTies
Poor Murray! Sending good thoughts your way. My Kyla has to have surgery next Wednesday to remove a suspicious lump/tumor thing on her back. I’m so nervous about it, so I definitely sympathize!
Oh look at that sad face…get well soon Murray!
believe your vet when they say “no activity”. I used to work in a vet clinic, and the leading cause of problems following this type of surgery (I am assuming cruciate ligament) was people who “felt sorry” for their dog and let it out of confinement “just for a while”, and the dog reinjured the leg. Pretty reliably the outcome of feeling sorry and disregarding the vet….
good luck!
aww. i’m sure you’ll be giving him a lot of attention and he’ll probably be very happy to have so much love =) let us know when he’s better!
You should definitely check out http://www.orthopets.com. They make custom braces to treat injuries such as Murray’s. We had a brace made for our dog (per our vet’s recommendation), who was unable to go through surgery, and it has been amazing. She is 100% recovered. Check it out and best of luck!
Oh, poor Murray. I hope everything will go well and that the recovery will be speedy.
I’ve read your blog for awhile and just had to chime in. Our 15-year-old dog Bob came down with a luxating patella a little over a year ago. Being 2 weeks from having my daughter, Bob’s advanced age, and a rather unpleasant hard-sell from a vet we decided against surgery. He didn’t seem to be in pain and was quite happy running around on 3 legs while we got a second opinion. We decided to just confine him and in less than 2 months his leg was fine, no limping and so far no recurrence. Congrats on the baby and hugs to Murray!
Poor Murray – I just want to give him a big snuggle! I hope he’s feeling better and doesn’t need surgery.
Thank you everyone. I wanted to give a little update on Murray…
He’s been much better, but we’ll still be bringing him to the vet for x-rays and a further checkup. He doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore though (the pain medicine has definitely helped him), and we’re hopeful that his knee may be healing on its own. We should find out on Tuesday.
All the best to your dog! The photo is so touching.