Claire Steyert

So I gate crashed the LARP weapons workshop that Kieran arranged at Skian Mhor.  Not that I went to make LARP weapons, been there done that and never used them.  I just like to go and play with all the workshop toys that Sean has and to pick his brain on making things.  So what did I make, strangely only one thing, I decided that I want to get into making nice leather collars for the dogs. So I spent all weekend designing and making a dog collar for Tara.  I didn't quite get it finished at the workshop the colour and buckle were put on last night at home so if you were at the workshop this is how it looks now.

I also came a way with a pair of demon wings  (bought) and a set of horns that Sean made and I painted up and loads of ideas of other things to do.  I also have a mould to make greyhound shaped ornaments as well.

Poor Tara has not had a good weekend of it. On Thursday evening her operated on knee swelled up and she stopped using the leg. It looked like it had picked up an infection and the fluid leak (knee fluid) became a lot worse.

Graham took her to the vets who checked that the stitches and knee cap were all still keeping the knee in place (they are). It would appear that she has picked up an infection in the wound and is now on antibiotics and they did not take the stitches out yesterday as planned. Today is check up day to see how the antibiotics are working, so hopefully that will be good news.

The big problem is that between the two stitches on the bendiest point of the knee the wound is refusing to close up and looks quite nasty. This is where the knee fluid is leaking from. It starts to heal up and then Tara squats to pee, gets up to eat etc and we have a sudden gush of fluid (mainly clear with a bit of blood in sometimes). I think that it is also happening when she is asleep as I keep finding damp patches on her quilt as well. It is winding poor Tara up something chronic and I am so worried about her. I hate to see her hopping around refusing to use the leg when we had seen such great progress before. She also seems constantly restless and won't settle, which is winding herself and us up as well.

She is also quite stressed by the fact that it gets in her fur (mainly on her side) and is constantly trying to clean it off. Tara loves to be clean and hasn't been able to get in the bath since her first operation. If I see it leaking I get a hankie and catch the fluid under the wound but I am not around all the time. We are also brushing her every day but that doesn't really get rid of the small.

Now we also have a missing cat. Cisco did not come in on Sunday night but he does sometimes choose to spend the night out but then is always waiting to come in first thing in the morning. In the morning he was no where to be seen and Graham had a search around but found no sign of him. The neighbours saw him at 11:30 on Sunday night but he has not been seen since so we are very worried about him.

I am finding it hard at the moment to keep things together as I have so many things to do and too much stress.

Well that was a bit of a rollercoaster weekend. On Friday Tara was in at the vets to have her leg x-rayed and have the kneecap problem fixed. Graham dropped her off at the vets in the morning and we got the call at 3pm to say that she could be picked up at 4:30. I left work early to meet Graham at the vets and arrived first. I could hear that Tara was there from the squeaking from the back and after a short wait Jeff (Tara's surgeon) brought her out to me, or maybe she brought him out not quite sure. She was quite dopey and kept looking round for Graham. I was shown the x-rays both the ones after the original op and the new ones. The bone is healing up fine though it is taking a bit longer on the horizontal cut and there is a bit of extra bone formation forming round the edges. The plate is in solidly and the front cut is almost completely filled. They did the sewing of the kneecap muscle – this time with normal stitches rather than the ones that dissolve so they will need to come out in 10 days. Jeff is happy with how it was all progressing and we should be able to start the intensive physiotherapy in 2 weeks time. Tara was again sporting a large bandage that was to be removed in 3 to 4 days. We booked for the Tuesday as that is the day that Jeff is at Linlithgow and Tara is not as scared of the vet's surgery there not having been left.

Graham arrived a bit later having been held up in traffic and we took Tara home with instructions to keep her resting. As she was still very groggy this was all she wanted to do. Zak was a bit wound up but otherwise fine.

So it was a quick dinner and then out to celebrate my birthday at a Ceilidh in Edinburgh. Despite the car acting up (not consistently firing on all cylinders) we managed to arrive early and collect our pre-ordered tickets. I noticed that they didn't have a lot to sell on the door so a few texts later and we had bought some for those running late as well. It was a good night and there was lots of dancing and drinking and talking to people. I felt honored that friends from the far flung locations of Elgin deathlyphil and Essex halonic had also come to join us. I also got to meet someone new who I think that I should have met before given that she knows loads of my friends. Thanks to kashandara for joining us. Thanks also to my more local friends who came along and I hope you all had a good time.

Saturday was much quieter and relaxing (needed after the Friday night). After lunch we took Zak along to Crammond for a run and on the way back popped in to see Michelle and her greyhound Jet to help with his socialization as we were new people for him to meet. The meeting went well and he seems to be making progress so some more socilaising and he should be a relaxed and confident dog. We had a bit of a problem with Tara trying to pull the padding out of the inside of her bandage but I wrapped a crepe bandage round the top which seemed to work. Fluffy stuff is only tempting to tug when it is visible.

Sunday Fiona, Andy and my parents were coming round to take me out for a birthday lunch. Fiona and Andy arrived early so they could come on the morning dog walk. They slipped Tara out to the end of the road and when she got back her bandage had slipped and was pressing on the stitches. A quick call the emergency vet and he said to take it off and put a smaller one on. So with Fiona and Graham holding Tara down and Andy handing me scissors and bandages we managed to get it off and a new one on. Poor Zak had to wait fro his walk though he did get one eventually. We arrived back just as my parents were arriving and then headed out for lunch which was very good. By the time we got back Tara had her bandage off again. So again it was re-done and we drank coffee and all chatted for the rest of the afternoon. Tara on the other hand does not believe that there is anything wrong with her leg so was jumping up, spinning round on her back legs and doing everything she wasn't supposed to do when not being sat on to keep her calm.

Suffice to say that Tara has now learned how to shred bandages, and had it replaced twice that evening. I also appear to have come down with a stinking cold so was not feeling in the best of moods either.

Monday morning I woke up feeling dreadful to find that the overnight (very light) bandage was shredded and there was bloody knee fluid everywhere. I phoned my boss and arranged to take the day off. We phoned to book the car into the garage and Ray said to bring it strait in. Graham then phoned the vet and we took her in to be looked at. She is terrified of going into the vets surgery and squeaked and shook with heart hammering in the waiting room. The vet decided that the leg would be fine without the bandage and that there wasn’t any damage though he wanted to take a sample of the fluid. Of curse there was none at that point so he gave us a sterile swab and instructions (so I managed to get a sample later when it started seeping again).

Everything was a bit calmer in the afternoon and I managed to get some sewing done. The car was diagnosed as having damp engine coils, a common problem with Renaults. These were dully replaced and we had the car back at 5pm.

So lots of nice birthday stuff stressful dog stuff and not a lot done all weekend.

Just heard that Tara is out of surgery and the vets feel that it has gone well.  She is now in recovery and will spend the night at the vets on a morphine drip and we will collect her on Saturday morning.  At the same time we should be speaking to the vet who will be doing Tara's physiotherapy and learning what to do, exercises etc.  Now begins the long healing process.

So now I just have to worry about getting her into the car tomorrow morning.  I hope the vets will show us how to lift her without causing damage.

I should now be away to get ready for the work Christmas party tonight.

Tara has now had her x-rays and the vet has confirmed that the right knee is perfectly fine but the left knee has a cruciate ligament injury. The fluid sack is burst and there are the beginning signs of cartilage damage.

The vets have recommended that she have the Tibial plateau levelling osteotom TPLO. So Graham and I have made the decision that she will go in for her op on Friday.

We should get her back on Saturday morning. One of the vets at the surgery is an expert in dog physiotherapy so will be showing us some stretching exercises for the leg. The vets are also happy to refer us for hydrotherapy as this should help in the recovery process.

Good thoughts for Tara on Friday please. I trust our vets but I still find this very scary I am currently sitting at work trying not to cry as I work in an open plan office.