Lady around the lawn at the clinic but she wouldn't go. I was pretty sure that Lady was just nervous and wasn't feeling well after her big surgery. The same thing happened with Big Uncle Colby, as I remember, but as soon as he got back home, and we removed his E-collar, he peed for more than a minute it seemed. It is truly amazing how long a dog can hold it. After walking Lady all around the park upon arriving home, Lady still didn't pee, but she did have a BM, which is very good.

Bill rubs Lady-dog's ear while holding her E-collar. The warming of the day is causing Juana to begin to shed her winter suit. Lady sits to rest.

LEFT: Lady comes in the hospital trailer. CENTER: Juana and Bill put Lady-dog's E-collar back on her. RIGHT: The look on her face shows she's hurting.

     At feeding time Lady ate almost all her food and she did take all her prescribed meds. After she ate, we took her to the park, and she finally peed, thank goodness!

Juana cleans the incision area on Lady-dog's knee. "We have to do this three times a day?!" says Lady-dog.

     Per Dr. McDonald's instructions we are to clean her incision three times a day for a week, keep Lady on a leash with very restrained exercise. We are to call the doctor if there is any swelling, redness or infection going on. If Lady doesn't continually improve or begins to look sick, we are to call as well. We understand and know the drill very well as we've gone through all this many times before. Once again we send a million thanks to Dr. McDonald, who has always donated to us his personal fee for performing these amazing TPLO (and other) surgeries on our babies!

Click here for the 3rd page of our thank-you letter.