Saxon participating in another year in the 52 Weeks group.

He's 9 years old brought up in front of a camera and super-posable for me :-)

Happy New Year all, hoping 2021 brings more!

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Summer ... finally it feels like it late this week ... in the front yard with Saxon, by the birch tree

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that bewildered look in Saxon's eyes ...!

turns out he didn't have a cruciate ligament injury, rather a bone defect which had developed significant arthritis ... apparently (according to the surgeon) explaining the reason for Saxon not presenting as typical, specifically not limping, and I can attest to the fact that he only really limped after a very heavy walk/play session like his birthday trip to the beach mid-Dec and only for about half a day then showing no signs of pain or discomfit ... thinking about it I'd say he probably only showed signs once every 6 months or so (if that!), like he'd pulled a muscle then be back to normal ... I have been aware of not letting him go too hard, too long for ages, so I guess that's why he's been usually fine.

His other symptoms have been an enlarged hardened knee joint consisting of arthritis which has affected his sit so his leg kicks out in front of him and his toes look kinda scrunched. Having not had (or seen) a dog with a cruciate ligament injury it's hard to say ... but my local vet was sure, and the specialist went into surgery expecting to conduct a CPLO (cruciate ligament support surgery), however, once in he saw that wasn't necessary and he just cleaned up the joint.

The last question is when/where did the bone defect come from. The surgeon suggested a possibility it could have been caused by an injury as a youngster, I've wracked my brain to think of an incident that could fit, surely it would have been significant, lasting days of obvious pain that even if I hadn't been there at the time of the injury would have seen in day to day activities?

I love this big boy!
The surgeon was very complimentary about him pre-surgery, and made particular mention of his tail, which always makes me smile. I love his calm casual interactions during vet visits and his tail is the longest I've seen :-)

This photo was taken on the first evening home, Saxon was quite disorientated obviously by everything, he's now fully mentally recovered and causing me stress trying to keep him calm when going out to toilet etc. He's been fantastic with his wound so far, not showing any inclination to lick at it when I've given him stints of out-of-the-crate-elizabethan-collar-off time ... thankfully he only has 2 weeks of confinement, so that's where we are at after 4 days :-)

thanks for reading :-)

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for his porfolio?

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