Some TLC for a Busted CCL

Our beloved Rosie may fear ceiling fans and small dogs dressed in sweaters (I'm talking to you dachshund down the street), but on the beach of Ventura she happily frolics and chases birds, unleashing her inner alpha dog.

So on New Year's Day, it was no surprise that Rosie took off running (in her own unique style, thanks to some lingering tendon damage from the hurricane). As always, she returned to us quickly but we noticed she was limping. Really limping. And during Lucy's nap, she could not hop up on the bed nor later up on the couch. Her right hind leg was just hanging there and Rosie was obviously favoring it. Thus, Matt spent the next four hours at the doggie equivalent of urgent care with a shaking Rosie to be given the dog version of Vicoden and a probable diagnosis of a ruptured tendon. What a terrific way to spend the first day of 2009.

The next day, we took Rosie to our vet who after a series of X-rays and prodding realized that Rosie has a painful rupture in her joint, or more technically a "Cranial Cruicate Ligament Injury" (the human equivalent is a busted knee, or an "Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury"). The solution? Surgery this Wednesday followed by many visits to the vet and a slow recovery. They say Rosie should be all healed in 4 to 6 months. Yep, months. 

But Rosie will get through this: after all, she survived a hurricane which left her with heart worms, a nasty skin condition, severely underweight (she was just 19 pounds when we got her and now she is up to her normal weight of 43 pounds) to being adopted by us (and living in our home with our scary ceiling fans) and finally to a brand new noisy baby. To Rosie, I'm sure this is just one more challenge.