GOOD NEWS

I have some good news to report about Riley Boy. When I met with the surgeon this morning she told me that she felt that his acute problem and pain stemmed from his knee cap popping in and out of place. It's called luxating. It is VERY common in Cavaliers. When Dr. Smith did the x-rays last Tues she told me that she thought the problem may be in his knee cap but she was unable to manually pop his knee cap out of place which is usually the determining factor in that diagnosis. The x-rays had shown severe hip dysplasia more severe in his left hip. When the surgeon came this morning, she was able to pop his right knee cap in and out very easily which made her change the diagnosis and type of surgery to be done. She said that his hips both have severe dysplasia and may have to be dealt with down the road but that right now his main source of pain was his right knee cap. So she did the surgery. Dr. Smith ( my vet ) called @2:00pm to say that his knee cap was indeed the problem. Riley did well during the surgery and was sleeping at the time. He is on heavy duty pain medication and was still groggy. If all goes well today, tonight and tomorrow he may be able to come home tomorrow late afternoon. He will contine to be on morphine for a few more days. This surgery should take away all of his pain. Evidently it had been popping out of place and that was what what causing his severe pain. Although Riley has a luxating patella in his left knee and the severe hip dysplasia it was both Drs. recommendation to do the knee surgery today and to use medication for his hips as long as we can. So it looks like today was a huge success for Riley. The recovery time is very lengthy but not as long as the hip surgery if I remember all of this correctly. On behalf of Riley, me and Ryan THANK YOU to everyone for your prayers ( they really did work) your e-mails, phone calls cards and most of all your love and support.