By Leslie Elmore, Member
Since I was a little girl, I longed for a Newfie. Finally, in January 2018, I was in a place to make the commitment, and I picked up Moses—16 pounds of pure love! My boys were both in college, and I needed company and something to take care of. He has brought me more happiness than I could have imagined.
He has been such a joyful addition to our home. We took obedience training classes together beginning at about 3 months; at about 5 months, we went up to Benita’s home in Dandridge to try water training. He loved it. We continued to spend time on the lake and in the water together that first summer.
By Fall, I was noticing that he seemed to have a little bit of a limp when he walked. I watched him for several months and kept wondering if I was imagining the limp. He did not seem to be in pain at all, and the limp did not appear every day. Finally, in January I took him to the vet for an exam to see if I was indeed seeing things or if he was limping. She performed an exam and x-rays.
The x-rays showed slight hip dysplaysia. I was quite surprised at this news! She advised that he may need to have TPO surgery to prevent further movement and also to mitigate hip replacement in the future. Because Moses was nearing a year old, we had to make a decision quickly. This type of surgery must be performed to reposition the pelvic bone before arthritis sets in and most often before the dog is a year old. Unfortunately, Newfs are quite prone to hip dysplaysia. My vet recommended I follow up with UT College of Veterinary Medicine or Dr. LeeAnn Blackford (a local referral only surgery specialist). I wanted to use Dr. Blackford because I had used her in the past with a cat, but she was totally booked for a few months, so I went with UT.
I met both with the surgeon and the physical therapist at UT. They performed additional x-rays and confirmed my vet’s suspicion of needing TPO surgery on Moses’ left hip. Again, time was of the essence, so we had to make a surgery decision within a few days. We decided to take the advice of the experts and have the surgery. They explained the surgery procedure and told us that Moses would spend the night and would walk out with me the following day with the assistance of a lift up harness. He would need 6-8 weeks of physical therapy and would need to be crated for the same time period unless right with us. We had to prepare both physically and mentally for the next few months. They assured us that all would be fine and he would go back to the same dog he was before.
About a week after our initial meeting, I took Moses in for surgery. I was met in the lobby area, and a tech took him back to the pre op area. She assured me that they would call me as soon as he went into surgery. He was supposed to be taken back around noon. By 2:00 pm, I had not heard anything, so I called to check in. A bit later, an assisting surgeon called me back and reported that all was fine and that they were behind schedule because they “had a little problem with the operating table.” She said that they had to “go get a table that they use for the tigers at the zoo.” She indicated it was a little problem and nothing to worry about. She said Moses was fine and that I could come see him the next day.
Around 6:30pm the night of surgery, I received a call from the primary surgeon who was in the operating room. He said that he had some good news and some bad news. He proceeded to tell me that they had performed the TPO surgery and it seemed successful, but when they looked at the post-op x-rays, they noticed that Moses had a broken femur on his right side! He would be performing a second surgery in the morning to repair the femur! As you might imagine, I was quite upset. Through tears, I asked what had happened. He had no explanation. He said that he thought his students were playing a joke on him with the x-ray. Unfortunately, it was not a joke. He told me he just had no idea what had happened. He said the break looked like Moses had been hit by a car. He claimed that Moses was never left alone; they just could not explain how he walked in with me and ended up with a broken leg. He assured me that he had interviewed anyone who had contact with him during his time at UT, and nobody could explain how his leg became broken.
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Moses had surgery to repair his broken femur the next day and had to spend another 2 weeks at UT. I was able to visit him daily. When I finally brought him home, he was not able to walk on his own. I had to keep hold of the lift up harness anytime he stood up. Moses weighs about 150 pounds. Now, instead of 6-8 weeks of physical therapy, we were now facing about 12 weeks of sessions 2-3 times per week in addition to home sessions that we were to administer. He was on fairly heavy pain, anxiety and calming medications. I had to make a spreadsheet to keep them all straight.
We adapted our work schedules to accommodate the physical therapy sessions. He had water treadmill sessions as well as floor sessions accompanied with laser treatments at UT. At home he had stretching and walking sessions daily followed by ice treatment. We continued using the lift up harness throughout therapy. He had to stay either crated or in a small room if we were gone from home or unable to watch him closely. We slowly weaned him off all the meds. He had more xrays which showed that 3 of the 6 screws put in during the TPO surgery were no longer intact. Both the surgeon and physical therapist stated (and the records showed) that they considered the TPO surgery a failure. He was released around the second week of May.
Over the summer, we took it easy. We continued several short walks daily along with swimming since we live on the lake. As Fall approached, I began to notice a slight limp again and, Moses seemed a bit lazier than normal. I could not determine which side the limp was on. Sometimes it seemed like it was on the left, and other times, it seemed to be on the right. I spoke to Moses’ regular vet around October when he was in for vaccinations, and she encouraged me to return to UT for examination to determine what was going on. Finally, in November, I returned to UT to talk to the surgeon about the limp.
When I met with the surgeon, he physically examined Moses and watched him walk. He stated that he did not see a limp and that Moses “has a normal gait for a Newfie.” He did not perform an x-ray or other tests. I maintained that he did indeed have an unusual gait sporadically and sometimes did not want to play normally. At that point, the surgeon became quite rude and arrogant. He told me that he did not intend to provide free medical care to Moses for life and there was nothing wrong with him. I replied that #1: I paid for the TPO surgery in full as well as the physical therapy. (They did charge me initially for the femur surgery and I refused to pay for that) and #2: Moses has a vet that he sees on a regular basis and I had never brought him to UT for anything other than surgeries and physical therapy and #3: Moses was injured under their care and I had never once done anything but follow their instructions. I was never anything but cordial and respectful to them. I wanted answers as to how he was injured, but I never demanded anything or was unkind. I left there in tears and shaking with anger.
I waited a few weeks and called my vet again. She called Dr. Blackford and got me in quickly for a second opinion. Dr. Blackford performed a physical exam and new x-rays. She believed there was definitely something going on with Moses, but she could not determine if the problem was in the TPO hip side or on the femur side. She engaged Dr. Dyce at Ohio State University, who, according to her, is a premier orthopedic surgeon and a guru when it comes to dog’s hips. Dr. Dyce first thought that Moses would need a hip replacement on the right side, but after further examination, he concluded that the femur side was the problem. He believed that the hardware placed during surgery had caused infection and was not healing. Had he needed hip replacement, Dr. Dyce would have wanted us to travel to Ohio to have that done. He assured me that he had confidence that Dr. Blackford could perform the removal of the femur hardware.
We adapted our work schedules to accommodate the physical therapy sessions. He had water treadmill sessions as well as floor sessions accompanied with laser treatments at UT. At home he had stretching and walking sessions daily followed by ice treatment. We continued using the lift up harness throughout therapy. He had to stay either crated or in a small room if we were gone from home or unable to watch him closely. We slowly weaned him off all the meds. He had more xrays which showed that 3 of the 6 screws put in during the TPO surgery were no longer intact. Both the surgeon and physical therapist stated (and the records showed) that they considered the TPO surgery a failure. He was released around the second week of May.
Over the summer, we took it easy. We continued several short walks daily along with swimming since we live on the lake. As Fall approached, I began to notice a slight limp again and, Moses seemed a bit lazier than normal. I could not determine which side the limp was on. Sometimes it seemed like it was on the left, and other times, it seemed to be on the right. I spoke to Moses’ regular vet around October when he was in for vaccinations, and she encouraged me to return to UT for examination to determine what was going on. Finally, in November, I returned to UT to talk to the surgeon about the limp.
When I met with the surgeon, he physically examined Moses and watched him walk. He stated that he did not see a limp and that Moses “has a normal gait for a Newfie.” He did not perform an x-ray or other tests. I maintained that he did indeed have an unusual gait sporadically and sometimes did not want to play normally. At that point, the surgeon became quite rude and arrogant. He told me that he did not intend to provide free medical care to Moses for life and there was nothing wrong with him. I replied that #1: I paid for the TPO surgery in full as well as the physical therapy. (They did charge me initially for the femur surgery and I refused to pay for that) and #2: Moses has a vet that he sees on a regular basis and I had never brought him to UT for anything other than surgeries and physical therapy and #3: Moses was injured under their care and I had never once done anything but follow their instructions. I was never anything but cordial and respectful to them. I wanted answers as to how he was injured, but I never demanded anything or was unkind. I left there in tears and shaking with anger.
I waited a few weeks and called my vet again. She called Dr. Blackford and got me in quickly for a second opinion. Dr. Blackford performed a physical exam and new x-rays. She believed there was definitely something going on with Moses, but she could not determine if the problem was in the TPO hip side or on the femur side. She engaged Dr. Dyce at Ohio State University, who, according to her, is a premier orthopedic surgeon and a guru when it comes to dog’s hips. Dr. Dyce first thought that Moses would need a hip replacement on the right side, but after further examination, he concluded that the femur side was the problem. He believed that the hardware placed during surgery had caused infection and was not healing. Had he needed hip replacement, Dr. Dyce would have wanted us to travel to Ohio to have that done. He assured me that he had confidence that Dr. Blackford could perform the removal of the femur hardware.
So, about a week later, we returned to Dr. Blackford’s office for another surgery. She removed all the hardware (rod, spring and screws) that had been placed in Moses’ leg at UT. He went home again with the lift up harness, lots of drugs, and instructions for 6-8 weeks of at home physical therapy. Dr. Blackford and her staff followed up at first daily and then weekly to check on Moses’ progress. She even gave me her cell phone number in case I needed her.
Within a week, I could tell a definite difference in Moses’ demeanor and ability to walk more normally. In fact, we had to keep him on some calming medication for several weeks just to make sure he did not play too hard or jump. After 6 weeks, Dr. Blackford examined him again and felt we had a good result. Fast forward to November 2020. Moses is a happy and healthy dog and my best friend. Unfortunately, I don’t believe he will ever be back to his original ability to walk and hike with me as I had hoped. He still has weakness in his leg where the femur was broken. We do walk morning and evening for about 20-30 minutes. He loves the water and gets in lots of swim and play time in the summer. I am hoping that next summer we can get back to some water training. |
There are several things I have learned from this experience. The first is that Moses is one tough dog. He never cried or whined or after any of his surgeries. His sweet demeanor never changed. He went to every physical therapy session and always performed as asked. (Some of his at home sessions required lots of treats though). I learned that you need to always have a vet that understands the special care that a Newfie requires and that they are very much not a normal dog. You may have had a vet that you love who has cared for other animals, but they may not be the best for this dog. You must be able to trust your vet and rely on them for referrals when the care is out of their realm of expertise. You must ask questions and follow your gut when you feel something is wrong. Before allowing a surgery (or exam for that matter), ask about if they are equipped to handle a dog of a Newfie’s size. I learned the hard way that many are not. In fact, Dr. Blackford told me that she does not use any operating tables under a certain size, specifically because some animals are quite large and she wants to be safe. If you are taking your dog to a “teaching hospital” like UT, ask who will be primarily responsible for the care. I believe Moses had students handling him and they were not familiar with how heavy he is or just the large size and bulk in general. Several even stated that they had never seen a Newfie! I believe that either Moses was dropped while they were moving him while sedated or that he flipped off the operating table because he was so heavy. I will never know because the staff at UT has failed to ever give me an answer. Finally, I learned that I should have called some of you—breeders and SENC members experienced with Newfies—to ask questions when I just didn’t feel right.
Because UT failed to continue to care for Moses after his 2 surgeries there and because I had to get a second opinion and surgery, I filed a claim for damages with the State of Tennessee. I was awarded the cost of what I paid the breeder for him plus the TPO surgery, physical therapy, medications and the final surgery that Dr. Blackford performed. I did not want to file a claim or blame anyone. I believe what happened was an accident. Unfortunately, no one took responsibility for their negligence. I wanted UT to take care of the damage they caused. I was not trying to procure free medical care; I wanted my dog to be well. I am not sure I would ever use UT for a pet’s surgery again due to this experience. I would use their physical therapy again, as the care he received in that department was excellent.
I was asked to write this essay so that others could learn from my experience. I am happy to answer any questions anyone may have. In the mean time, if your Newfie (or any other pet) needs surgery and you are in the Knoxville, TN area, I highly recommend Lee Ann Blackford of Blackford Vet Surgery Referral. She and her staff are just the very best. She has provided excellent care for one of my cats and Moses. She is very skilled and is willing to confer with other experts to get the best result for your pet. She and her partners have a practice dedicated to surgeries and oncology only. Their website is www.blackfordvetsurgery.com.
There is a bright side to my story: Moses and I are more closely bonded than I could have imagined! He is the most loving, sweet, goofy boy ever. If it weren’t for the slobber, I would say he is just perfect!
Because UT failed to continue to care for Moses after his 2 surgeries there and because I had to get a second opinion and surgery, I filed a claim for damages with the State of Tennessee. I was awarded the cost of what I paid the breeder for him plus the TPO surgery, physical therapy, medications and the final surgery that Dr. Blackford performed. I did not want to file a claim or blame anyone. I believe what happened was an accident. Unfortunately, no one took responsibility for their negligence. I wanted UT to take care of the damage they caused. I was not trying to procure free medical care; I wanted my dog to be well. I am not sure I would ever use UT for a pet’s surgery again due to this experience. I would use their physical therapy again, as the care he received in that department was excellent.
I was asked to write this essay so that others could learn from my experience. I am happy to answer any questions anyone may have. In the mean time, if your Newfie (or any other pet) needs surgery and you are in the Knoxville, TN area, I highly recommend Lee Ann Blackford of Blackford Vet Surgery Referral. She and her staff are just the very best. She has provided excellent care for one of my cats and Moses. She is very skilled and is willing to confer with other experts to get the best result for your pet. She and her partners have a practice dedicated to surgeries and oncology only. Their website is www.blackfordvetsurgery.com.
There is a bright side to my story: Moses and I are more closely bonded than I could have imagined! He is the most loving, sweet, goofy boy ever. If it weren’t for the slobber, I would say he is just perfect!