When we got to the vet’s office, her vet came out first to explain what meds Chloe would need to take when and what additional precautions to take. She hadn’t been eating much there, but at least she was drinking plenty of water (good sign). He suggested feeding her a combo of cooked chicken and regular dog food for a while. He also said that she would need to be sling walked until the staples came out (2 weeks from now), but that she would only need the sling to “spot” her once she started getting used to 3 legs. Before she was brought out, he cautioned that she was still a bit woozy from her IV drip and was still getting used to walking. However as soon as she came through that door and made eye contact with me, it was all the technician could do to prevent her from just bolting toward me. I guess she just wanted out of there and I didn’t blame her. The technician passed the leash and sling to me so I could walk her out. She was practically at a jog (probably needed momentum to walk more easily) all the way to the car. The vet seemed surprised that she was all of the suddenly walking more proficiently, but I think she just needed the right incentive. After we managed to get her situated in the car, we started the slow drive back home. It was a good sign that she kept wanting to look out the window (even though it was closed and she was coned) and sitting up on her butt. She also liked leaning against the car door for support. She whined a little bit, but she is normally a whiney dog, which made it hard to tell if she was happy, in pain, worried or confused. Much like the difficulty of understanding a crying infant’s needs, as my dad pointed out.

At home we got her settled in our living room, blockaded in with my big boxes of school stuff. She proceeded to drink almost 4 cups of water and I kept having to wipe her mouth so she didn’t drip water or saliva all over the carpet. I noticed she had slight uncontrollable drooling,which was probably a side effect of the meds. Then after 20 min of being home, she started to whine incessantly. Again not knowing what emotion she was feeling, I decided to give her some of her prescribed pain meds because these were not normal whining noises. Unfortunately I had to force feed them because peanut butter wasn’t even appetizing. Another 30-45 minutes passed and she was still whining more than normal.  I thought maybe the meds were taking a while to start working or that she needed to go to the bathroom (especially after all that water).  As soon as I grabbed her leash she was up in a flash, trying to walk over to me, so excited at the prospect of a walk. I decided that her harness for car rides would be better than the sent home blue leash which inevitably ended up nearly choking her. This way I would support her front and her middle (the harness only covers the front part of her body so no chafing of the sutures would ever occur) without choking her.

When we got to our front lawn she proceeded to sniff like any curious dog, walking from lawn patch to lawn patch resting in between. We sat on the corner for a while when one of our neighbors started to strike up a conversation about Chloe’s condition. I gave her a brief synopsis of what my dog had and why she needed surgery. During this conversation Chloe would suddenly want to go over to a parts of their lawn and sniff some more (I was hoping she would finally pee).  When my neighbor headed back inside, Chloe wanted to go to the adjacent lawn and plop down to rest. I thought we should head back after her rest, but after almost 15 min of laying down I realized she will have to be restricted to where she is allowed to walk to pee. Granted, I only lived right around the corner, but her refusal to move was not good. One of the neighbors who lived in this house saw me sitting with my dog on their lawn and her fresh staples. She immediately offered to have her fiance drive me back home and at first I thought maybe we would be ok; however I soon decided to take her up on that offer since my dog was in no mood to move. We awkwardly got Chloe into their car and my neighbor’s fiance drove me back around the corner to the front of my house. I thanked him so much because I realized that if he hadn’t helped, she probably wouldn’t have made it home.  I have to consciously limit her from pushing herself too much so she doesn’t get hurt. Anyway we got back inside and immediately Chloe plopped down on the floor, and slept the rest of the day away with no more whining or restlessness.  In the end, she didn’t even pee. Guess she was still dehydrated.

Considering Chloe had her amputation only a couple days ago, I have to say I think she is doing very well. She is certainly alert and curious, but maybe a little frustrated at her inability to control her body as she once used to. Her eagerness to learn I take as a good sign, but no more unnecessary explorations no matter how much she wants to keep going!

Tomorrow I have to call the vet to give him an update on her condition.  Stay tuned for more Chloe updates!