Chloe didn’t sleep straight through the night (her second night home) only because she was pacing around my room letting me know she really had to pee. So at 1am I got up, put her in her harness, leash and sling and headed outside. Since I couldn’t find my shoes in my grogginess, I had the unpleasant experience of stepping in all these mushy berries that fall from our ficus tree all over our driveway and sidewalk during the summer… Chloe however, was up and at ’em and wanted to go on a walk even though we were only out to pee and it was way to early for me. She did pee for a very long time, so I was glad I took her outside (berries and all) instead of cleaning up an accident in the morning. Our cat Asieke found us outside and watched us from afar, only coming back inside after Chloe was situated in my room again.
This morning Chloe chose to stay in my room instead of moving out into the living room. It worked out better this way since I had to leave for an hour to get my teeth cleaned. My brother was home all day, so he just checked on her every 15 min. I think it was better than forcing her to move to the living room especially since she didn’t feel like walking as much today. When I took her out for her morning potty break, she let out a couple yelps (making my heart sink). I think either the pain meds were wearing off or she had soreness. Needless to say, I gave her got more pain meds. Tomorrow I have another appointment (eye doctor), so my brother agreed to keep an eye on her again. I didn’t plan for these things to interfere because I made all these appointments months before I knew Chloe was sick. I usually have to cram them all in during the summer before heading off to school again.
After I got back from the dentist (no cavities!) I thought Chloe would enjoy relaxing outside for a while because she has been cooped up indoors for the last 4 days. She just seemed to need a change of scenery because I got the feeling maybe she was getting a little depressed. So, I set up a blanket on our front lawn and we sat outside for a half an hour enjoying the outdoors. I have to say it has helped her mood because she scarfed down more chicken when we got back inside. In addition, she seemed really interested in my oatmeal. I don’t really think of dogs as oatmeal lovers, but when I gave her some, she gobbled it up! Still somewhat skeptical I made another bowl of oatmeal (I used raw oats and cooked on the stove with water and a little milk) and she ate that full bowl of oatmeal (1/2 cup dry oats makes about 1 cup cooked oats). Maybe she liked the milk in it. At least she will eat it so I will keep making it. I know milk isn’t good for dogs, so I will go and get lactaid (lactose free milk) for her later this evening. Her diet now consists of complex carbs and protein, which seems pretty good to me! Now to sneak in veggies… Just like with little kids.
On our before dinner potty break, Chloe finally pooped! She went out to pee only an hour before, but she was pacing like she had to go again (even though she didn’t drink as much water). After a pee and a few circles later, two small poops! Guess all that fiber in the oatmeal helped push things along. Plus when we were outside for the bathroom break, she got complimented on how good she looked!
On a different note, I am waiting to hear from the owners of the townhouse (where I’ll be living in for grad school) about letting Chloe live there. The townhouse next door (also part of the owner’s property) has a dog, so I hope that they take pity on a newly three legged dog. But who knows… It would be better for her to live with me since I only have class twice a week (all day unfortunately), so the other 5 days a week I could do physical therapy and core training with her. I will be moving 400 mi away from home (was only 100 mi away for undergraduate degree), so either I live with her or I hardly ever see her. I’m biased when I say this, but I think Chloe and I would miss each other more if she were not able to live with me than if I were only gone 8 hours, 2 days a week when she was living with me. My schedule will most likely change next semester or whenever I start my research project. However, I will deal with that bump in the road when I reach it.
Cross your fingers for me!
I am happy to report that Chloe slept perfectly through the night! Unfortunately I spent most of the night worrying about everything, but no surprise there. Just after she woke up, I managed to snap a smiley picture of her, which shows her sutures. This is meant as an informative picture for people with dogs who need an amputation and do not know what to expect visually afterward. Before Chloe came home I browsed through blogs reading about what to expect and came across a similar picture; sad yes, but it really helped me not be so shocked at her new body. Regardless of her appearance, Chloe gets plenty of belly rubs (above shaved line) and positive energy from everyone in my family. She seems to be much happier now that she has settled in at home.
Chloe's smiley face!
In order to get her to eat I baked her some chicken which she practically wolfed down. Guess I will be making more for some time (maybe I’ll mix some with her regular dog food as well). She is drinking plenty of water, which means we have to go on potty breaks every few hours (as soon as we get back inside she gulps down another 2 cups of water). She seems to have figured out that after her exciting 5 minute pee time outside, we have to go back inside the quarantined living room. This means as soon as we get in the house, she heads in the opposite direction of the living room wanting to avoid being blockaded in (I sit with her in the living room all day, its not like she is by herself). When I do manage to turn her around she stands completely still and refuses to budge. She then decides to lay down possibly to prove to me she’s not going in there. So I just sit in the hallway with her thinking of a way to lure her back into the padded living room. This is not something she has done just once, which one might think indicates fatigue, but rather every single time we go back into the house. She’s too smart to easily be tricked into the living room, baiting with warm chicken works best! Before amp she used to having full range of the house, so I think she just doesn’t understand why she can’t do that now (we have stairs that go up to the kitchen, a definite no no…). She’s only allowed to be in the living room during the day and in my room at night (lots of pillows and blankets always).
I am hoping for a speedy and uneventful recovery for Chloe!
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!