Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Home again

Penny just got back from ACCES. She's putting weight on her operated leg already. It's shaved and discolored and looks awful. She's supposed to be wearing a cone, but I forgot it at the hospital. I may stop in at Ideal Pet Stop and ask Kirstin to order an inflatable e-collar if she starts licking her operated leg.

Prior to running up to ACCES to pick her up. I set up the X pen again. I just gave her a Tramodol, a pain killer. She's sacked out now, in the cage. I'll be next to her for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Busy week for Penny

We've had a busy week. We spent the last week in MT.

I painted my parents' hallway, stairway (Dad helped), living room and dining room while Penny lay close to me or wandered into various rooms looking for some pets. Mom made Penny her favorite meal (rice, turkey, cottage cheese) every day and got me a latte every day. I first moved furniture, wiped down walls, spackled (Dad did), cut in the corners, and finally painted. Whew.

Penny got to go outside every few hours. My parents have a backyard that has three sides of fencing, and Penny quickly learned to stay in that area. We played ball (she has lost her retrieving abilities), chase, and she rolled on her back with her feet in the area. Penny even got to go visiting my uncle Lew and aunt 'Vina. Elvina asked that she stay on her own little carpet, but Penny really wandered to explore the old house.

I think Penny liked having more people around. I think she was disappointed to leave.

But leave we did. We drive through 102 degree weather, thunderstorms, and a rain gush to get home. Actually, we stopped outside Cle Elum when my windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the rain. We stopped at a rest area and listened to the rain, wind, and thunder, grabbing a little shut eye. We arrived home at 2:30 this morning,

And today is another big day for her: we got up at 8 and went to Animal Critical Care and Emergency Services for her 2nd surgery. I am waiting for the after surgery phone call now.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Penny's better

Penny is feeling better, eating white rice, ground turkey, and cottage cheese. I'll say this much -- she's not pooping as much, which is good. Her energy level has been down until yesterday when she acted like she had not been getting much exercise -- which is correct. She danced on the leash, kind of a crazy 8, to let me know she was better.

So, today, we went for a walk around Seward Park and I started incorporated a few kibbles with her bland food. I want to exercise her fairly strenuously today and tomorrow because we're going on a road trip to Billings. 12 hours straight through, but I haven't decided yet whether we'll do that or not. We leave on Sunday and I still don't know all I need to get done before we leave.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Night at the Vet's

Penny hasn't been feeling so good. She's had diarrhea since Tuesday and she started vomiting on Thursday. I fasted her a day but she still had diarrhea. So, on Friday, I took her in to Rainer Vet. Rick and I walked with her to get urine samples and we already had a little bit of what she had vomited up.

Come to find out, Rainier Vet had just started taking appointments rather than being the world's greatest walk in clinic. But they made room for an appointment for Penny at 11:30. Penny was acting funny after we left so I let her walk in the parking lot. She had what I call projectile diarrhea. I gathered a sample there. Then, we drove around on errands until 11, when we headed to the vet office. Got caught in Blue Angels traffic, but got there around 11:35.

At the appointment, Dr. Heino took her temperature, which was normal, palpitated her tummy, which caused discomfort but not great pain, and checked her hydration. Penny lay on the floor, not even rolling her eyes to keep up with the conversation. Dr. Heino wanted to take her for a few hours to run an x ray to check for obstruction and to rehydrate her. I left, feeling forlorn and that I was abandoning my little girl to the great medical establishment.

I called as requested between 4 and 4:30. Dr. Heino wanted to keep her overnight to keep giving her fluids and keep an eye on her.

I started calling about 8:30 to see if she was all right. I kept getting the answering machine. At 9:00, I talked to the receptionist, who said she'd have Dr. Heino call me back. At 11, I called again. After some scurrying around and other noises, she came back to the phone to say Penny could be home.

When I got her, I also got 3 different medications to give her, along with instructions to feed her a bland diet of white rice and turkey and cottage cheese. I also am to limit her water to a few seconds of drinking at a time.

And that's where we are. I just took her out for her morning constitutional, fed her, gave her a little water, and now she's sleeping. I will drop her off at Rick's when I have an appointment this morning.

I am sure she is on the mend.