Lab results

Tana, Dr. Walker's vet tech, called today with the results of Penny's lab work. Penny has a staph infection and will need six more weeks of Baytril. They did a test, too, to determine which antibiotic would be most effective with the staph infection and Baytril is the best of what they tested.

She needs to be pilled with the Baytril -- after it is wrapped in a pill pocket.

Penny looks pitiful

Imagine that leg wrap that you saw on Friday. It reminded me of a leg of lamb wrapped in plastic. Add to that a bright blue inflatable donut to supposedly prohibit her from chewing on her leg wrap. Grand total: Penny! Then, trade that plastic wrap for a flagger-orange wrap and you get an even more woeful picture. And, to top off the color combination -- the pink camouflage blanket given to Penny by my mother.

Penny's dog walker, Amber, said Penny looks cute, but I think it's more pitiful. Penny, however, has more mobility (or thinks she has more mobility) than when I put an E-collar on her. Then, she freezes. Her peripheral vision is impacted and she's not going to move.

She's already learned to take off the blue donut. She finds a narrow place to wedge the donut into, head down, and backs up. This doesn't happen often. She only seems bothered by it when she's eating or wants to go outside.

In for a Penny, In for a pound

Penny is home from ACCES. Dr. Walker cleaned out her leg and restitched her back up. I received a bill of $580.

She was a little woozy when I picked her up. She didn't know where she was and I had to struggle to keep her moving. She stood still even when I pulled her collar. Especially when I pulled her collar. I think she was confused, not obstinate.

See her big white and blue bandage. This too may impede her walking. They told me to put a plastic bag on it when she goes outside, but they didn't give me a bag for it when I took her out to the car. So it's a little dirty -- and ragged already. It needs to be kept on til Monday. She has an appointment on Wednesday, so I may try to keep it on until then.

I did order an inflatable donut that goes around her neck from Ideal so that she won't lick her leg. Hopefully it will come in tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll call around.

Dr. Walker warned me that she'd be whining a lot tonight. And she is. It's heart wrenching.

Penny back on the surgeon's table again

Penny has not been weight bearing the past few days. At Rick's urging, I called the vet, who wanted to see her right away. I left work at 12:30 for an appointment at 2. Dr. Walker gave me 2 antibiotics -- Baytril and amoxicillin to knock out the infection that she now knows is there. She also took a culture.

Because her tummy has been upset when she's been antibiotics or pain meds, I asked for something other than Rimadyl to manage the pain. My vet, Dr. Heino, prescribed Zubrin when she needed pain meds and had projectile diarrhea during the first surgery. ACCES did not have Zubrin. So, I stopped by my vet's for pain pills. They weren't carrying Zubrin. I got another pain pill and headed home, instead of going back to work because it was already close to 5.

This morning, Dr. Walker called. She wants to reexamine the bone. Luckily, Penny hadn't eaten. I did give her pain meds and the two antibiotics. And now, I'm running to get ready so that I can drop her off before work.

Not as smooth as last time

This recovery has been different for Penny (and me). At first, she was more excited and excitable. Dr. Walker, her surgeon, said that that might be because she already has one good leg. But, she's still not weight bearing on her recently operated leg -- again, because her good leg can support her better.

Because she was more excitable, she didn't rest as much. Her leg stayed swollen longer -- and Dr. Walker suggested sedating her. After four days of taking rimadyl (anti-inflamatory for swelling), Tramadol (pain reliever) and acepromazine (sedative), Penny developed ferocious diarrhea.

Now, you might think that the pills were the culprit, but Penny has a sensitive tummy to begin with and had diarrhea before I went to Montana in late August. I had just weaned her from her turkey, rice, and cottage cheese diet and was back to giving her 1/2 can of dog food (I used many different brands and meat sources) and 1/2 cup of Natural Balance allergen formula duck and potato kibble. She might be sensitive to one of the brands of canned food or developed a sensitivity to Natural Balance. Who knows? So, I called ACCES and talked to one of the veterinarians, who said to fast her for her first day, except when it was time to give her meds and then give her a little chicken. In Penny's case, it was turkey, because I know that she's sensitive to chicken. On subsequent days, I could feed her a bland diet.

I fasted her on Sunday. I didn't feel right giving her meds even with the turkey so I called her surgeon on Monday. I also stopped giving her meds on Monday, thinking that because she still had diarrhea, perhaps the pills were the cause. Her energy level was also low and she had eye boogers.

Dr. Walker called me back on Tuesday and told me that it was ok that I stop the medicine. She asked how her leg was. Her leg was less swollen, but there was some leakage and puffiness close to her ankle, I said. She wanted to see her. So, I left my new contract job after a meeting and went to see her. 40 minutes to travel to Rainier Valley to pick up the dog, 10 minutes of getting the dog, letting her pee, and putting her in the car, and 35 minutes to travel to 113th and Lake City.

Dr. Walker said that her leg looked much better and that she wanted to make sure that the leg wasn't infected by giving her the antibiotic TMS. She also suggested something for her diarrhea of unknown origin, the antibiotic Metronidazole.

I mentioned that Penny was licking more, both her leg, her toes, and her bottom. Dr. Walker looked at her bottom, said it was fine, and wondered if she was bored. I agreed. One of the things I gave her last time during her recovery were raw bones. But with her recent bouts with diarrhea, I didn't want to give her that. One of her bouts also had started the day after I gave her a bully stick, so I haven't want to give her that. She agreed. But, another difference is that she's recuperating at my house instead of spending her days at Ideal. This arrangement has some good points: she doesn't have a fracture yet on her leg and I can identify what she's eaten or not. I really like her dog walker, Amber from See Spot Run, who is a compassionate and caring person. But, I think she misses the social interaction, even when she's not feeling good. I digress...

$47 later, Penny and I left. She spent the rest of the afternoon in my car while I worked. I prepared more rice and turkey and gave her dinner, followed by little balls of cream cheese covered pills. The vet tech, Tana, warned me that one antibiotic in particular was particularly foul. I may need to stuff her antibiotics into hot dogs.