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.

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.

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.

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.

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.