Penny is home and I'd like to say she's resting comfortably. But I don't know. She looks uncomfortable and I've decided to give her more pain killers and anti-inflammatories. She's on Toradol for a few days, which makes her woozy. And she's on Deramaxx as the anti-inflammatory.
Her leg is wrapped in a green bandage that I can take off when it starts slipping (it has) and she has a cone collar on. I took pictures but they're pretty similar to the pictures I took after her last surgery. She's in a cage, she's stoned, and her foot's bandaged.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Plate is out, she's coming home
In the ultrasound, Penny's pancreas looked slightly inflamed, but normal so Dr. Walker went ahead and took the plate out. Penny's had a bit of morphine but will be coming home, hopefully, this evening.
An infection was obvious when Dr. Walker opened up the knee. When Dr. Walker took out the plate, she sent a little piece of the flesh and a screw in to the lab to double-check that there's not another bug that's not responding to the antibiotic that she's on.
Dr. Walker wants to wait to see if Penny's eating habits improve before saying she needs to be treated for inflammatory bowel disease. Yay!
I said I'd go to a naturopathic vet for her diet before I put her on steroids. I need to do that for my little Horace, too.
An infection was obvious when Dr. Walker opened up the knee. When Dr. Walker took out the plate, she sent a little piece of the flesh and a screw in to the lab to double-check that there's not another bug that's not responding to the antibiotic that she's on.
Dr. Walker wants to wait to see if Penny's eating habits improve before saying she needs to be treated for inflammatory bowel disease. Yay!
I said I'd go to a naturopathic vet for her diet before I put her on steroids. I need to do that for my little Horace, too.
More complications
I dropped Penny off this morning at 8:30 am. Not bad for a night owl. I received a call from Dr. Walker, who told me that Penny looked pretty good, but asked how she was doing. I told Dr. Walker about Penny cherry picking her food, her peeing in her bed, and looking like she was a little under the weather. Dr. Walker wanted to do bloodwork.
So, while I was working my core muscles for my little back injury at PT, Dr. Walker was trying to get in touch with me. She called my house, my cell phone, and even my husband! When I finally came back to work, I had three messages on my cell phone. I called her back and she was on the phone. When I finally got in touch with her, she had results from the bloodwork.
One of Penny's pancreas chemistry values is elevated. Normal range for Lipase is about
200 - 700 U/L and Penny's is about 4 times that amount. This means she could have pancreatitis or inflammatory bowel disease.
If she has pancreatitis, she should not be anesthetized. If she has inflammatory bowel disease, one of the treatments is a low dose steroid, which affects the autoimmune system and should not be taken with antibiotics, which she needs because she currently has an infection. So, surgery would need to happen fairly quickly so that she could get rid of the infection, quit the antibiotics, and get started on treatment.
Next step: ultra sound to see if it is pancreatitis.
So, while I was working my core muscles for my little back injury at PT, Dr. Walker was trying to get in touch with me. She called my house, my cell phone, and even my husband! When I finally came back to work, I had three messages on my cell phone. I called her back and she was on the phone. When I finally got in touch with her, she had results from the bloodwork.
One of Penny's pancreas chemistry values is elevated. Normal range for Lipase is about
200 - 700 U/L and Penny's is about 4 times that amount. This means she could have pancreatitis or inflammatory bowel disease.
If she has pancreatitis, she should not be anesthetized. If she has inflammatory bowel disease, one of the treatments is a low dose steroid, which affects the autoimmune system and should not be taken with antibiotics, which she needs because she currently has an infection. So, surgery would need to happen fairly quickly so that she could get rid of the infection, quit the antibiotics, and get started on treatment.
Next step: ultra sound to see if it is pancreatitis.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Penny's next few days
Tomorrow, Penny goes back to ACCES to get her plate removed from her knee. She had developed a staph infection after her last surgery and was on a LONG round of antibiotics. Dr. Walker told me that there was a 50% chance that she'd start limping again (due to a staph infection) once she stopped antibiotics.
We stopped antibiotics and right around New Year's Day, she started favoring her foot. More upsetting: her appetite decreased and she started cherry-picking her food, having less energy, and losing some of her social inhibitions. She pooped on the sidewalk and she peed on her bed. All signs that something is not quite right in her world.
She went back on antibiotics on New Year's and I left a message for Dr. Walker or her staff to give me a call. We scheduled surgery for tomorrow.
Surgery should be simple. I'll take her in in the morning and, hopefully, pick her up tomorrow night. And, she should recover fast and be good as new soon.
Amber, from See Spot Run, will visit her every day this week. I don't know when she'll return to Ideal.
We stopped antibiotics and right around New Year's Day, she started favoring her foot. More upsetting: her appetite decreased and she started cherry-picking her food, having less energy, and losing some of her social inhibitions. She pooped on the sidewalk and she peed on her bed. All signs that something is not quite right in her world.
She went back on antibiotics on New Year's and I left a message for Dr. Walker or her staff to give me a call. We scheduled surgery for tomorrow.
Surgery should be simple. I'll take her in in the morning and, hopefully, pick her up tomorrow night. And, she should recover fast and be good as new soon.
Amber, from See Spot Run, will visit her every day this week. I don't know when she'll return to Ideal.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Penny and kids
One of the reasons why Penny is so good when she stays at Ideal Pet Store during the day is that she's eager to meet kids.
What she wants to do most is kiss little girls' faces. After seeing this picture, there's no question in my mind as to why.
Here, these three little youngsters are supposed to be snoozing. Only one little youngster is...
Friday, December 5, 2008
Penny as a pup
Synthia sent a few pictures of Penny as a pup to me. Look at her cute face. She still has that expression.
I'll be adding a few more pictures.
Penny's latest vet appointment was last Monday, Dec. 1, I think. She's off restriction but still taking Baytril to stave off that staph infection she's been fighting.
When I get back from MT (how I miss Penny and the cats!), I will take her off the Baytril. If she begins limping, Dr. Walker will have to take the plate out.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Penny's first foster mom
Penny and I ran into her first foster mom when we were at Ideal Pet Stop today. Synthia saw her and her eyes teared up. "Oh Penny," she said, "you've grown up and you're such a gorgeous girl." And, Penny was so happy to see her and her partner. She played and teased them, pulling unbought toys out of a basket and wrassling with them.
Synthia was Penny's foster mom from the time Penny was 6-8 weeks until she was about 9 months. She remembers Penny as being a little sweet bundle of love. When she gave Penny up, Penny was almost as tall as she is now, but just a stick of a girl. She didn't have nearly the big head that she now has or the wide chest. When I got her, she weighed just over 50 lbs.
Synthia clarified Penny's beginnings. The north end animal shelter (Everett? Mount Vernon??) called the Pitbull Project after three puppies were found stuffed in a backpack in a hotel room. The hotel guests had OD'd. Synthia thought that the people who OD'd were a mom and a daughter combination.
The three pups had mutilated ears. Synthia had been told they had been cut off with scissors and cauterized with lighters. How awful!
Her beginnings do explain some of her fearfulness of the unknown, but do not explain her dislike of most tall, African-American, men. Or tall men with tattoos.
Synthia was Penny's foster mom from the time Penny was 6-8 weeks until she was about 9 months. She remembers Penny as being a little sweet bundle of love. When she gave Penny up, Penny was almost as tall as she is now, but just a stick of a girl. She didn't have nearly the big head that she now has or the wide chest. When I got her, she weighed just over 50 lbs.
Synthia clarified Penny's beginnings. The north end animal shelter (Everett? Mount Vernon??) called the Pitbull Project after three puppies were found stuffed in a backpack in a hotel room. The hotel guests had OD'd. Synthia thought that the people who OD'd were a mom and a daughter combination.
The three pups had mutilated ears. Synthia had been told they had been cut off with scissors and cauterized with lighters. How awful!
Her beginnings do explain some of her fearfulness of the unknown, but do not explain her dislike of most tall, African-American, men. Or tall men with tattoos.
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