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.

Catching up

Penny has one more week of antibiotics to go -- at least that's my count for 8 weeks of antibiotics. She saw Dr. Walker last week and got the ok to start walking again. Still no off leash activity, but she's up to 15 minutes.

She's back at Ideal Pet Stop during the day and with me at night. She's sneaking onto the bed when she gets cold in the middle of the night. I wake to find all the covers pulled off and that she's sprawled out on most of the bed. Me and the cats have just one corner.

She's been curious about our little house guest, Rainier, a rescue from a feral colony. He's fearful, but at the same time wants to play with Penny''s tail. Then, when she tries to play back, he runs away.

Penny last Saturday with me at a Pet Expo at Le Chic Pet in Issaquah. She was pretty well behaved -- not as good as a Delta dog, but we were there for7 hours and she did just fine. SHe was the only big headed dog there!

New headgear

Penny got her bandage off today. She was in high spirits at the vets, dancing and showing off her blueberry donut. All who saw her commented on how much more comfortable the donut must be than the white e-collar. And, dogs can see better. With Penny, she quits moving whenever you put the opaque e-collar on her.

After our adventure at ACCES, I stopped by Ideal Pet Stop and bought treats (and a new rain coat). Kirstin and I chatted while Penny lay next to Kirstin. Penny began licking her toes, which is fine, but then I saw she could reach her ankles. And the ankle/lower leg area is one of the hot spots where the infection is.

So, I just added this lovely Kong e-collar to the pile of items that I was purchasing.

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.