One Week Post-Op... and Another Scare

Bailey and I have made it through the first week of her CCL surgery recovery, finally. Only 11 or so more to go... sigh.

Last night we had a scare (well, I did). I had been giving her marrow bones to keep her occupied in the evenings when she was restless, and last night she refused hers. This was my first real indication something was wrong. Then she didn't want any dinner. Uh-oh. I mixed some pumpkin in her food and she decided to eat it. Ok, whew. Everything must be ok then, right? Not so.

The next few hours, she seemed to get progressively more and more restless and anxious. She'd try to lie down and rest, only to jump back up a few seconds later and pace. She kept asking to go out to the bathroom, but then couldn't go when we were outside. After watching this for some time, the sudden thought entered my head that she may have swallowed a bone fragment from one of the marrow bones and it got lodged inside her. That thought sent me into a panic, thinking I'd better get her in right away to find out. Of course, this occurred at 10:30 at night, well after clinic hours.

I tried calling the clinic where she did surgery, but they didn't have an answering service after 10pm (I tried anyway... twice). I then called a clinic I've taken her to in the past that I knew had 24-hour on-call service. One of their vets kindly called me back and managed to calm me down somewhat. She had me check Bailey's gum color and test her gum capillary response, both of which were good. Her feeling was that this was likely not an after-hours emergency that required her to be x-rayed and examined immediately, although she made it clear she did not want to talk me into or out of anything. She suggested trying Pepcid AC, so I did that and decided to wait and see how the evening went.

It seemed to help... huge relief (to Bailey also, I'm sure). She started to stop pacing so much and was able to doze off and on throughout the night (which I tried to do with her). I ended up having another night of maybe 3 hours sleep, lying next to her on the floor... dressed, with my shoes on, and the leash, my coat, and the phone right next to me (just in case). A likely overreaction on my part, but I had never seen her that way and it scared me.

This morning, she was finally able to go to the bathroom and put my mind at ease. She has spent most of today sleeping, catching up from last night no doubt. And I worked from home (thank goodness they let me when I need to) and kept a close eye on her.

And to finish on another good note, here is today's picture of her incision... it looks great, except for the part where the staples popped out. Yay!


The vet clinic who calmed me down after hours and very late at night, even when Bailey was no longer a patient there (thank you!!): Woodford Vet Clinic

I Cooked For My Dog

Yes, it's true. Many people may not think this is a big deal, but for me... trust me, it is. I rarely cook for myself. Why then would I do such a thing? Good question.

After Bailey's surgery this week, I knew she may not have much of an appetite. I also knew that the anesthesia and pain meds can affect the digestive system and make it difficult for things to pass through. Plus, Bailey has always had a sensitive digestive system... one thing ingested that's out of the ordinary could send her into a few days of diarrhea easily (ask me how I know). AND, last but not least, her pain meds needed to be taken with food. My goal was to get food in her stomach that would be easily digestible and entice her to eat even if she didn't really feel like it.

Here is the result:

Sure looks appetizing, doesn't it? Well luckily for me, to Bailey it did. It was very simple (even a non-cook like me was able to accomplish it). Ingredients: cooked ground chicken (beef or turkey would work just as well), plain white boiled rice, a few scoops of canned pumpkin (not the pie mix, just pumpkin), and some chicken broth for extra flavor. Mix it all together and that's it. I just stuck it in the frig and made enough to last until I got her converted back to her regular food.

You may be wondering about the pumpkin... well, I discovered through numerous online tips (many through the awesome Orthodogs Yahoo group I belong to) that pumpkin is great for digestive issues with dogs. If things aren't moving, it will help them move along. If they're moving too well, it can help with that also. I was a little worried that Bailey might turn her nose up at the pumpkin (she's not a normal "wolf down anything edible" labrador), but she didn't. And without getting into any of the unpleasant details, let's just say it worked great.