Woke up at 6:00 am. All nite we kept waking up, hoping that Jake hadn’t passed away in his sleep. I know, we were paranoid… Jacques put the sling on and slowly took Jake out to the backyard to pee… Nothing… just wobbling around, so he brought him back in. I gave him his pain meds and antibiotic at 7:00 am. Then Jake tries to stand up on his own. Jacques takes him out again… still no pee! Then Jacques decides to remove the sling… and VOILA!! Jake finally pees!!! YAY!!! But then he looses his balance and almost falls over. But Jacques caught him in time. Jake definitely got his favorite cookieand cheese after that!
Jake’s been pretty much sleeping all day, lifting his head to look around from time to time. At 3:00 pm, he got another dose of his pain meds. 5:30pm, he decided he wants to get up again… so on goes the sling and Jacques takes him outside. He just stands there… no pee… then he has some diarrhea. Must be the amoxicillin… That’s OK, at least something came out of him! When he came back in, I had his dinner ready, his dry food with some boiled chicken and rice to top it off. Just in time for the diarrhea! Now he’s really tired after all that, and back on his bed. Hopefully he’ll pee later.
We are exhausted… mentally and physically… and today is JUST day 1!!! aaarrrhhh!!!
Finally!!! At 6:45… another pee-pee!!! Whoo! Hoo!! Now he’s sleeping again… Hope tomorrow is a much better day!
Marguerite,
Jake is a handsome boy! Toby’s surgery was yesterday and we picked him up today (about 26 hrs after his operation). I’m sure that made a big difference because he got to spend his first night in ICU. Toby is pretty zonked too … As far as medication, he’s taking:
Simplicef 200 mg – one tablet a day for the next 7 days – for the treatment of skin infections
Tramadol 50 mg – 2 tablets twice a day but I can give it every 8 hrs if I think he needs more for pain.
Deramaxx 75 mg – 1 per day – non-narcotic, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
I expect this to be a difficult few weeks – I know we’ll have our good days and bad. What type of medicine did they send you home with besides amoxicillin? Toby went outside and pooped earlier but hasn’t peed.. I guess we’ll try again later.
Toby didn’t get any bandaging – the incision is exposed like Frankenstein. It’s huge. I’ll post some pictures tonight. Keep us posted on his progress.. Don’t worry, we’ll get through this.
You made it through Day One! Celebrate. I don’t mean that flippant. Day one is hard. You are dealing with the emotional issues that come with this very major surgery. I can totally relate to that feeling of relief that your dog made it through the night.
I know everyone is telling you this but remember the first two weeks are the hardest.
Jake, Toby and Peanut are all about at the same stage. Comfort each other.
Debra & Emily
We took turns sleeping with Caira the first few nights. Don’t feel bad! The pain medicine makes them very groggy and you DO worry about them!
You want your Jake to mostly sleep the first few weeks, because it will help him heal. It sounds like he’s doing good. Every day will be a little better, and he will do a little more.
Also, after you look through these blogs you will see that every dog heals at a different rate, so it’s hard to compare. Just make sure to look for the good in each day. Remember, he just went through major surgery. It would take all of us humans a LOT longer to get going on our feet again!
Good luck, my thoughts are with you during these first difficult days!
Mary and Caira Sue
What wonderful support you have here! My heart goes out to all of you who have to go through such a surgery on your babies.
YOU GO, JAKE!!! Aunt Doris is proud of ya!
Thanks so much for all your comments! We’re so glad we’re not going through this alone!
I used the same sling with my dog’s front right leg amputation and I believe you should be supporting your dog with the sling support under his back end area. Where you have the sling positioned may be putting pressure on his lungs and making him uncomfortable.