The past few days have been delightfully boring. We got the go ahead from our vet to start decreasing Ellie’s pain medication so we have stopped the Carprofen since Friday (but I have a few extra to give if needed) and lowered her Gabapentin from 400mg 3X/day to 300mg 3x/day. I did drop her down to 2x a day, but Ellie isn’t quite ready for that, so we will keep her at 3x a day through the weekend and then reevaluate. Her incision is looking so good- I have been taking pictures of it daily and I think I will have to make a animation with all of them stitched together to see the change, haha. the bruising that she had on her belly has completely cleared up, she does have fluid underneath the skin, but it’s not a seroma. The vet said that’s probably due in part to the heat therapy, but that it will clear up as she continues to heal… which is being aided by the heat therapy so if it’s not inflamed or sensitive to the touch keep going the course. Ellie is so big that I have to do the heating pad in 2 parts. So for the lower section I give her a pupsicle, which usually gets us through the first 10 minutes, and then I have her lay back and I move it to the top section. She can’t really have a treat in this position so it has become our time to have scratch/massage sessions. It’s been very bonding, and I’m super grateful she’s so patient about it and has come to enjoy it, often times she just falls asleep.
I’ve been trying to get her out of the house at least every other day for a mini outing to keep her spirits up (and when the weather allows it’s supposed to snow…again…on Monday :(). She is usually pretty tuckered out by the time we even get to the end of my driveway, so it’s either going for a car ride, or breaking out the burley!
I got this Burley Dog Trailer last year when I bought myself an electric bike. It’s literally the biggest trailer I could find, and one of the few that’s rated for dogs Ellie’s weight, but it’s still not quite big enough for her size. As you can see I have to have the front ‘window’ up for her to sit comfortably, and it’s not really long enough for her to lay down unless she curls up- So I’m not going to be doing any long road trips in it, but it’s fantastic on the bike, very easy to push/pull regardless of it’s in stroller mode or bike trailer mode, and really well made. I’m really glad I already had it before this endeavor for a few reasons.
1. It was not cheap- I don’t think there’s anyway I could justify the price after all the vet bills.
2. Ellie was already comfortable getting into it with 4 legs, so getting into it with 3 was really no biggie.
I think the longest road on this recovery is going to be Ellie getting her endurance back. Having the trailer will allow us to really let her go at her own pace without missing out on activities just because she can’t quite keep up just yet.
Yesterday we went on a little walk and got to see our favorite neighbors- it was definitely a highlight for Ellie! But it was a lot too- even though she road in the trailer for about 75% of the 3-4 blocks she slept pretty much the rest of the afternoon. So I’ll just have to be wary of that. I’m really excited to have PT coming up, so I can learn more about how to walk that fine line of getting enough exercise to improve without getting hurt.
Another random task that I’ve been doing since Ellie’s surgery was sneaking water into her whenever possible. I saw all the warnings about making sure your dog was getting enough fluids, but I only recently found out just how much they need. I have been putting water into Ellie’s food for a long while (I don’t soak it, just put it one right before I give it to her so it’s still crunchy) and I thought that was sufficient, but I recently listened to a podcast about dogs quality of life and the vet stated that dogs need a minimum of 10cc per lb of weight, so Ellie at 97 pounds needs nearly 4 cups of water a day. I measured and figured out I was giving a cup per meal, so 2 cups a day. I tried adding 2 cups per meal, but it’s way too much at once so I started staggering it so she gets a cup of water at her morning meal, then a cup of water with just a touch of chicken broth a couple of times throughout the day and then a cup in her evening meal. Just trying to be proactive about it- if she did get dehydrated it would be a lot harder to get her to take it if she’s already not feeling good. I don’t really notice any difference, but it definitely can’t hurt!
With that I want to say thank you to everyone who is keeping up with Ellie’s recovery and all your kind words! I will continue to share our journey as we find our new normal 🙂
