Precious is sick !!

How'd I miss that?

 

I bought those wide baby gates from Target and screwed them into the walls to keep my pup confined in my main floor laundry room for:

A) So he wouldn't run like a wild guy and strain a muscle (panno - very
common with large breeds.
B) So he wouldn't beat up my walls while he had to wear the cone.
C) So he couldn't run around with the cone and hurt himself.

Potty detail was very limited. We have 4 steps to get outside, so there were only a couple of scheduled trips the first few days. AND - potty trips were on a leash!!! That was the most difficult part - not letting him "pick" a spot!

Good luck Sam!

 

Oh - I forgot --- I carried him up and down the steps and for the first few days - but he was still pretty small - only about 50 pounds at 6 months.
I'm not a weight lifter or anything - but I could handle the short distance a few times a day. After about the third day - he was able to go slow(?) up and down the steps.

The vet knows what a big guy you have - so I am sure he put a few extra tight stitches in there for you. And don't forget - most of the stitches are internal.

 

Will have to get a baby gate. We're not supposed to have dogs in the house here... against lease... but I really don't care at this point. She's fully house broken and very well mannered inside (when Kabuki's not around).

I think the hardest part is keeping Granvel from playing with her or getting her too excited. He loves that dog. he's the "good parent". I'm the mean mommy, who trains them, makes them behave, and feeds them... I play with them, but not like he does.. tehy see him and they get all excited.

 

If she's feeling frisky, you could try training some very quiet tricks, to keep her occupied and hopefully tire out her mind a little.

I can see where tranquilizers might be useful, but I would think pain meds would have the opposite effect. If she's in pain, she might stay more calm. It sounds mean, but it's better than letting her hurt herself again!

 

I agree with Jam about the pain meds. When my dogs have recovered from surgery I was very conservative with the pain meds. I don't want the dog to suffer - but they naturally will sleep and stay quiet if they aren't feeling comfortable. Besides - I never liked doping up my dogs with chemicals unless it was completely necessary.

 

She was pretty dopped up at the vet clinic this morning. The had her heavily sedated. They said that this morning she was very much alert, and they took her out to potty and passed another dog in a kennel, and she got all rawled up!

They were too afraid of her tearing the part where they fixed her up, so they knocked her out. I'm not very happy about that, but I guess it's for the best.

I'll keep some on hand. But I agree. If she's not feeling 100% she might be more calm. But I'm also not going to let her hurt like she was....does that make sense?

I ordered a wall pulg in. The pharamone to help keep her relaxed and calm. Hopefully it'l be here shortly. I ordered it last night and it comes shiipped UPS over night. So I don't know if it'll be here today or tomorow....

 

I have to disagree on the pain meds...kind of. This is a big op, a lot of pulling, poking, flushing etc. Pain meds, in my experience with this are usually given for abut 4-5 days post surgery. It depends on the dog though, some dogs have higher pain tolerance than others, some vets are 'rougher' than others. Mild sedatives are good but sometimes not strong enough if the pain is bad so then you have to up the dose of the sedative which makes the dog too drowsy to monitor it accurately, you need to watch for things like appetite, bowel movement etc, a dog that is more heavily sedated is probably not going to eat.

A good combination of the 2 is often recommended by vets that Ive worked with.

I agree with the fact that pain meds with stopping the pain the dog can do more harm to itself but that is really up to the owner to ensure the dog is restricted and monitored.

Just my opinion.

 

I guess thats true too...

They said the surgery went very smoothly and easily with no complications. But then again I wasn't there.

I'm sure they'll give her some good pain meds, I'm just not going to keep her dopped up 24/7. Thats not right. If she starts showing pain, I'll give her a dose, but not if she doesn't need it.

She's the type of dog that shows her pain. YOu'd think she was dying when she gets a cold! LOL..
But I knew something was really wrong this time, immediately. Precious is very easy to read.

 

:shock:
I can't believe someone can suggest allowing the animal to experiance pain just to make it behave.

:x
Next time you all get hurt or have an operation just tell the doc you don't want pain managment, and just go lay down. Or how about get a root canal operation with no pain managment.

How dissapointing those comments were.

Sams don't let Precious suffer any more than is needed, give her the Vet suggested dosages and if they give you tranqs for her use them too. She deserves the best care that she can be given.

 

DMikeM -
I think that you misunderstand --
It was NOT suggested to let a dog suffer -- I have large breed dogs- they can do themselves a lot of damage by not resting after a surgery -- especially an abdominal surgery!

I have seen - with my dogs and with large breeds of acquaintances that after surgery - it can be difficult to keep the dog quiet so as not to tear out stitches. This is especially true if the dog is pain free.
Besides -- there are a lot more long term risks with doping a dog up with sedatives and pain killers.

P.S. Have you ever seen a dog that tore out its abdominal stitches and its intestines fell out? I have! It is well worth a few days of confinement, crating, and cone wearing to avoid this very dangerous situation.

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm not suggesting I'm going to let her be in terrible pain!!! No no no, I mean that I'm not going to knock her completely out all the time!!!! Or allow her to get up and run around!!
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I'm sure she'll be a bit uncomfortable no matter what, but I'm not going to keep her so dopped up she doesn't want to do anything! She's got to be able to eat, drink and go potty, but thats about it....

 

DMikeD - I don't mean to make the dog suffer. If she is in a lot of pain, then of course she should have some medication. But a small amount of pain is worth it if the dog then takes it easy. Dogs have a notoriously high pain tolerance and they WILL overdo it given the chance.

When Nala hurt her foot at 5 months old, I gave her the pain meds ONCE - when she was going in her crate at night. I figured she couldn't hurt the foot in her crate and she needed to be able to rest. But when out of her crate I could barely keep her from racing around the house, so I figured if she felt a little pain she would be more likely to stay off of it.

And FYI - I avoid pain medications as much as possible. I get bad headaches when the weather changes and usually manage to resist taking medication. I did not have any pain medication when my children were born. When my back goes out and the chiropractor has finished with me and I feel like I've been hit by a truck, I don't take medication - I rest. I have a very LOW pain tolerance, but still I try to avoid medications unless it is absolutely necessary.

Pain is experienced for a REASON. It is a warning signal that something is wrong and your body needs to rest and heal. Is tearing out stitches and prolonging the recovery by weeks (or more) a GOOD thing for the dog? I vote no.

Sams is a smart girl. She will be able to tell if Precious needs medication or if she is doing fine and a little bit of pain will help keep her under control.

 

Sams I wrote my response the same time you wrote yours and was not responding to you for your decesions. I am sure you will do the right thing.


Herman and Jamiya,
I am 43 years old and have lived in the mountains since I was 9 years old. I have had dogs all my life and have seen many horrible things happen to dogs and have had many painful things happen to myself as well, from being stabbed and shot to being bitten by rattlesnakes so I am no stranger to pain, but I do not believe that being a guardian to my dog allows me the privilage of letting him suffer pain if I can prevent it. If I need to restrain him to prevent him from causing himself further harm I will do what is needed to do so but I will not allow him to experiance pain or discomfort if I can do ANYTHING to prevent it. That is why Dowser is still wearing his cone even though everyone I know thinks I should take it off of "poor Dowser".

Herman, I had a beutiful female Stafordshire Terrier that had an abdominal operation and the vet left a chunk of gause behind in the cavity. She got peritinitis and her stomach distended tearing open her stitches and letting out some of her guts. We found she had an inoperable tumor and was in considerable pain. We chose to let her go rather than allowing her to suffer any longer.

 

The only thing I worry about with Precious is restraining her. She is houdini... She can pull out of her collar and I can't put her harness on her.

I'll be keeping her in the bathroom as much as possible. It's a large bathroom, but I've got a section blocked off for her.

She was 112lbs, and this afternoon she weighs in at almost 89. I can't afford her to loose any more weight. She has not eaten since Friday night... Their feeding her three tablespoons ever other hour just to keep her intestines working.... SO I'm kinda scared about giving her too many pain meds and sedatives. If she's dopped up she won't eat or drink.

What do yall think? has anyone experianced thismuch weight loss during an episode like this??

 

That's a good 20% weight loss - scary! However, probably a good part of that is water weight. Is the vet concerned?

All I know is my parvo puppy. I'm not sure how much weight she dropped, but she started at only 12 pounds, so even a couple pounds would be a lot for her. She is still really skinny. She didn't eat for about a week, but I was giving her subQ fluids and rubbing honey on her gums, etc.

Even if Precious is a little dopey, she should still be able to swallow liquids. The puppy was pretty out of it and sometimes I had to work at it to make her swallow, but usually she would. In our case, though, she just brought it all right back up again and you won't be having that problem.

I would say keeping her hydrated and having some fluids moving through her intestines are the main things, but others here (and your vet) could help you with that more. I imagine you'll have to continue with the 3 tablespoons every other hour (puppy was 2 teaspoons every hour) for a while, but then she'll start eating.

Are they recommending any sort of prescription diet, or soft foods or something?

Most likely she will regain the weight quickly once she starts feeling better. She's been sick for a week (has it really been that long?? I thought it was only a few days, but you said she hasn't eaten since Friday?), so probably another week or two and she'll be good as new!

 

Yes....well a comparable, 60# dog dropping to about 47# after a major surgery and Ive seen a lot of it with pets weve treated. She possibly dropped a good few pounds just in the day or so that she wasnt eating. Im sure the vet will make sure shes hydrated and is on the mend. I dont know if your vet is 24 hours, if not do you have an emergency vet that you can call just in case something comes up that your concerned about once she home. Personally I think it is important for pet owners to have a back up at times like this, even if its just to put your mind at rest over something.

Just go with the instructions from your vet as far as feeding etc. Like I said they should be able to find a good combo of pain meds and a sedative, just enough to take the edge off with the sedative and enough pain meds to make her comfortable enough to were the pain is not putting her off her food. Shes gone through a major surgery, it takes time to get your appetite back as a rule whether your a dog or a human.

I know what you mean with the 'keeping them confined', Ive had a few that were similar, excellent escapologists, I had one dog that was so bad I had to pay someone to be at the house with her when I had to go to work. I think she spent about a week leashed to either furniture or a person....and that was with a little acepromazine on board and after a spay. Crazy dog.

If it helps, the large majority of dogs that go through this type of surgery do fine, just make sure you keep your vet up to date with any concerns, if once you get her home and you think theres a problem dont wait till the end of the day or the next day. Peritonitis is something to be aware of, generally if its going to happen its around 3-4 days post surgery. In most cases it doesnt happen and Im not in any way trying to make you worry but it is something that many people dont know anything about or that there is a low risk of it....Like I said I just think its something to be aware of.

 

I would stay away from the sedatives. I just know they did nothing for Maggie b/c she developed a tolerance of them QUICK. I don't know if tolerances (or whatever you want to call it) go away with time, but if they don't and we ever have to knock her out again, we're going to be in trouble. The vet said she was giving her enough sedatives to knock out a horse and I was like ???? they're not doing much good.

 

I asked her about the weight loss. She said that it was a bit much, but not really enough to cause concern. With that large of a dog, most of it was fluid.

Her very last meal that I KNOW she ate was Friday afternoon at 6pm. Saturday evening I knoticed she wouldn't eat. Thats when I knew something was wrong, but just played it off as her being overly tired. Then Sunday she ate a bit and I had to leave... so I didn't know if she ate all ofit or not, (now I know she didn't) And Monday, That was it. She went to the vet.

Dr. Zeplin is leaving to go out of town, but has given me her cell # and two other vets that she reccomends here in town incase anything was to happen or go wrong.

They said she's eating like a pig when ever they feed her. Sounds to me like she's feeling better already and acting like the Precious we all know!!!
I'm picking her up a 5:15pm today. She has to go potty by then though. If not, we have to wait until she does.

 

Sam I'm sorry your baby is sick. Our prayers are with her. As for human babies mine is 4yrs, it comes natural. I thought I would never be a good Mom, but I know I love her and she knows I love her. Just like your babies know love. It is hard but Iwoudn't trade being a mom for anything!!!!