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Becoming a Tripawd at 13

Tag: physical therapy (Page 2 of 2)

Opposite Day

While I didn’t get the memo, apparently Sunny is celebrating opposite day today.  For most of the day he has been somewhat difficult when he isn’t sleeping.  This morning he decided he no longer liked the pill pockets and started to refuse his medication.  I’m not sure if it is because he felt better, or because he wasn’t hungry, but obviously this was not going to work.  We were able to get him his first dose of tramadol at his scheduled time (5:30 am), but after that its been an uphill battle.  Around noon I finally got him to take his rimadyl and t-pain in some wet food and to eat his breakfast.  It was a struggle though.  I tried cheese, peanut butter, pill pockets, a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, nothing worked!  We gave him a pepcin last night since his appetite has been off and on in hopes of settling his stomach, but I’m wondering if it made things worse?

Later this afternoon he once again scoffed when I attempted to give him his second tramadol of the day.  Two hours later I was able to convince him to take it using a Kraft single.  I think by that time he may have been in a little discomfort.  I was hoping that wouldn’t happen, but ultimately I wasn’t too surprised given how off his medication schedule became.  Thankfully, as of tomorrow he will be 10 days post surgery and will go off the rimadyl.  While everything looks ok his behavior is ok all things considered, I plan to take him to our local vet just for a quick once over.  I noticed this evening one of his sutures came untied.  I doesn’t look like it will come out, but I also don’t want to risk a Sunday vet visit.  We were originally planning to wait until the two week mark to have his sutures removed, but since he will be at 10 days tomorrow in theory, if we are lucky, they could come out.  I’m not banking on that, but who knows?  Sunny is on his tramadol through Wednesday and will continue on his t-pain for a while.  We can also re-evaluate his pain medication again which will be helpful since I need a few replacement pills for today’s failed attempts.  I think for the most part when we can stick to his medication schedule he does ok since he doesn’t really show any of the typical signs that he is in any pain or discomfort.  For me though, at the end of the day if he is eating, drinking, eventually taking his meds, going to the bathroom and appears to be ok, I’m happy.

Last night we decided it was clear we would not keep Sunny on the hypericum.  It is just too difficult to give him and honestly that negative experience could explain his behavior today.  I read online today that you can try dissolving the pills in milk or heavy cream instead of water so maybe we will try that, but I’m not sure it is worth it.  I’m also not convinced that will work since you are not supposed to mix it with food or give within 15 minutes of eating.  I think right now with everything that is going on the less pills the better for both him and us.

Other than that its been a typical day for Sunny in that we did a little walking outside in the backyard and slept.  We also worked on his physical therapy exercises at home.  We are doing them on his nice new orthopedic bed that he has ignored in the hope that maybe he will use it.  He wasn’t impressed.

Sunny working on his physical therapy with Pete.

Sunny working on his physical therapy with Pete.

I hope tomorrow goes better!

One Week!

We made it!  We are now one week post surgery.  Today was a busy day for Sunny.  Last night he did not sleep all that well.  Sunny was up on and off all night and a result so was I.  I’m honestly not sure why this is at this point since I don’t think it is related to pain.  During the day he is able to sleep and doesn’t seem bothered so it only seems to be at the ideal times of between midnight and 4 am. Lucky us!

Today we had our first appointment at Georgia Veterinary Rehabilitation and Pain Management (GVR) with Dr. Bailey.  We really like that place.  One of our other dogs, Sweeney, went there following back surgery and it was amazing the difference it made in terms of his recovery.  Dr. Bailey said overall he looks like he is doing well on just three legs.  She gave us a list of exercises we can start at home now.  Starting in June he will go weekly to do some swimming.  The main goal there is to build up his core strength.  We may also try some acupuncture on his hips once he starts sleeping on both sides.  Currently he is not sleeping on the side where his leg was amputated.  At this point we mostly need to wait for his incision to continue healing  and the sutures to come out.  We are also starting him on two new homeopathic pain medications, one related to soft tissue pain and the other related to nerve pain, to see if that helps him in terms of sleeping at night.  Dr. Bailey suggested what we are seeing at night may be related to the tramadol.  We also discussed putting him on Gabapentin, however I’m personally not sure if we need to go that far.  Dr. Bailey told us she has seen dogs with similar behavior and Gabapentin has not helped where the homeopathic options have.  Thus, we will try them first.  Overall though, today’s visit was helpful in terms of gauging where Sunny is in his overall recovery and fitness.

Sunny relaxing at GVR.

Sunny relaxing at GVR while Dr. Bailey examines him.

Sunny also received mail today!  He will be sporting his new bandanna very soon. Currently he is sleeping since today was the most active day he has had since his surgery.  Thanks again to everyone at Tripawds!  You have been an invaluable resource.  Dr. Bailey also made sure to mention how awesome you guys are today and wanted to make sure I was aware of your site.

Sunny's mail.

Sunny’s mail.

Later tonight after dinner we will celebrate Sunny’s one week ampuversary with peanut butter Kong’s.  🙂

 

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