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Becoming a Tripawd at 13

Tag: ruffwear

Taking the Plunge

Since my last update Sunny has continued to do well.  Everything is pretty much back to normal as far as he is concerned.  The only thing Sunny isn’t sure about doing is going up the stairs which is understandable.  Currently if we put his ruff wear harness on he will try with our assistance, but its obvious he doesn’t feel comfortable doing it on his own.  I’m sure with time though his confidence will build.  His appetite is also still not back up to his pre-surgery levels and I’m not totally sure why.  I think it may be a protest on some level because we cut him off of the wet food.  We are getting very close to his full amount though of dry food so I’m not too concerned.

Yesterday we started his rehab at GVR where he will be swimming once a week!  This was the first time as far as we know that Sunny has been swimming unless he used to go before we adopted him.  At first he didn’t really seem to know what to make of it but he did really well overall.  Towards the end he was trying to splash the water so he could catch it in his mouth so I like to think he had fun.  It can be hard to tell with him.  He can be so timid at first anytime we meet anyone new or he is a new situation.  It took until about half way through the session until he seemed to relax.  Hopefully with further visits Sunny will become more relaxed and just enjoy it.  In total yesterday he swam for about 15 minutes.  Eventually it will be increased, but since it was his first session they wanted to keep it short so he didn’t overexert himself.  The hope though is that he will continue to build core strength.

Speaking of rehab, check out this feature about Sunny featured over at the Tripawds Foundation!

Sunny swimming for the first time at GVR.

Sunny swimming for the first time at GVR.

Wednesday will be Sunny’s one month mark since his surgery.  It’s crazy to think it has already been that long, but we couldn’t be happier.

Getting Back to Normal

Since my last update things have really started to get back to normal for Sunny.  Yesterday we had the last of his sutures removed, hooray!  This has made a huge difference in his speed, how he moves, etc.  It’s amazing.  Everyone said this would be the case, but given how well he had been doing I wasn’t sure we would see a huge difference.  Boy was I wrong.  This also meant we could finally try out the Ruffwear Web Master harness we got him prior to his surgery.  While I’m not sure he is thrilled to wear it, we will have to work on that, it does make helping Sunny when he needs it very easy.  Yesterday the first thing he did after his stitches were removed and we took the e-collar off was go down the stairs on his own.  We have a gate up currently and prior to this we could open the gate and he would wait for one of his to pick him up and carry him down.  Not so much anymore!  He hasn’t mastered coming back up yet, but baby steps.  It is nice having the harness though so we can help him down.  All and all we are now just focusing on trying to keep him from overdoing it.

Starting yesterday we also dialed back his tramadol to just twice a day from three with that added benefit that it slows him down.  We are also keeping him on the t-relief twice a day for the time being.  That said, this morning Sunny decided he was done with all of his medications.  We are going to continue to try and get him to take the t-relief, however since he is not showing any signs of discomfort we decided we aren’t going to try and force the tramadol on him.  It had been my original intent to continue on the tramadol twice a day for at least a few more days, but that obviously isn’t necessary.  At this point we are also 2 1/2 weeks post surgery so it was most likely time to stop anyway.  His appetite is also still hit and miss so I am hopeful that getting him off tramadol will help with that.  If he continues to eat sporadically we may try discontinuing the t-relief just to see if that makes a difference.

With the stitches out and his “cone of shame” off we are really starting to see the Sunny we know and love come back to life.  He has spent a lot of time playing with his new toys since losing the cone.  Sunny loves a good sqeaky toy and we bought him a few new ones for after his surgery.  He is also now laying on his amputation side regularly as though nothing happened.  It really is great to see.  Tomorrow I’ll try to post some photos of him sporting his new harness and his tripawds bandanna.

 

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