Another operation!

It’s just not fair! After the vet pulled my leg around last week it got a lot worse – so bad, in fact, that I couldn’t put it down again. As Mum said, I was worse than I was before my operation, and that can’t be right. So on Thursday we went back to the vet yet again! And he pulled it around even more! But the good news was that he said he thought it seemed better than it had been on Monday. He gave Mum some other tablets for me to take and sent me back home again.

Over the week-end my leg has gradually got better. The bad news, though, was that I wasn’t allowed to go out for walks. Now there’s only so long a little dog can stay cooped up inside a house, so I had to find ways to amuse myself. Fortunately Mum has some plants around the house which seemed to need a good chew. Needless to say, Mum didn’t agree with me over that, and I wasn’t very popular. By Sunday Mum said she could stand it no longer and took me out for a little while. We didn’t go very far but it was good to get out. Plus I got to meet a couple of people.

What wasn’t so good was the way the new tablets made me feel. I didn’t like it at all. It was a bit like when I’ve had an anaesthetic, although not quite so bad. But by Saturday night I really wasn’t very happy at all, and my crate seemed really scary again, so Mum & Dad let me sleep upstairs with them. Mum realised it was the new tablets, so she never gave me one last night, and I felt a lot better and was able to go to bed as normal.

Today we had to go back to the vet. We saw Caty this time round. Mum pointed out a lump on my knee to her, and she says that’s the pin in my leg. And apparently that is almost certainly why my leg still hurts. So tomorrow I have to go back in so that she can operate on my leg again and sort the pin out. I’m not looking forward to that much though, as it’s going to involve another anaesthetic. But Mum and Caty have promised me that this is a much smaller operation than the last one I had. Oh – and Caty said there is something called a Morphine derivative in both the anaesthetic and the tablets, and that it’s most probably that that makes me feel bad.

There is good news though. Caty was really pleased with my knee this morning. She said it’s a ‘little bit crunchy’ (but that that goes back to before the operation), but that my kneecap isn’t moving at all anymore. Mum is really pleased, as this should mean I don’t need another big operation, and that after the pin is sorted out it should get completely better.

Meanwhile I’ve got to go and have that other operation tomorrow. I’m not looking forward to it, but if it makes me better then it will be worth it.

Meds, frogs and cat poo

Oops – sorry about the length of time since I updated this. Somehow I haven’t got round to it. Not that I’ve been doing a lot as I’ve had to spend a lot of time resting. I don’t get to go for proper walks any more, although I do get taken out to the footpath by the house so that I can have a good old sniff around and see what’s been going on. And there’s always lots to smell as there are cats, other dogs, birds, squirrels and foxes get out there. Mum took me for a bit longer walk this morning – we walked all the way round the pond!

My leg still hurts despite the painkillers Mum gives me. I had to go and see the vet yesterday and he kept pulling it about in all directions. Then he kept pressing it, and it really hurt. Mum said I was a very good dog though, for standing there and letting him do it, and she gave me a nice chew when I got home. But he told Mum that it’s not better (which I could have told him if he’d asked) and it should be. He said to see what it’s like in 2 weeks time, and if not I will have to go and see another vet somewhere else who is some sort of specialist. No doubt he’ll want to pull my leg around and make it hurt too!

I must say I quite like having to take my meds. Me & Mum do Meds twice a day, but it’s really good as it involves peanut butter, and anything that involves peanut butter is ok by me.

There’s not really much else to tell you, as I haven’t seen anyone much. Even if we’re out I’m not usually allowed to go and say hello (Mum says I get too excited, can you believe), and I’m certainly not allowed to go and say hello to other dogs. We’ve got someone here this morning fixing the heating though, so that’s made a nice change. I keep going and offering to help him, but I think I just get in the way, so I’ve given up and instead went and had a nice lie in the sun.

Oh, and Mum’s been clearing up the garden, which means that she has cut back all the plants in the places where I like to go and sniff around and lie. Plus she’s cut back the plants where I usually find the frogs, so they’re not there either anymore. It’s just not fair. But, the good news is where she’d dug over the flower beds the cats can come and poo in there again, so I’m ok for breakfast!

Nobody told me there'd be days like these

My leg hurts! I can’t put it down, and I struggle to get comfortable. No one told me it was going to be this bad. Look what they’ve done to me!



They’ve made a huge cut in my leg, and then stuck it back together again. Mum says they’ve taken away some bone, moved something called a ligament, tightened up some muscles and put a metal pin in there!!! And they’ve shaved off loads of my fur!!! Talk about a bad hair day! How am I supposed to be seen in public looking like this? Is it going to grow back? I hope so – I don’t want to be stuck looking like this for life. And what about the scar? Am I going to have a great ugly scar on my leg?

To be honest I can’t remember much of Friday when I had my operation. But I know I came round in a cage at the vets and they wouldn’t let me out. I didn’t like that at all. Eventually Mum and Dad came and took me home, but I didn’t feel very well and everything seemed very scary. I couldn’t settle down at all and kept crying. Mum says that it is the anaesthetic that makes me feel like that. At least my leg didn’t hurt too much on Friday as the vet had given me painkilling injections.

After being stuck in the cage no way was I going to get in my crate when I got home. When bedtime came Mum and Dad didn’t try to force me, but put my duvet in the hall. I wanted to go upstairs with them, but they won’t let me go upstairs any more. I couldn’t stop feeling scared and I just kept crying. Mum came downstairs to be with me but it didn’t help much. I did eventually get to sleep just as it was getting light though.

By Saturday morning the painkillers had worn off and Mum started giving me my usual medicines again, plus I’ve got some things called antibiotics to take. I still wasn’t very happy, though, as you can see from this photo.



But the sun came out so I had a little sleep in the sun and started to feel a bit better.



The big downer is that I’m not allowed to go out for walks, and I’m only supposed to go out in the garden on a lead. Sometimes Mum and Dad let me out without a lead on, but they always come out with me. I’m not allowed to jump up onto the wall anymore though, and Mum won’t let me go up the steps by the pond. Yesterday Mum took a bit of video of me in the garden. As you can see, I can’t really put my leg down as it hurts too much.



And after I ran after a squirrel yesterday Mum says I can’t go out in the garden without a lead on any more. I don’t think much of this at all.

As each day passes I start to feel a lot better. Today I’ve finally gone back into my crate. Mum didn’t try and shut me in, and it was nice and cosy sleeping in there. And I‘ve had quite a few of my toys out to play with this morning. Oh, and the good news is Mum keeps feeding me chicken and doesn’t seem to try and feed me much other rubbish (although she made the mistake of putting rice with it), so something good has come from all this.

Apparently I have to go back to the vet this afternoon for a check up with a nurse. Then I have to go back and see the vet who did my operation next last Monday. So I’ll let you know how I am later in the week.

The squirrel vanishes

Well the weather’s still rubbish. I tend to spend all of my mornings sleeping.



And sometimes I just snuggle up to Mum – although I wish she’d put that laptop down – it’s not very comfortable.



I’ve just been out for a walk with Mum now that it’s finally stopped raining. We only went round the lakes, but I was on squirrel alert. There seem to be lots of squirrels around at the moment. Like at the start of our walk – there it was, on the path next to a garden fence, right in front of us. I tried to run after it, but it’s a bit difficult when you’re on the lead, although to be fair Mum did run with me. She just didn’t run fast enough though. Bit it was the strangest thing – the squirrel just disappeared. It didn’t go over the fence, and there was nowhere to go under the fence. And it didn’t run across the path. One minute it was there – the next it was gone. I hunted everywhere for it, but couldn’t find it. I think Mum was as confused as I was.

Round by the lake today I found a big branch in the water, right at the edge. It was great – just right for chewing. Mum stood there and let me have a good old chew. Let’s hope its still there tomorrow.

What else? Oh yes, have you been watching the TV at night? There’s a programme on all about Big Cats that Mum watches it. I think she watched it once before when I was a puppy. Anyway, I quite like watching it with her, although I’m not exactly sure just how big these cats are. Mum says they are a lot bigger than me, which is a bit scary really. Last night there were lions and some animals Mum said were called water buffalo. I didn’t think much of them trying to come into our living room, so I stood and barked at them. Dad said that wasn’t very sensible given how big and fierce they are. He said I should have run and hid, not drawn attention to myself. I’ll have to remember that next time.

Finally I’ve found something else that I like to eat. It’s called Cheese Straws. Mum made some for me and Dad today. I think they’re yummy.

Oh well, time for another little snooze.

Well, it's about time!!!

At last ! Mum and Dad have finally worked out that I don’t want to go for long walks cos my leg hurts. It’s only taken them oh I don’t know how many months. And it wasn’t as though I didn’t drop enough hints. Anyone with even a modicum of intelligence would have worked out that there was a reason why I used to run off and hide under a bush when it came time for my walk. Hello!!! How else was I supposed to tell them I really didn’t want to go?

Anyway, now we’re only going for very short walks – normally around the small lake next to the house. But I don’t mind, as I’m allowed lots of sniffing time, so we can be out for ages while I just sniff about and try and figure out what’s been going on, and who’s been there. Sometimes I see a squirrel and try and chase it, but I’m on a lead nowadays and they always run up a tree before I can get to them.

The only downside is that I don’t really get to play with other dogs anymore. Sometimes I’m allowed to go up and say ‘hello’ for a short time, especially if we bump into Tanny. Tanny is an Irish Setter who was in my first obedience class. She’s the same age as me. And she’s got a friend, Charlie, now, who’s about 5 months old. But there are some very strange people out there. Yesterday a really nice dog came bounding over to say hello to me, and we were just getting to know each other when his owner started shouting at my Dad that she (the other dog’s owner, not my Dad) didn’t have her dog under control. Now what was all that about? I was on my lead, and we were saying hello nicely, and then she comes along and spoils it. I don’t think I’ll ever understand humans.

Take food. I like chicken. I’m quite happy eating raw chicken wings. In fact, apart for treats, I don’t want to eat anything else. But Mum will insist on trying to feed me other things, like this all-in-one dried food and other canned dog food. Mum! I don’t eat it cos I don’t like it much (well, not as much as chicken). I like chicken! What’s wrong with just feeding me chicken?

And then there’s my bones. Mum given me a bone and it’s all fresh, and not nice and smelly at all. So I carry it around for a few days, and just as it gets to the stage where it’s nice and stinky and ripe for eating, she goes and throws it out!! Excuse me! I’d just got that how I like it. Who cares if it’s covered in maggots? You want me to eat something other than chicken don’t you? Well maggots are something different, and I’m sure they’re good for me. See, I start out with just a bone, and I end up with a bone and maggots – that way it goes further! Especially if the maggots crawl all over the living room carpet (that was a joke, by the way!).

There! Now I’ve got that off my chest I feel better. Time for a snooze. After all, the weather’s rubbish, so there’s not much point in doing anything else.

Visitors

We had visitors yesterday – Ann & John (Dad’s parents) came to see us. I thought something was going on as Mum got up and spent a lot of time in the kitchen and then got out the vacuum cleaner while I was still in the house. I’m not very keen on the vacuum cleaner, and normally Mum uses it when Dad takes me for a walk. If I’m at home though, I just take myself off to another room.

Anyway, Dad went off in the car and came back with Ann & John. I was really pleased to see them. I’ve only met them once before when we went to the Isle of Wight to see them. I got a big fuss made of me. I was a very good girl and was on my best behaviour. Then in the afternoon we went down to Poole Quay for a while. Ann, John & Mum went in a shop, but I had to wait outside with Dad – Mum said I couldn’t go in. Dad eventually took them back to the hotel they are staying in later that afternoon.

That was the second time I’ve been down to Poole in two days. I went the day before with Mum and Dad. We didn’t walk very far, and most of the time I had to sit quietly in some bank. They insisted on putting my head collar on me so I just sat there and sulked a bit – just to show them that I really DO NOT LIKE my head collar. But I did get to go in the pet shop down there which was good. I tried to go back in there again yesterday, but Dad wouldn’t let me.

Today I have had to go back to the vet cos my leg is not any better. It hurts and I have to limp most of the time. The vet felt it and then had a chat with Mum. I’m not sure, but I think I’m going to have an operation on it. That’s what Mum and the vet were talking about. I don’t think I want an operation on it – it doesn’t sound very nice. And anyway, if I have an operation, won’t they have to send me to sleep again? I didn’t feel at all well last week after they sent me to sleep to have my XRays taken.

Since we’ve come home Mum has been talking about taking me swimming in some special swimming pool. Only problem is I can’t swim. She says I will have water wings though. But I won’t be going until after my operation. Apparently it’s supposed to help my leg get better.