Hello all! Today Maggie was very tired. She slept until almost 10am! We are lucky that we have one graduate from college without a job to sleep in with her =) and a Dad that has the week off. Maggie is getting spoiled with attention non-stop. Today we decided it was time for Maggie to start eating something besides treats so we got her some real chicken and mixed it with some canned chicken food. At first she picked out the real chicken pieces, but eventually ate it all. We were so happy!! The chicken was just a trial and we also bought about 7 different trial sizes of dry and wet food to see what she would like. We will continue to try these as the days progress. She finally went to the bathroom after eating, which was a first since after the surgery. We know this probably made her tummy feel better and it was what we were trying to have her do.
Like I said, Maggie was tired today. Unfortunately, her favorite thing to do is take a walk. Since the vet said not to take her off of our property and because she is pretty weak, she can’t do this. Tonight I took out her leash and you should have seen how excited she got!! I actually felt bad, because I was only going to walk her around the house to make it feel like a walk since our Tripawed friend Cherry suggested doing the things that she has always loved to do. Sadly, Maggie couldn’t make it around the house, so we went down the sidewalk and back. She was panting so I let her rest and then we came inside.
Tonight is her first night in her crate in a looooong time. She actually loves her crate, so the process of getting her to go in was easy and did not make us more sad about having to do it. The nights following her surgery we had one person sleep on the floor next to her doggie bed on an air mattress. That got really tiring for us and we decided the crate was a better idea as she is becoming more mobile and we wouldn’t have to worry if she fell, jumped on something etc. She is in there now and seems ok, so we will assess it tomorrow and go from there.
It was a chilly night and I was thinking how Maggie likes to wear sweaters in the winter. Did those of you that have sweaters on your Tripaws make your own sweaters or buy them without the missing leg hole? I am interested to know about this.
One last thing before I call it a (late) night. Maggie has had a sac of fluid below her incision and a small one above it since the day we brought her home. The vet said that it should not be a problem and to call if it gets any bigger. Tonight the sac of fluid looked a little bigger. Has anyone had experience with this or know what exactly is going on? I will probably call the vet tomorrow to see what they say, but wanted to check here first to see if we should be concern.
Sending love to all of you and your loved ones. =)
I’m glad that Maggie is doing so well! I’ve been working the past few days and haven’t been able to stay updated on this site, so I’m curious as to when Maggie actually had her surgery..was is really only 3 days ago? That’s great that she has so much energy! As far as the fluid sacs, I believe they are called edemas? I think they are fairly normal. However, I would make sure that Maggie pretty much stays calm and on bed rest since my dog, Jack, was never really phased by his surgery, and he ended up with severe abdominal bruising due to over activity while he was still healing. I hope she keeps up her “pawsome” attitude and Jack sends a fuzzy snuggle to Maggie 🙂
Maggie had her surgery on Friday, 10/23/09. Today she has more energy than yesterday, but is no where near her old self, pre-limping and amputation. We are trying to keep her calm and resting, but its so hard when she wants to get up. She hasn’t tried to play yet, even though she is surrounded by her favorite toys and animals. She is however experimenting with her limits jumping on furniture and doing steps. We do not allow this b/c of the stitches and overall concern, but it seems every time we turn our backs she is doing it! Well only twice so far, but we can only imagine it will get worse. Thank you for the warning about Jack. Did the bruising cause severe damage or just pain and how did you keep him calm?? I hope he is doing well now! Snuggles back to Jack from Maggie!!
Have you spoken to your vet about this yet? It’s pretty normal for many dogs to have some fluid accumulation in the incision area after this big surgery.
Jake had a compression bandage on for the first week or so, and that helped alot to keep that from happening (and kept him from licking at his incision!) But not all dogs get a compression bandage. Always best to check with the vet to make sure it’s nothing more serious.
I had Jake wear a T-shit after his bandages were off, not to keep him warm, but to keep him from licking and chewing at his incision. I think a sweater would be great for your Maggie… to keep her warm… AND to keep her from licking in case she gets the urge to!
Hope she continues to do better each day!
Jake’s Mom