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The Cone that Ate Sampson

March 28, 2014 By Jodi

Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday.  The post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – March 23, 2014

YMMS 3-23-14

Emma said, “Goodness, I’m guessing hubby is in bed too which would make four full sized bodies in a full bed over full!”

Actually, Sampson and I have been staying on the futon mattress in a spare room.  Hubby and Delilah are still sleeping in the bedroom.  Except Hubby doesn’t usually settle in as early as Delilah would like, so she comes in and snuggles with us.

Frankie and Ernie said, “They Truly do LOVE getting to cuddle up with us, don’t they?”

This Mama sure does!

Donna suggested, “Maybe you can get YOURSELF a comfy dog bed?’

There have been nights when I’ve actually thought about sleeping on one of their beds. 🙂

I Dehydrated a Pancake

Many thanks to Vlad & Barkly’s Dee for the new (to me) gluten-free website!  I’m always up for finding new sites to help me with this dietary requirement.

Jenna, Mark “HuskyCrazed Drady said, “I saw this giveaway also, and I wanted to enter, but have no idea for a recipe, or anything like that!

Don’t let that stop you!  Here’s a little tip that Jodi gave me, if you can bake it, you can dehydrate it.  Take one of your favorite dog treat recipes and then place it on a cooling rack and set that rack on a cookie sheet and bake it at the lowest setting in your oven.  The time varies depending upon the treat.  You will have to check it.

Head For the Hills

Try to keep up woman, life is short and there are lots of good things to smell.

Try to keep up woman, life is short and there are lots of good things to smell.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “Ducky, on the other hand, could jerk your arm right out of its socket when she pulls.”

Guess what Sue?  Sampson’s physical therapist told me about a different type of harness designed to stop the pulling.  I’m working on getting one and will keep you updated if it works.

No is When the Negotiation Begins

I'm comfy, how about you?

I’m comfy, how about you?

Molly the Wally said, “LOL D makes us chuckle as I try and do lap dog too.”

Molly, I think you are the perfect size for a lap dog. 🙂

Sue said, “In my experience, the hardest part will be towards the end of that – when he’s really feeling good and you’ll still need to keep him quiet.”

I do believe you are right.  He already tries to run (he tucks that leg up.)  Twice already Delilah’s started barking and he’s tried to run and investigate.  I’ve been off since Wednesday so I can care for him, but next week I go back 1/2 days,  which is why Hubby put the crate back up and he will have to be in the crate when one of us isn’t here.

I totally hate putting him in the crate with that giant cone on his head, but I can’t take a chance that he will run.  Have you seen that freaking cone?

I feel like a giant sunflower in this thing.

I thought I was supposed to eat cones, not the other way around.

 

It’s gifuckingnormous.

The physical therapist insisted he have a cone that large because he has a long nose.  Personally I feel he’s so dejected when I put it on him, that he will simply lie there.  BUT we can’t take any chances, so I have to put my baby in a cone and then in a crate.  But as the PT reminded me, it’s only for two weeks and most of that time someone will be monitoring him.  Although I do put the cone on him at night, just in case.

True story, the first night Sampson decided he wanted to snuggle with me and I got smacked in the face by the cone at 3 in the morning.

Jan K said, “There is nothing like a little silliness to help relieve stress! You and your sister sound like quite the pair.”

 

We like to think so Jan. 😉

Jan says, “I love what the vet office always says when you call with a problem. “Keep an eye on him.” Like, gee, who would have thought to do that?”

Right?  Like how do you think I spotted it to begin with?  It wasn’t because I was playing Candy Crush. 😉

Well that’s a wrap for me, hope you all have a great weekend!  And thank you again for all the love and support!

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Filed Under: Follow-Up Friday Tagged With: ACL Surgery, ACL Tear, Delilah, Health, hiking, Humor, Life With Sampson And Delilah, Sampson, sampson and delilah

I Jinxed My Dog

March 13, 2014 By Jodi

Tuesday I wrote about the Conservative Management program we had in place to keep Sampson from totally tearing his ACL.

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you know that went out the window Tuesday night.  Less than 24 hours after I posted it, Sampson completely tore his ACL.

What happened?

Sampson and Delilah were playing, they were running in the house with a squeaky ball.  I went and started a load of laundry and when I got back, Sampson wouldn’t put any weight on his bad leg.  Less than two minutes.  I was gone less than two minutes and when I walked in and saw him with his leg lifted, I knew he blew it out.

I called the vet and thankfully got the last appointment of the night and brought him in.

The Diagnosis

After checking him out thoroughly the vet looked at me and said, “You’re going to kill me.”

“Why?”

“I think he completely tore his ACL, but I’d like one of my colleagues to check him out as well”

She brought her colleague in and she examined him and agreed he’d fully torn it.

What is it they say about mom’s always knowing?

The Treatment

We added an additional pain pill of Gabapentin to his existing Carprofen and upped his Tramadol (anti-inflammatory) back up to two per day.  I was advised to ice it if possible.  As you can imagine, that didn’t go over really well.

He kept shifting to try and dislodge it.

He kept shifting to try and dislodge it.

After speaking with my vet yesterday afternoon, she is definitely recommending surgery.  I can’t tell you how much this terrifies me, but she really thinks this is his best option to get him mobile once again.  I’ve scheduled a consultation for tomorrow morning at 9:00 am.  Oh and I cancelled his physical therapy appointment.

What we did wrong.

As far as I can tell, nothing.  We knew going in that despite conservative measures there was still a possibility of the ACL tearing.  Dogs will be dogs and there is only so much you can do to keep them quiet.

We kept him from tearing for over two months.  Any dog can tear their ACL, we could have had it heal completely and he could have been running in the field and blew it out.  It happens.

While I was sick to my stomach and a bit shaky and weepy on Tuesday night, I’m better today.  Not much, but talking about it helps me, so thanks to all of you who have engaged me in one way or another.

I really appreciate it.

Regrets, I’ve had a few.

People that say things say that hindsight is better than foresight.  This is probably my one and only regret.  Had I known he would have blown his ACL anyway, I would have gone ahead with the surgery right away.  If we had, we’d be half-way through his recovery period by now.

How we’re managing.

Right now it’s hard.  He’s still trying to figure out how to function with three legs.  Since he refuses to use the stairs to get on and off the bed and I can’t guarantee that Delilah won’t jitterbug all over him, I’m making him sleep on the floor.

That's a sad dog right there.   If looks could kill, I'd have been dead last night because of the daggers he was shooting at me.

If looks could kill, I’d have been dead last night because of the daggers he was shooting at me.

And of course he can’t go outside without being on leash.  Which really pisses him off.  I’m worried about his pooping.  He hasn’t pooped since Tuesday morning.  Any ideas on how to help a dog without use of one of his back legs to poop?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on ACL tears or conservative management, I am not even a vet. I am not advising you as to what will or will not work should your dog have an ACL injury. I am simply sharing our story.  If your dog has an ACL injury, it is important you discuss your dog’s recovery with a vet that you trust.

Oh and please forgive me for not reading blogs yesterday, I just couldn’t concentrate.

And yes, today is Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog hop, hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog, feel free to grab the badge and join the fun!

Heart Like a Dog

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Filed Under: Blog Hops Tagged With: ACL Tear, Conservative Management, Health, Life With Sampson And Delilah, Sampson, Thursday Barks and Bytes

About Jodi

jodiHi, my name is Jodi. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog! I have all kinds of fun writing about my two crazy pups, Sampson and Delilah. Find out more!

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