Day 5- 1/22/13
Today I sense Bubbles isn’t as comfortable. I’m not sure if she’s just feeling sore, if her belly isn’t happy, or the meds just aren’t sitting well, but I’m hoping she’ll be a little more lively tomorrow. She took her meds well, now in cheese balls so I wouldn’t find codeine pills like I did on Sunday, drank water, went potty, had a #2 outside, and has been sleeping away. Its her eating and attitude that worry me, but I’m encouraging her to eat, and hoping to get the remaining cup and a half down the hatch before the day is over.
On the bright side, her incision is looking great. I’m keeping up with daily photos, always comparing to the day before, and things are looking much clearer. The bruising is almost all gone, and her staples don’t seem as sunken in as when she came home. The swelling is hard to tell, but it doesn’t look any puffier, and I’ve done as her doctor suggested- iced twice a day for the first two days, and now warm/dry compresses twice daily. She’s enjoying that more than the frozen bag of green beans in a ziploc we were using. Below are two photos of her incision- day 3 and day 4, and then day 4 and today, day 5.
I’ve been force feeding her small amounts throughout the day, though she’s tricky and will hide her kibble in her lips until later and then I find little balls in her bed. She is taking the cheese balls just fine, small bits of beggin’ strips as treats, but her kibble she isn’t enthused about. Below is the mug she’s been giving me all day..
Well, apart from her being stubborn about her kibble, she’s continuing to do wonderfully. If anything, I’ll entice her with some sweet potatoes mixed with her food, but I’ll keep that to myself. I bet she’s waiting for more cheese balls.
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:34 am
How about mixing some good healthy wet food in with her kibble? That usually worked for Max. The smell might entice her to start chowing down. We had a bit of a battle to get Max to eat too. We believe it was a combination of a major surgery, pain management, and anti-biotics that make the tummy a little punky.
On another note, the incision looks really good. Other than being a picky eater right now, I’m glad to hear she’s doing well.
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:01 am
Yes, like Max’s mom said, maybe some canned food will help. With Dakota, I didn’t have to do too much but chicken broth helped. But she’s supposed to drop a few pounds, right? Maybe this is the time. (I mean, besides losing a leg!)
I showed my son the picture of Bubbles and told him it was her ticked-off look. He said “That’s ticked off? It looks like every other bulldog look.” Hahaha! I figured you’d enjoy that. Evelyn is shooting me dirty looks right now, though.
Seriously, her incision is looking great, she’s doing wonderfully. Great job!
Shari
January 24th, 2013 at 2:53 am
I also think that incision looks great, your photos are really helpful for folks to see. Thank you for sharing.
You’re doing great Nurse Mom, keep it up!
January 25th, 2013 at 5:32 am
Thank you! I am glad that even though they are a little scary, it gives new members something to compare to. I’m really glad to be here learning so much from you all and also being able to give something back through my own experiences. =)