we're home ! pics~

[Samsintentions]

We made it home! She's doing fine. VERY excited to be home. She has pain meds she gets once a day. it's called Metacam 1.5mg oral suspension.

They said it would keep her pain away for 24 hrs. Obviously it's working!! Shes wanting to bounce around and play!!! I have a feeling this is going to be a LONG weekend..... Keeping her calm and still isn't going to be easy.

Her appetite is DEFINATELY back. Shes looking everywhere for food.

She's getting a 1/3 can of Purina Vet Diet ENGastroenteric fomula. Smells horrible. But she's eatting it right up!

NO cone. They said they left it off her this afternoon because it was bothering her, and she hasn't messed with the insision site yet. If she does it has to go right back on.

her arm is wrapped. they put a pretty purple heart on it because they said she was such a sweet heart! And a green wrap for St. pattys day!

Here's some pics of her home at last. This first pic says it all!!!



her incision: it's about 11" long. I haven't counted the sutures yet...


You can see the weight she's lost in this one.



And here she is looking for Kabuki. Kabuki is howling like a mad dog outside in her kennel.... poor girl!


And her at the moment...being a good girl (for a minute or two! )

[Samsintentions]

Her sutures are about an inch apart. Isn't that a little too far apart? She has a few staples on both ends. I'm guessing thats to hold it better on the end??

Should I use alcohol or peroxide to clean off some of the ooze? I'm scared to use peroxide as it can kill the good tissue, and her stapes and sutures are both stainless steel. Will peroxide tarnish or make them get funky?

[DMikeM]

Oh poor girl she looks so drawn. I asked the vet for Dowser and he said slightly diluted Betadine solution 1 quarter to 1 to clean up or just use plain warm water. I went with the Betadine.

[Samsintentions]

Stupid me. Should have thought of that.

Man, she's letting out some pretty rank flatulents!! EWWW!! I'm talking clear the room and run for your life!

But I guess with the huge amount of gas built up, it's expected...

[myshihpoo]

I'm happy to hear that your baby (big baby hehehe) is already home and feeling better. I read all three of your threads...was very very nervous at first, and very relieved by the end

Dang those big bad mean sticks!!!!

[Nik]

Hi Sams,
Wow, that incision sure looks scary!
Glad she's home and well though.

I imagine she'll have quite alot of internal stitches so I wouldn't worry too much about the outside ones being so far apart (although they do look a little too sparce for my liking).

Please keep that collar very close to hand, looks like it would be disterous if she had a spare 5 mins to have a good nibble at those stitches

[honeybears]

wow, that was pretty invasive surgery, now the real hard part is keeping her quiet!

[Samsintentions]

Yeah.What do you do whent a 100lb mastiff wants to play after surgery?

You PLAY!!! LOL...

We've been playing dress up with her, hiding things so she can look for them. I've given her her fetch roll to chew on (trying to keep her from thinking about food)


Granvel had a hard time trying to keep her from getting excited. Every time she see's him her whole body wiggles!!! Her little nub for a tail has been going 90 to nothing since she got home!!

She hasn't attempted to lick it once. Everywhere I go, she goes.... I got to the bathroom, she goes in there with me. I think she's scared I'm going to leave her again, or that she'll have to go back to that horrible place!!!

She ate a full can of the nasty blended food this morning like her instructions said. She wolfed it down. Now I'm getting the sad puppy eyes... she saw the new bag of doggie bones and wants one... but can't have one!

[Samsintentions]

He he.. we thought it would be funny to put her new doggles on!!! She left them on for a LONG time!!! I don't think she knoticed....

[Maraya]

awwww sweet baby girl......gorgeous pictures. is that a boxer?

[charmedagain]

No she is not a boxer sam will spell her name correctly lol as i will only muck it up.

Sam i wouldnt worry to much about how far apart they are as Nik mentioned she will have alot of internal stitches.
I would have thought there would have been more stitches to pull the skin together to help it fuse better but i guess all vets are different in there procedures.

Mike

[DeLaUK]

I agree with Nik and Mike about the sutures but just remember that the skin starts the healing process almost immediately.

With the e-collar, something to keep in mind, I dont know if this is a 'medical fact' but my own observation over the years it seems that around 3-4 days post sx the sutures/staples start to itch and which is 'generally' when the dog will start licking excessively, chewing....in some cases 'rubbing belly across the floor', make sure that Kabuki doesnt want to nibble on them either (seen that a few times where people have taken every precaution possible so the dog doesnt mess with its sutures....and forget about the other dog coming along and 'investigating' the surgery site) !! also watch for any suture reaction especially with the staples if the get snagged on something.

I dont know why some vets choose staples over sutures (or in your case both), I know that staples dont work as well on any pressure areas like joints but they are common after abdominal surgeries, we used them a lot for bloats, blockages, c-sections, I dont recall any problems at all with them not holding, it can knock off a good 15 minutes of anaesthesia time as it literally takes just a few seconds to place them.

Anyways, Im glad shes home and is on the mend.

[MyPetTherapyDog]

I am so glad everything worked out well for all!
This reminds me so much of my families incident where Cairo swallowed a big piece of a kong toy and needed the same type of surgery!
I am curious though how much the surgery cost you?
Last year after all was said and done, it cost us $3,600.00.
Of course, Cairo was well worth every penny!
But vet bills can and do get mighty expensive.
Take care of your baby!
THank God all went well!
Sue

[hermann muenster]

Sams - how are things going? I haven't seen any updates recently.
I hope Precious is healing up nicely.

[Jamiya]

Ouchie!! That doesn't look fun, poor baby. Hopefully it will heal quickly!

[Samsintentions]

Thanks. She's doing fine!

Watching TV. She's turned into a total couch potato.... I"ve never seen a dog that like to watch TV as much as she does. If the TV is turned off, she'll bark and huff and growl until you turn it on.... it's rediculous.

It's been VERY hard trying to keep her from tearing through the house like a mad woman. She only got her pain meds the day after surgery, and then on Sunday. I had to go home and check on the horses. So we put her in my bedroom and put a little TV in there for her. She watched TV and slept the whole time we were gone.

She hasn't messed with the sutures or anything since. She licks her arm where they shaved it for her IV alot though. I think she just likes the feeling of she shaved hair. LOL

Her total vet bill was:

1st visit: $112 for physical exam, bloodwork, fecal
2nd visit: $590 for surgery
3rd visit: $156 for meds, case of gastroentric food, IV syst, cone, and alcohol prep pads to clean area.

[Samsintentions]

1st visit: $112 for physical exam, bloodwork, fecal
2nd visit: $590 for surgery
3rd visit: $156 for meds, case of gastroentric food, IV syst, cone, and alcohol prep pads to clean area.


Precious's life: PRICELESS

[Jamiya]

From everything I have heard, those prices are really good!

[honeybears]

WOW Sam, your vet is cheap! you are so lucky, When Wylie was in the hospital for 2 and days for tests and iv fuilds my bill was almost $1500, this included her 2 ER visits

glad to hear she is doing okay

[DeLaUK]

DITTO to Jamiya and Honeybears posts

That would have cost you somewhere around $1500 and upwards in S.Cal.

(and thats going on the prices for about 18 months ago and is the low end)