Violet the Tripawd Dog

Yesterday was Violet’s one week anniversary of becoming a Tripawd. She’s doing so, so well! She’s moving around like nothing ever happened and has her sassy personality back.

The other day I was doing some work on the couch and she came and stuck her face in the way so I had no choice but to give her some love. Later than night she also came and hopped up on the couch for a snuggle, This was awesome because she’s not a snuggly dog at all. We wondered if it’s because she was in so much pain before, and maybe she will be cuddly now.

Hayden was at work yesterday so I tried to take a couple pictures of me and Violet together to celebrate one week as a pain free Tripawd. She was not at all impressed, as she really hates having her picture taken. You’ll be able to see her facial expression in the photos below 🙂

There’s really nothing huge to report besides her wagging her tail much more often and getting her personality back. The incision is looking great, too, and we will get the sutures taken out mid-next week. At that time we’re going to ask the vet when we can start trying to tackle stairs. I miss my bed and my husband, and I think Violet is tired of being contained to one level of the house! Plus she loves sleeping on our bed with us.

We are really pleased and blown away with the progress and quick healing that Violet has made. We love our girl and it’s so great to see her without pain!

Invading my work space and insisting that she be pet.

Here is when she hopped up on the couch for a snuggle. She didn’t want to get down!

One week of being a Tripawd!

Totally unimpressed with my attempts to take a picture with her.

Wow! I can’t believe how great Violet is doing. I woke up in the middle of the night last night to some noises and discovered that Violet had jumped up on the other couch and was making herself comfortable, haha! She is really not letting the loss of her other leg slow her down, and I am so happy that she’s not in pain anymore.

We’ve been trying to take her on short walks to help get her endurance up. She did great yesterday but was totally wiped out afterwards, and we only went to the mailbox and back (less than 1/4 mile total). Today she wanted to go a little farther, so tried it. She did great and even pooped on the first walk. The second walk was extremely windy, but she still wanted to go the same distance, so we did. I was able to order some of the FitPAWS balance pads so we can start working on core strength.

Eating and drinking is still normal and Violet has been doing really, really well with potty breaks. She still isn’t interested in her squeaky toys, but we are getting more tail wags and nose nudges for attention. It’s such a happy thing to see her feeling great and adjusting to her new normal!

Totally wiped out after her walk yesterday afternoon.

All smiles after this morning’s walk. She wants to keep going!

Last night was much better! I only had to get up at 3am to give a round of Gabapentin and help Violet go potty outside. Otherwise we both rested well, though I think a nap may still be in order for me today 🙂

Violet is a ROCKSTAR this morning! She stood up on her own and came over to the couch to ask me to go potty. While we were outside……SHE POOPED! That is exactly what we’ve been waiting for, and I know Drs. Crane and Baldwin will be thrilled to hear it when I do our update call tomorrow morning. Violet was also able to walk over to her food and water bowls and stand up while she ate her breakfast! I’m trying not to baby her and make her dependent on me for these things so I had tried this yesterday with her. She’d only wanted to eat and drink laying down on her bed, so this was huge this morning. She even seems to want to go without me in the back yard, but I’m still using the sling as a precaution, plus she needs my help getting up the couple of steps that lead to and from the yard.

Yesterday I offered a couple of snacks to keep Violet entertained while she was lounging around on her bed. She hasn’t been interested in her squeaky toys yet and I was concerned about boredom. I gave her a Kong ball with some peanut butter early in the day and a stalk of celery later in the afternoon. She absolutely loved both of them and especially had fun licking the ball to find all the peanut butter!

The incision area is looking spectacular, especially this morning. The bruising and puffiness is going away quickly, and we’ve had no signs of seromas or even any leakage at all! Dr. Crane recommended doing a moist warm compress on the area twice a day, which Violet loves. Not only does this help clean the skin of any iodine, any small amounts of dried blood that got missed during cleanup, etc., it also increases blood flow to the area. Like I said, Violet just loves this! Each time I’ve done it so far she groans while slowly laying her head down, and goes right to sleep.

I love seeing her personality shining through more and more. I got some serious tail wags today when I said hello and started our morning routine. She’s getting stronger and more confident, and I’m really excited for her life as a Tripawd!

Dad’s home! Hayden gave tons of love to his Tripawd when he got home from work yesterday.

Dad’s home! Hayden gave tons of love to his Tripawd when he got home from work yesterday.

Digging around for peanut butter in the Kong ball was tons of fun!

Enjoying a healthy celery snack. She loved crunching it with her teeth.

Standing to eat breakfast this morning was a big victory!

 

Well, we’ve made it through our first night at home. I can’t say that I slept very much, but Violet seems to be doing great.

We got her home yesterday around 4pm and she was wearing the E collar, which she HATED. Dr. Crane asked us to leave it on at least for the night, though, so I followed his instruction. She took her pills just fine, ate a tiny bit, drank a bunch, and tried to get up and follow me any time I moved. So I ended up just planting myself on the living room couch with a book.

We attempted twice to go potty outside before bed, but she wouldn’t go. I was getting stressed and nervous about hurting her, but Hayden told me to be calm because Violet will do things when she is ready. So, Hayden went down to our bedroom and I made camp on the couch so I could supervise the pup.

Violet was pretty restless throughout the night. I woke up every single time she moved and checked to make sure she wasn’t hurt or stuck anywhere. At about 3 am I woke up to her hobbling around the living room and running into the couch with the E collar 🙁 It ended up that she was trying to ask me if we could go outside. So, I took the E collar off since she was having so much trouble moving around in it, and took her outside with her leash and belly sling. She made a BIG pee! I was able to sleep off and on again until about 6 am. I was listening for licking since I had removed the cone but every time she did it, it was just on her front paws, which she usually does anyway.

This morning I gave the surgeon a call to update him, and he was pleased to hear that the incision looks the same as it had yesterday at discharge, and she has only tried to lick it two times. I shut her down immediately on that and she has not tried to lick the area since! We’ve gone pee a couple more times and she doesn’t seem to need much assistance from the belly sling, though I have it on her as a precaution. She still hasn’t pooped but we’re going to keep trying throughout the day. If she hasn’t pooped by Monday morning we’ll need to do something to “kickstart” the process so she doesn’t get constipated.

Some other little victories this morning: Somebody knocked on the front door and Violet got up growling and barking, and hobbled towards the door before I could stop her. This is something she does ANY time there is a noise in the general vicinity of the front door. We’re going to put a baby gate in place so she can get up and growl if she wants to, but not walk so far! She also gave her Papa a little tail wag this morning when he said hello to her! She’s becoming more and more herself, especially now that I have adopted a really positive attitude and stopped feeling so nervous and stressed.

Now we’re just waiting for Hayden to get home from work so she can get some more love from him 🙂

Our nurse friend suggested taking a photo of the incision as soon as we got home. This way we can compare each day to see if it’s getting better or if there is any cause for concern.

Violet was so exhausted that she fell asleep with her head up while wearing the cone of shame.

She tried so hard to get comfy in that thing!

This morning she is happy and comfy and looking really great (though she hates having her picture taken)!

Violet’s surgery went really, really well yesterday. We received several calls throughout the day with updates, and all were good news. She was doing better than most other pets they have seen go through a procedure like this. Last night she was able to go outside and was getting the hang of hobbling around on three legs! She even ate three meatballs of food that were offered to her.

The overnight stay at the vet went over without a hitch–she just slept all night. Dr. Crane (our surgeon) called this morning and said that she didn’t want to eat the canned food he offered her (though I think it’s because he is a man, and she is very nervous about men). Besides that she was doing well besides hating the “cone of shame.” Dr. Baldwin, our normal doctor, called a couple hour later. She had stopped in on her day off to check on Violet and was just amazed at how she is currently doing. She is hopping around with no problems and could probably do just fine without the sling supporting her hind end. However, we will continue to use the sling anyway as a precaution. Dr. Baldwin took Violet outside and was able to get her to eat about 3/4 of the can of food. She’s still having some trouble learning how to squat and pee, but that will come with time. Overall everything is going just swimmingly and we can pick our fluff up at 4:00 this afternoon!

Just wanted to give a quick update! I’m SO excited to pick our girl up this afternoon. I’ll keep everyone posted once we’re settled in.