Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Post-op Post

It was 4:45 a.m. Godzilla was climbing the stairs. I heard a crash, then scraping, and then a soft plasticy thud as Ray's Elizabethan collar knocked something over, scraped along the staircase wall, and then ran into the closet at the top of the stairs.

The surgery to remove a growth on Ray's back leg had gone well. The teeth cleaning had revealed a large paddle of gum that had grown down over one canine (which I knew about and had asked to be removed) and a swath of gum that had grown up over all of his bottom front teeth (which I didn't). The vet had removed the paddle and cut back the gum on the bottom to reveal his teeth.

The pre-surgery bloodwork had also discovered that one of Ray's liver values was up. While Ray was under anesthesia, the vet had done a scan of his liver to look for masses but found nothing. We were given liver-health supplements and told that monitoring was the order-of-the-day, for now.

For two days after his ordeal, Ray was a living misery. The mouth rinse given to us by the vet had an added numbing agent. After a day, I also asked her for some pain killers for the poor, miserable hound. Gregg and I kept Ray well-drugged for two days. After that, except for the fact that he wouldn't leave his bandage alone, it was as if nothing had happened.

Superdog. We live with Superdog.

I think the orange complimented my coloring better, don't you?
We tried keeping Ray from his leg using the flotation device (inflatable donut) but the determined dog was no match for it and by Saturday I was bringing him back to the vet to get the wet dressing changed. "No matter what, keep it dry" was the number one instruction. Ray was licking it so much there was a hole through it and it was soaking wet. His florescent orange bandage was swapped out with a florescent yellow one and he came away with a new hat. The cats were oddly unfazed at the appearance of the bizarre fashion statement.

Shhhhhhhh. I'm trying to pick up signals from the mothership.
I always knew that a blind dog wearing a large, protruding, semi-hard plastic collar would not be a good thing to have around, but I had no idea how badly it would affect Ray's navigation. The pitiful hound had absolutely no idea where he was in space. He got lost in his own house and also, apparently, when on the end of his picket in the front yard. After half-an-hour out front on his bed enjoying a nap in the sunshine, I found him on the front porch standing with his collar pressed up against my spinning wheel waiting for me to open the 'door.' He had gone from Superdog to Patheticdog with the donning of his hat.

I'm glad they had this tree down.
It's much more comfortable as a pillow
Ray had his post-op checkup yesterday. We've gone five years without Ray being afraid of going to the vet but that is now over. Although he entered the reception area happily enough, he refused point-blank to retreat to one of the examination rooms. Since no one else was waiting, the vet and vet tech took pity on the poor, blind dog and did his checkup on the spot. The bandage was cut away to reveal a tidy, Frankenstinian-looking, stapled-together incision, perfect for Halloween, and his healing gums were examined. Everything was on track. The hat, however, remains until the middle of next week when Ray gets his staples out.




Ummmmm. Hey, Ray.
You know there's a towel hanging off of your hat, don't you?*


*I was prepping for a party when Ray wandered into the dining room like this. Absolutely pathetic and oh so very funny.

17 comments:

  1. OMD just the giggle I needed today, maybe he should be nicknamed Mork for now, Mork calling Orson , nanoo nanoo !!

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  2. Poor Ray - the cone of shame is the worse thing ever !

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    1. It certainly is turning out to be for poor Ray. I don't know why it screws up his navigation so much but it sure does.

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  3. OMG - I feel guilty, but I LOL at the spinning wheel!! Sending you a video from after Josey had her hernia surgery. I nearly had a nervous breakdown; because of the location of the wound (right at the inside of a back leg), a cone wouldn't work, and I was going crazy trying to find anything that I could think of (including pullups!) to cover the wound and wrap in a way to keep it on. I was sleeping downstairs on the sofa to watch her in the night, and calling and/or taking her to the Vet daily. It was awful :(

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    1. Lordy but that video made me LOL. What a mess. Reminds me of my house on a daily basis but without all the blood.

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  4. But, as you'll see from the video, kinda funny in retrospect, haha!

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  5. I have never had the heart to keep a cone on any of the dogs I've had for more than a couple of hours. I usually resort to t-shirts or socks. Poor Ray, I'm sure it's like putting a cone on a bat - must screw up all the blind dog's ability to interpret sound. Thank goodness it will be removed soon.

    I wonder if you could cut holes in the cone so his ears could stick out? Not just because it would be funny looking - but so he could navigate easier. ;)

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    1. I was sitting here wondering how you keep a sock on a dog that doesn't want it on. I'm fairly confident that Ray could have it off or lick a hole in it in no time flat. And the thought of him gnawing his staples off makes me a bit queasy. As much as I HATE having a blind dog wearing a large hat in the house, I just can't figure out a workable alternative.
      As for the cone and the location of Ray's ears…his ears are too far from the cone for them to stick out and the cone tends to rotate so that the holes would be in the wrong place all the time. I don't know if that would matter or not as far as sound goes. I hate to monkey with it because it was expensive and if I ruin it, I'll have to get another.
      The staples come out Tuesday. We'll just have to tough it out.

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    2. Let's just say that I used my old ugly socks for my experiment. I had to replace them often and would find the socks in the yard later. I was fortunate that when Blueberry had that sore on her back paw, she never bothered it much and when she did I'd just say, "Blueberry" and she would stop. Although, if staples were involved, I'd definitely suck it up and use the cone of shame.

      Are you going to throw an "Off with the Cone" party for Ray on Tuesday?

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    3. Let's just say that I'll be dancing around with my pants on my head when that thing comes off.

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    4. One more day til the head-pants dance day!

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    5. I've got it circled on my calendar and my pants are freshly laundered...

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  6. Oh, poor Ray! We've been lucky in that only once did Hiker need a cone. That was after her eye removal. Only for a day and then we gave up. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

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    1. The mind boggles at trying to keep a cone on a cattle dog...

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  7. Ray the Conehead: When my people come to colonize this planet, you will be on the protected rolls, and no harm will come to you.
    Ray's Mom: You are wise. But there is a sadness to your wisdom.
    (Paraphrased from Beldar Conehead)

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