Henry was barking up a storm a couple minutes ago because he could smell that the neighbor’s had brought an unfamiliar dog into their backyard, probably just a pet of a visiting relative. He’s calmed down now, but he was being very annoying. This morning I let him out of his crate and he ran circles around the coffee table, an old habit he hasn’t been able to do for a month now. I tried to catch him as fast as I could, because he’s not meant to be running, but as per usual, he thought I was playing with him and proceeded to hop around as if you to say “catch me, if you can.”
I felt his fur today and he’s got more knots than you can imagine. I want to brush him, but I’m scared it might hurt his legs, so I’ve just let him be as frazzled as he wants to be.
This week, he’s got a physical therapy appointment, but I’m having some doubts about taking him in because he seems to be doing incredibly well and I would just hate to spend so much money on something I already know and can do at home. I’m not sure about that yet, but we’ll see.
This weekend we tried putting him in a bath full of water, with a towel around his waste, so he could exercise his legs, but he wanted no part of it at all. He was slightly terrified, even though I was with him and the water was warm. I finally managed to submerge him, but he froze and wouldn’t move. So I just ended up bathing him quickly and then taking a shower myself because I was drenched in water.
He is one tired furball. He still sleeps next to me, which he loves and I love a lot as well. Speaking of which, I think we will both be going to do that now. Au revoir!
Posted on 18 August '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. No Comments.
Well, I can’t believe it’s been an entire month since Henry had his luxating patella surgery. These 4 weeks not only have been hard on him because he’s been stuck in his crate, they have been incredibly hard on me as well. I haven’t gotten a decent night’s sleep, but this week has gotten better.
Henry was dropped off at the vet yesterday morning and I left work early to pick him up. Unfortunately, I was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half before I got to the vet. His x-rays revealed that he’s doing great and the vet even commented on what a great dog he is. His appetite has improved so drastically, you wouldn’t believe. He eats now because he wants to, not because he needs to and loves his dry and wet foods. I always sneak peppers and blueberries in there as treats.
He’s still on cage rest, although he’s allowed short, leashed walks during the day. I plan to do a little water therapy with him by filling up my bathtub and holding him up with a towel so he can exercise his legs. I have heard that water therapy is a great way to rehabilitate muscle, in humans as well. The vet also showed me to do additional therapy by having him lay on his back, while I stretch out his legs. I was also informed I should continue to give him pain medication. He doesn’t seem to be in any kind of pain, but I will comply.
His hair is growing back at a rapid pace, although he has so many knots because he hasn’t been able to be brushed properly for a month now! He’ll probably have a good shave once more of his hair grows in.
I have started him on glucosomine supplements again in pill form. I crush the pill with the back of a spoon or knife, mix it in with his wet food and he doesn’t even know the difference. One of the best treats I’ve ever found that has glucoasmine is by a company called Dogswell. They have these amazing sweet potato pieces wrapped with chicken that Henry loves. LOVES. He will fight you to the death for one. They also have one in their line called “Veggie Life” that contains flaxseed and vitamins A & E.
I haven’t had any time to take photos of his progress, but I will upload some soon.
Posted on 15 August '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. No Comments.
It’s so funny how dogs come into our lives. One minute they’re with their sisters or brothers or in a shelter or at an adoption agency and the next minute, they’re yours. Sometimes, when the entire house is quiet and I’m on my computer, sitting in the dark, as I am now, and Henry is lying beside me somewhere between dreaming of food and toys, I look at him and it amazes me that I can call him mine. This little dog is mine. When I talk about him, I say, “My dog, Henry.” That is just astonishing to me. I’m sure I sound weird to anyone who is reading this, but you don’t understand. My childhood wasn’t filled with actual pets, just the longing for pets, almost every day.
My parents never let me have a dog or cat, so I would spend my days catching ladybugs and lizards in the back yard to call my own. They finally relented and let me have goldfish, and these were not your ordinary goldfish. They were beautiful, with striking colors, big puffy heads and flowing tails. I had them for a couple years. Then one day, we went on vacation and I came back to find most of them dead. After my goldfish fiasco, I was granted ownership of two anole lizards I kept in a terrarium in my room. Every week, my mom and I would make the trek down to the pet store to buy a bag full of crickets to feed them. A couple would always get loose and make their way around the house.
The lizards were tropical and as such had to be occasionally sprayed with water. I would take their cage out every week and put them in the shade. One day, I left them out too long while I went to the store with my mom and came back to find them shriveled up and gasping for air. They both died. I ceremonially buried them under the oak tree. I was completely devastated. Having felt sorry for me, my parents gave me permission to get more lizards, but I didn’t want to have anything to do with them. It was enough of a traumatic experience that I couldn’t bare to think of having two more.
Year and years went by. Having a dog was a topic of conversation at least once a week in my house, but the end of it was always the same: It’s either me, or a dog, my mom would say.
Thinking back on it now, what a cruel thing to say to a kid. But she didn’t understand, and I don’t blame her. I loved animals more than life itself and she, well she didn’t.
It wasn’t until I graduated from university last year, that she ever gave serious thought to me having a dog. By then, it wasn’t her choice anymore. It was going to be her and the dog and there was nothing she could say or do. So she chipped in and paid for half of Henry. She even came with me to bring him home. Although she might not admit it, they have been best friends every since. She feeds him chopped pepper, he sits in her lap. She worries about him when we’re not home, he watches her cook. She calls him “our dog” and pats his head while he sleeps. They love each other.
Pets are such an important and enriching part of life. Looking back, I’m not sure how I went all those years without Henry. Everything in my life can be crumbling and when I take one look at him when I get home, all of that melts away and it’s just me and him, with his head resting upon my hand, comfortably. It’s where he belongs.
Posted on 12 August '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. 1 Comment.
It has been 3 weeks since Henry had his luxating patella surgery on both knees. His x-ray went very well last Thursday and as you can see a couple posts below, he even had a bath and a cut. The last few days have been very difficult for me as I have become nervous and anxious about his recovery. When I put him down to walk to his pad, he walks fine. I have seen him raise his leg up once and this worries me a lot. I feel like it’s all a part of the recovery process and I don’t want my expectations of him walking perfectly so soon to be unrealistic, but it’s just so hard to know what’s going on. Sometimes I feel very out of the loop about the recovery process. I’ve read different things that mention how some dogs were given physical therapy schedules or other dogs were not even touching the ground until 6 weeks. It’s been 3 weeks and Henry can walk pretty fine, I am just overly worried. I don’t honestly know how people have kids, the amount of worrying that goes into children is in itself worrysome.
Henry does not have another vet appointment until next Thursday. From then on, I am going to confine him to his crate and only let him walk a couple minutes a day, closely supervised. I wish I knew more about this and I sincerely hope I’m doing the right things to aid in his recovery. My mind won’t be at ease until his next x-ray.
I have also scheduled him for a 2 hour examination at the California Animal Rehab Center, a facility which was recommended to me on a forum I visit. They completely assess the state of his legs and send me home with a physical therapy schedule. I’m looking forward to it. Until then, I will keep writing about his progress!
Posted on 6 August '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. 4 Comments.
Henry had a bath and a cut today, courtesy of me and some clippers. We went to buy professional grooming clippers at PetSmart today, but apparently the cheapest ones were $130! I used human clippers on him and scissors.
We decided to give him a cut to make evening out his hair easier when the area that was shaved for his luxating patella surgery grows back. Grooming animals is so difficult. No wonder I pick Henry up 4 hours after I drop him off at the groomers - I don’t know how they have the patience to handle so many squirmy dogs.
Mouse.
Dogs always fall asleep after a nice bath, I suppose. Here is Henry, in dreamland. His surgery wounds have healed nicely.
Posted on 2 August '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. 1 Comment.
This is a portrait I drew of Henry and I last summer. It’s acrylic on canvas and was finished in one night, although it still needs some touch ups. I put this photo up instead of one of Henry in his current state because he’s sleeping and not only do I not want to bother him, but he looks so scruffy and I’m sure he hates his life at this points, so I’m not going to play intrusive journalist right now, you know?
He’s been holed up in his crate, but he’s doing well. The staples in his legs are getting looser, which is a good sign. He has an x-ray and suture removal scheduled on Thursday and hopefully I can take that horribly annoying Elizabethan collar off his head. I think I hate it more than he does. It’s just awful. It is amazing how well the dog formally known as Mr. Pick. E. Eater is responding to food. He gobbles up his dry and wet food and the chicken and turkey and peppers he’s allowed in between. Because of this, his poop schedule has become so normal - once in the morning, once in the evening.
He finished up his antibiotic medicine today and will be off his pain meds this week. His hair is growing up at an astonishing rate, so we’ll have to even it out in a month or two. He is in dire need of a bath and he knows it. He self-grooms like a cat every chance he gets.
He didn’t make much noise during the earthquake that rocked Los Angeles today, except for letting out a big yelp the minute it was over.
More updates after his next vet appointment!
Posted on 29 July '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. No Comments.
Today Henry went to the vet to have his bandages removed. It’s been exactly one week since his surgery. He’s doing well, but very anxious to get up out of his crate. When the nurses brought him out, I saw his little pink legs dangling, with a million stitches all over. Fur, dried up blood, metal stitching and pink skin. It was not a pleasant site. I hesitated posting the photo below of his legs and was about to censor myself, but I thought I’d go ahead and do it anyway, because if anyone ever comes across this post and has a dog who will need luxating patella surgery and they want to see photos, it will be here for their reference. I know that before Henry has his surgery, I looked all over the web for photos, so it’s more helpful than hurtful. Plus, I’m not a fan of censorship. That being said, I’m putting the photo behind a cut for the faint of heart.
(more…)
Posted on 25 July '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. 1 Comment.
It’s now day 7-post luxating patella surgery, and as far as I can tell, Henry’s doing well for the most part, although he’s completely miserable in his crate. It’s the most time he’s spent in there, ever. He never sleeps in there, but on my bed with me and only goes in to fetch his toys out. He’s having a hard time adjusting, but he has to suffer now for the greater good of the functionality of his legs. When I put him on his pad to pee, he spins around like a banshee until he finally can’t hold it in anymore. I spread his legs, so he doesn’t get any pee on his bandaged feet. He only goes pee once a day and because of all the medicine he’s been given, his urine has a really putrid smell, a bit like asparagus-pee. For the short times that he’s out of his crate, he walks pretty well, although he looks like he’s walking on stilts. For being so small, he’s pretty fearless and seems to have forgotten about the fact that he had major surgery. If I didn’t immediately put him back in his crate after his daily bathroom session, he’d be running a muck in the house, bandaged legs and all.
He was suffering from a bout of constipation, as he hadn’t had a bowel movement since we brought him home on Saturday, so I gave him a teaspoon of pumpkin puree and this did the trick, although he ended up going his crate. I really don’t mind where he goes, as long as he goes. On Thursday he goes in to get his bandages removed I believe and I’m a bit scared of this, because I got a peek at one of the staples in his legs, and it was not a pleasant site.
By the way, if you’re reading this and your dog needs luxating patella surgery, which usually runs in the thousands as far as price is concern, a good option is Care Credit. Care Credit works like a credit card, but with perks such as an extended payment plan and no interest. It’s main purpose is for medical emergencies, such as pet surgery. I used it to cover half the cost of Henry’s surgery. More updates as we go along.
Posted on 23 July '08 by liana, under Paw Prints. 2 Comments.
Today’s cake was a smashing success! Everyone loved it, which was great because I was really nervous about it. I thought about Henry the entire day. The vet even called to check up on him, which I thought was the sweetest thing. I wish I could work from home so I could be there with him at all times. I’m feeling a bit stressed out and frustrated at the situation. He didn’t sleep all of last night in his crate. He kept moving around, so finally I put him on top of my bed and cradled him until he went to sleep. Needless to say I am in dire need of sleep today. I’m feeling upset as well, because he would not relax. He was standing on all fours, even though his hind legs are bandaged and he just kept moving around. I finally got angry and yelled at him and forced him to just sit down. He got really quiet and just kept looking at me with those big brown eyes. And I felt horrible. I guess I’m feeling overwhelmed by this whole thing too. Right now, he’s in his bed with my cardigan as his blanket, sleeping. He hasn’t had a bowel movement since Saturday and I was a bit worried, so I gave him some canned pumpkin, and I’m hoping this will help.
On Thursday I have a doctor’s appointment that is so long overdue. My last doctor was a complete idiot, so thankfully not only did she get up and decide to leave California, but Nat recommended her doctor to me, who I’m looking forward to seeing. I’ve got a number of things I want to talk to her about, mostly the fact that I have a sneaking suspicion that I have hypothyroidism. The symptoms completely match up with what I’ve been experiencing and my mom was also diagnosed with it many, many years ago, so it seems likely that I have it.
It’s only 10 p.m., and already I’m feeling sleepy. I guess I’m finally realizing that I’m getting old. Although if I said that out loud to anyone, they would look at my cross-eyed and proclaim, “You’re not old! You’re only 23!” I feel much older than 23, let me tell you. Plus, my idea of fun is knitting and baking and watching Bollywood films. By default, I’d say I’m at least 58.
My Sunday was spent as Sundays always should be: doing a whole lotta nothing, a little bit of baking and a good amount of relaxing with Henry, the little heartbeat at my feet. From what I can tell, he’s recovering well from his luxating patella surgery. He takes antibiotic twice a day, and pain medication once a day. He’s eating well and can move around on his bandaged legs. On Thursday, he has an appointment back at the vet to remove his bandages. I’m a bit terrified about that, because of the staples in his legs. I’d rather they just leave the bandages on until he fully recovers, but I know that’s not possible.
I was asked to bake a cake for an office birthday and if you know me, you know that I can never turn down an offer to bake. It took a long time for me to decide on one I liked. Once again, the recipe came from RecipeZaar. I looked at one of my favorite sites, Epicurious first, but they really had nothing I was looking for. The recipes I’ve found there have been disappointing me lately. The recipe, Amazing Solan Family Chocolate Cake, was just what I was looking for. This recipe was particularly unique because it is a Swedish cake recipe that contains no milk or eggs and is low-fat. The recipe did have a warning on it to make bundt pan extra greasy, as it was a sticky cake, and even though I did make sure it was well greased, it was such a delicate cake that a part of it became a bit crumbled.
I put some glaze on top of it and this is how it turned out…
I might garnish it with some strawberries before I take it in. Although I would have liked it to look better, I have a feeling the taste will make up for the looks. This is definitely a recipe I would make again, I’m sure the cake tastes amazing on its own, without the glaze.
Posted on 21 July '08 by liana, under Food, Paw Prints. No Comments.
