After two horribly dreadful days of being without him, my little lamb, Henry the Maltese came home today. About nine months ago, Henry underwent luxating patella surgery to correct both his knees. I documented his entire recovery process here in an effort to provide that information to someone who might be as nervous and scared as I was and ended up meeting many dog owners who were going through the same thing, especially Laura and her Maltese Rocky from Florida (Hi Laura!)

I had taken him to the vet on Saturday because I had slowly began noticing that when he was turning sharp corners while running (which was always), he would lift his right foot up, just the way he did before his knee caps were aligned correctly with pins. I would also occasionally catch him licking at his knee, so I knew something wasn’t right. His physical therapist had told me earlier that licking is a sign of pain, so I booked him an appointment at the vet so that they could take a closer look.

They suspected it was the pin that was bothering him and instructed me to bring him in on Monday so the orthopedic surgeon who did his surgery could take a look. On top of that, he had about four baby teeth (which I later found out was six) that needed to be removed and he hadn’t received vaccines in well over a year, so it was decided to kill three birds with one stone and do all procedures in one go. He was meant to come home Monday, but the surgeon had an emergency surgery so Henry ended up staying the night at the hospital, so the surgeon could take a look first thing in the morning.

Monday night was one of the worst nights I had had in a long time. It’s amazing how empty the house becomes when your pets aren’t there. You don’t realize how much you love them and how much of an integral part of your life they are until they’re gone. I didn’t know what to do with myself that night and Jason Mesnick also known as the worst Bachelor of ALL time wasn’t helping things either.

But I digress. I woke up Tuesday excited at the prospect of picking Henry up. I even packed away his toy and a blanket in the car, but as I had left work early and already driven half way there, I got a call from the vet alerting me that the surgeon was going to be late, so he would have to spend another night and he would be ready for pick up the next day.

Needless to say, I was gutted. One day was enough, I didn’t know how I was going to survive one more day without him. I was restless, anxious and over analytical the entire night. If I was getting this worked up over my dog, I thought to myself, I really didn’t want to know what it was like to watch your own children go through such things.

Today, after two hours in traffic from Santa Monica to Pasadena, a lot of stress, six pulled baby teeth, four stitches, a shaved leg and one daunting vet bill later, Henry is home again. He’s a bit drugged out and tired, but doing well all the same. He can walk, which is great and I’m hoping his leg will be as good as new going forward.

When I brought him home and put him down, he drank what seemed like a gallon of water and then went straight to pee. He quenched his thirst, emptied his bladder, ate some boiled and shredded chicken and had a nice rest in my lap the entire night.

If your dog has had luxating patella surgery, and you begin to notice behaviors such as the one Henry had, it’s a good idea to book a follow up appointment with your vet. A simple procedure can make a lot of difference. As far as I can tell, Henry is in minimal pain and he’s taking it quite well. Sometimes, we tend to forget how resilient animals are and how resilient we are when faced with adversity.

Pets not only give us joy on a day to day basis, they teach us so much about ourselves. They teach us to be selfless, to be loving, to be responsible, they teach us the most basic of human emotions: compassion. In many ways, it is the way you treat animals, not humans, that reveals who you are. After all, it was Milan Kundera, one of my favorite authors who said “mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.” Henry has managed to teach me so much about myself. There were times in my life when I cringed at the thought of having to take care of something or someone other than me. Henry has taught me that taking care of either animal or human is a truly rewarding and humbling experience and I couldn’t ask for a better little lamb.

This week, I made the trek across town to take Henry to a physical therapy appointment, and I left with three different supplements, eight pages of physical therapy exercises, a dent in my credit card and one tired dog. Henry went through a thorough 2 hour exam where every part of his legs were checked. When we got home, he went straight to sleep. I really have my work cut out for me. In order to aid in his recovery from luxating patella surgery, Henry must take antioxidant supplements, fish oil as well as a pain/mood enhancing medication. His diet also needs to include only 50 percent commercial food and will be supplemented with various fruits, vegetables and spices. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t be feeding him any commercial food, but because I don’t have the time to cook for him, he does eat kibble and canned food. However, his food is always supplemented with vegetables and pure sources of protein, like chicken, beef and turkey. We make sure to cook for him as often as we can.

Henry’s therapist was the first professional I had met in the field of veterinary medicine that advocated the use of cooked meals and raw, organic foods in a dog’s diet. It was then, that I knew I had made the right choice to take him in for an exam. Every other vet I have spoken to or pet owners in general, usually don’t advocate the use of so called ‘human’ food in a dog’s diet. I always thought this was a ridiculous idea. Despite them being different, a dog’s nutritional needs are not that far off from a human’s. I feel sad for dogs who are always kept on dry kibble and never have the chance to experience the taste of foods that are good for them. What a boring palette. Food is the essence of life, in my opinion and should be enjoyable for humans and animals alike.

But, I digress. For the last 2 days I have been doing exercises with Henry when I’ve come home from work. These include short walks and a number of balance and flexibility exercises. Getting through all of them is hard. I am so tired by the end of it, not to mention stressed. I just can’t wait for him to fully recover. If I had the necessary funds, I would put him in the physical therapy program that the rehabilitation center offers, which includes 2 visits per week, but unfortunately, I don’t.

While we were there, Henry met a dachshund named Lily and he kept pulling on his leash to go play with her. When they took her away, he started to cry! My heart broke. He definitely needs a playmate and I look forward to the day when I can get him one.

It’s been a little over 5 weeks since his surgery, however we’ve got a long road ahead of us. One that involves much exercise, stressful days, sleepless nights and extra cuddles.

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.

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.