Month: March 2020 (Page 2 of 3)

It’s been a fairly slow, quiet day here. Mr B has been resting a lot but doesn’t seem to be in much pain. Just a bit uncomfortable. He’s happy to go outside for a quick toilet break then come straight back in to his bed. I’m pretty happy to follow his lead!

The only thing that’s a bit odd is that his walking seems to be getting LESS steady. He’s walking in circles a bit, seems to be having a bit of trouble going in one direction, and there have been a couple of weird times when he stood just on his front legs. Very odd.

Mr B is back home again, a bit tired and withdrawn but hopefully now on the road to recovery. He spent 3 nights in hospital and had reconstructive surgery on the original surgery site (his back right leg – hemipelvectomy). The very brief summary is that the surgeon pulled as much living skin as she could back up over the wound and stitched it together. He looks a little bit Frankendoggie down there. The site isn’t completely covered so he might need another operation, with donor skin taken from his tail. Alternatively, if the skin hardens well enough we could just leave it as the spot would most likely be hidden in his long fur. I hope so because I don’t want him to do another hospital stay!

So we’re back to sleeping in shifts, wound care, supervised walks and hand feeding of Prince Badgington.  He is also anaemic due to blood loss before and during the last surgery.  Lots of pampering required!

MrB is loaded up and ready to go home.
I am ready for a month-long nap!

Hi Badger lovers.  The boy has had a few more challenges this weekend, complete with a visit to the emergency vet and two home visits from his surgeon!  His regular vet and the specialist clinic have been closed as it is a public holiday where we live.  Unfortunately, Badger chose this exact weekend to have a total collapse of his wound!  He lost a lot of blood this morning, and all of the skin around his wound has died.  🙁  First thing tomorrow he is going back to the specialist clinic for more reconstructive surgery.  An awful complication. In spite of this he is in good spirits.  I also have so much gratitude for his surgeon!  It was amazing for her to do a home visit, but there is no way we could have managed alone.

MrB looking amazingly calm and happy, having an evening walk amongst the olives.

Mr B will be in hospital for at least a couple of days, giving us a chance to gather our strength for the next round.  Wish us luck!

Drugged out and hopefully feeling no pain! Mr B hates being in the “Cone of Shame.”

We had a house call from Badger’s regular vet today.  After chatting to his surgeon and evaluating the wound, they decided to remove some of the unhealthy tissue.  They are both pretty happy with how the skin looks underneath but there’s a small chance he might need a skin graft next week.  Please send healing thoughts Mr B’s way.

Right now he has ALL the drugs and is pretty out of it.  I’m happy for him to stay as calm and quiet as possible because I’m not really looking forward to cleaning and changing the dressing.

I can’t lie: it’s been a bad couple of days.

His skin isn’t healing well.  His pain medication hasn’t been working.  The poor boy even tried to chomp both of us to protect his poor wound.  This is NOT normal behaviour.  We were at an all time low on Wednesday, sending photos and cries for help to the vet.

Fortunately, I jumped onto the Tripawds forums and started reading the entries about pain relief.  Gabapentin.  I asked the vet, and she agreed it was worth a try.

I picked up a huge stash of drugs today, including the Gabapentin.  About an hour after taking it, he seemed calmer.  He approached me for a lean and a cuddle, and more or less fell asleep on my shoulder.  James managed to ease him down onto his bed without so much as a whimper.  His legs relaxed.  I was able to gently bend and move his remaining back leg, which has been stiff and braced for days.  He fell into a deep sleep and had some “doggy dream,” twitching and running in his sleep.  His tongue lolled out as he relaxed.  We breathed a huge sigh of relief.

When he woke up he was still pretty chilled out.  He ate his dinner with something like his old appetite, wolfing everything down rather than the picky hand fed Prince Badgington we’ve been dealing with for the last week.  He licked his lips to ask for seconds. 🙂  Now he is sleeping again and it still seems much deeper and relaxed than it has since his operation.  HOPEFULLY this is a turning point.

Badger cuddling a box that arrived in the mail today. It is a present from his dog-cousin Ruffy!

The other bright spot in today is that Mr Badger received a package in the mail: a “get well soon” present from his dog-cousin Ruffy.  As you can see from the photo, he was a bit too relaxed to fully appreciate his gift but it cheered us up no end!

Last of all, I want to thank everyone who contributes to the Tripawds Community.  The information shared here has saved my sanity more than once, and I’m truly hoping the Gabapentin is a turning point for Mr B.

What a lovely gift. He was too sleepy to eat them at first but later on he happily gobbled up a doggy love heart.