I feel blessed that Abby has come this far with no complications from her surgery. If you’ve followed along, you know how jealous I am that so many other tripawds happily recuperate in T-shirts and boxers instead of cones, but have come to accept that just isn’t going to be Abby.
On Day 8, I was feeling so good about her recovery that I called the vet to ask about the best way to wean her off her meds. We decided to one by one cut her doses in half and see how she did. We were going to start with carprofen then work our way to codeine and gabapentin. I had only taken out two half-pills of carprofen when we moved into Day 9 and 10 which were definitely setback days for us.
![IMG_7082[1]](http://dearabby.tripawds.com/files/2015/10/IMG_70821.jpg)
She panted more and was more uncomfortable, more needy, more whiny. I not only returned to the higher dose of carprofen, but moved her to a higher dose of the other two as well (still within the range we were given). For some reason, when she’s uncomfortable, she seems happiest in this position with her head hanging over the couch. I know it looks like the doggie blues, but I think its really just comfort.
It’s just a reminder that she had major surgery and there will be up days and down days. The last two have been good – although not exhausted-from-playing-so-hard good days. Hoping to see those in our future.
some dogs need longer on pain meds than others. The thing is don’t forget this was a major surgery so it doesn’t hurt to keep them on those meds for a little bit. She will let you know. I had Sassy on Carprofen for a month after her amputation.
xoxox
Michelle & Angel Sassy
I think I was thinking we might be done with the carprofrn since it was prescribed 2 months ago for the leg she no longer has. But, yes, now we have surgical pain. One day at a time. She is s trooper!
Aw, she does look sad in that photo but it’s probably the most comfortable position with that cone. Smart dog for finding it.
My cat didn’t do so well with meds, she went from sleeping to racing around the house by escaping from rooms. In retrospect I needed to appreciate the sleeping, healing time more. It sounds like you and Abby are pacing the meds and activity well.
Things really do look brighter once those stitches are out. That’ll be soon dear Abby.
p.s. My sister has a rottie who was in the yard and then banging on the patio door. My sister opened the door and the dog ran in, rubbing himself on the carpet, smelling of skunk! My sister went online to find out what to do. #1 Don’t let the dog in the house!
Thanks for the support! Your Rottie story cracked me up. Thankfully we don’t have any skunk experiences!
I think you’d be surprised at how many dogs need cones. The thing is I’m pretty sure most folks don’t take photos of them when they are wearing ’em!
Tell Abby not to feel bad. Our Wyatt Ray has had to wear TWO cones while recuperating from his various surgical endeavors:
http://wyattraydawg.tripawds.com/files/2013/09/WyattPexiConed.jpg