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Comment by Sarah Schantz on March 5, 2013 at 8:32pm

Sounds as though things are going well and you are further along in the healing process, yay.  It's interesting that Ellie isn't letting you lift her onto the couch.  I've been spending a lot of time on the floor as well, though I can pick up Phoebe who will sit in my lap especially at tea drinking time in the morning.  We walk her slowly on the driveway now which is quite long but she is raring to go - lots of pent up energy.

I know what you mean about painkillers.  I usually stay away from drugs myself as much as possible and was using homeopathy with Phoebe but decided to use the painkillers for the first days in addition.  It seems as though if you don't have as much pain your body can relax into healing rather than tense up. 

Glad you and Ellie are so compatible.  I really love Phoebe and feel lucky to have her too!

Comment by Heather & Ellie on March 5, 2013 at 11:09am

I'm glad to hear Phoebe is getting better.  The vet who did the surgery is apparently pretty old school, and for once I'm not complaining.  They can go home the same day, they get stitches to keep everything held together, he doesn't recommend painkillers/cones unless there's a need, thinks a walk is better than a stir crazy puppy.  It's a really practical, balanced way of thinking about it.  It kept me really calm, which I'm sure helped Ellie's recovery a lot.

We're on Day 8 post-spay.When the Benadryl starts wearing off in the evening, I can definitely tell!  I let her walk fast if she wants to, but not run or jump.  Ellie only likes to cuddle so much, but she likes to be near me.  She won't let me lift her up onto the couch, though, so I'm spending a lot of time reading or watching TV from the floor.  I'm not complaining, though. Our personalities mesh so well: calm, quiet, stubborn, like to sleep a lot.  I got really, really lucky with her.

Comment by Sarah Schantz on March 4, 2013 at 7:36pm

A "simple" spay can end up not being so simple - who would have thought of a bug bite causing this trouble?  What day are you on post-spay?  Phoebe is doing well and I feel her just coming back to herself in the last few hours (this is day 4).  The trouble is now she is jumping around and chasing the cat a bit so having a sleepy Ellie might be the best thing.  We are curtailing all of the fun things - walks and ball chasing and having lots of cuddles.  My vet used some kind of epoxy externally and stitches internally; I'm wondering if stitching on the outside holds the incision closed better.  There is a tiny gap but no redness or swelling.  Phoebe also is scratching with her hind leg but not the incision as far as I can tell.  It can make you crazy; I can't wait til she is healed up completely!

Comment by Heather & Ellie on March 4, 2013 at 11:53am

Poor Phoebe!  Ellie was shaking too when I left her at the vet.  Is she doing better a couple days later?

I had to take Ellie back to the vet this weekend. When they shaved her, they found a HUGE bug bite that bothered her even more because there's no fur there anymore.  All her scratching with her back foot ripped out a stitch.  The vet said the incision looks amazing, but we have to stop the scratching or she might pull out all the stitches.  Rather than get a prescription (a steroid cream which could interfere with healing if it gets near the incision), I decided to give her Benadryl for the itchiness and Neosporin on the bite.  Now Ellie is a sleepy girl most of the time.  It's sad to see her so listless, but the rest will help with her healing.

Comment by Sarah Schantz on March 1, 2013 at 6:35pm

Phoebe's home and of course, being a new corgi mom, I am worried.  It's been only 8 hours since the surgery and she is trying to sleep and very restless - threw up once - and just is uncomfortable in her body.  It really helps to know that they usually bounce back very quickly.  She was so good this morning about not getting food and the car ride so early in the morning but when I left her she was shaking - how to break your heart that you can't explain what is happening.    Little whimpers now ... Thanks for checking in on us!

Comment by Heather & Ellie on March 1, 2013 at 3:53pm

I hope Phoebe's surgery went smoothly and that she's home resting soon.  She'll be back to her old self in no time.

Comment by Sarah Schantz on February 28, 2013 at 3:10pm

Thanks for letting me know and I am glad all is going well.  Tomorrow is Phoebe's turn and it all is very worrying but we'll just take it step by step.  I'm glad to hear about the slow walks - we can at least go up and down our long driveway but no jumping about in the woods in the snow which is what she likes to do.  In this case it will be good to have time fly!

Comment by Heather & Ellie on February 28, 2013 at 10:52am

How could I type all that and forget to answer your question, Sarah?  :p

No, Ellie didn't need any pain meds.  She was pretty perky the morning after, and by that afternoon she was her old self.  Since I work late Tuesday/early Wednesday she had about 24 hours of crate time broken up by just potty breaks, and the sleep helped a lot.  Usually I hate my schedule because of that, but it worked out well this week.

Comment by Heather & Ellie on February 28, 2013 at 10:50am

Things are pretty much business as usual around our house.  Ellie is back to her happy, chew-monster self and destroying stuffed animals left and right.

The vet told me it's much better to take her on a slow walk than to have her bouncing around the house, so we're walking slowly during potty breaks.  I had to pile things on the couch to keep her from jumping up (after she jumped on/off once before I could stop her - yikes!).  She does sometimes gets hyper inside, but instead of saying "no" I've tried to redirect her attention.  I usually interrupt by calling her over for some cuddles or a treat.  I'm afraid if I always say no when she's moving too much she'll start to think I'm scolding her for playing, which I don't ever want to do.

The most frustrating thing is keeping her belly clean and dry when it's been so rainy and muddy outside.

One really, really good thing about all of this is that she finally sees her crate as a safe place versus that horrible place where she can't frap around.  She went in there Monday night feeling awful and woke up much better on Tuesday morning.  She actually obeys the "go to bed" command now.

Comment by Sarah Schantz on February 27, 2013 at 9:01pm

Hey Heather, how is Ellie doing now?  Sounds like a traumatic time for you both but hopefully she is feeling much better!  Has she needed many pain meds?

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