The Boy

Thankfully, is finally feeling much, much better than he was last Tuesday when we brought him home. Oh my gosh. Yes, I felt terrible for having taken him to the vet for surgery. He went in "just fine" [in his world] and came out "feeling absolutely miserable" with five sets of stitches and a missing toe! Could life possibly be any worse [in his world]? I. Don't. Think. So.

Poor little guy. Just slept in his "half" crate because I forced him to have his hood [you know, that lampshade thing - the Elizabethan collar] on so that there was NO chance of him licking or trying to get his stitches out - anywhere - or worse, trying to take the bandage off his foot and undo stitches there. Do not even want to think about it. No doubt he would like very much to have his "whole" crate - it is his room, his haven, his safety, but he can't get in and out with his hood on so I took it apart and put half of it in the living room for him to be in there with us if he wanted. It worked out well.

We need to put a plastic bag over his foot before he can go outside. Cannot allow his bandaging to get wet - and I've got a sock over it for extra protection and to keep it clean. Try tying a plastic bag over your four-legged-kid's foot the next time you go out. Let me know how well it works out. Much easier said than done. Thank you very much Dr. Vet-in-Saudi! [He and I had words about this on Thursday morning when I took The Boy in to have his bandage changed. I had to let him know that it is not nearly as easy to do as it sounds. Of course Dr. Vet-in-Saudi doesn't have a four-legged-canine-kid of his own so he's never had to try it.]

Today as I was reading on the couch, The Boy and The Baby were in the living room with me. I had the doors closed so that The Boy could be without the hood and couldn't escape and head to the bedroom where he could lick. DH happened to be in the study and I called him on his cell phone, "Honey, do me a favor and bring me the camera." It was so cute - both Kids on one chair, neither of them wanting to give the other any amount of room - it was not particularly comfortable looking but it WAS a perfect Kodak moment if there ever was one. DH opened the door and both of them jumped off the chair - I didn't get the picture - which is exactly why I called DH on his cell instead of getting up and getting the camera, myself. They were both on the chair [the one, below] and draped over opposite sides - with their hind-ends barely - just barely - touching and neither one of them had nearly enough room - so their middles were "hunched" up. I did take these, though [and duh - didn't even think to have the flash on when I started snapping!]:

The Boy, comfortably curled up in the chair without his Little Sister
[and without the flash]

The Boy, not quite so comfortably curled up in the chair without his Little Sister
[with the flash]

The Boy's bandaged foot - where he is now missing a toe

The incision on The Boy's chest where the largest "lump" was removed

The incision on The Boy's left back foot where a small "lesion" was removed

There are stitches on the top of his left rear leg, and in two places on his right front paw - where a "lesion" was removed, and of course, where the toe was removed.

Poor little guy - got treated like a dayum quilt at the vet's last week, didn't he!


UPDATE: We went back to the vet this morning - to have the bandage changed again. The foot is looking better. The vet didn't put quite as much cotton / padding / gauze on The Boy's foot. The stitches, everywhere but where the toe has been amputated, can come out on Thursday morning. The Boy will be happy about that. Unfortunately, until the foot is healed - he's stuck wearing that nasty hood. The Boy will not be happy about that.

I feel awful about getting The Boy all ready to "go for a ride." He gets so excited. And then - wham - what a let down to find out we're only going to the vet's. One of these days he is just going to refuse to get in the truck. He weighs just over 120 pounds so it isn't like I can lift him up and put him in the truck if he decides he isn't going to get in on his own.