Month: December 2018

Dottie Found A New Friend: Leo

We took a visit to the animal shelter on Saturday. We met with an adoption counselor and talked about Dottie and our situation. We felt like Dottie was really missing having another dog in the house but she’s still recovering and in order to bring a new friend home we needed the right match. We met a couple of very adorable but rambunctious pittie boys. They had looked so submissive in their kennels but the hard and strong zoomies started as soon as their feet hit the grass. I was feeling very uncertain. Maybe it just wasn’t time.
The adoption counselor spoke up before I did and said “If you’re open to an older dog, I think I have a great dog to match with your tripawd. We agreed to meet “Lee-oh” who had been adopted but recently returned after a bad introduction to a neighbors cat. He was the only dog we met who calmed enough to interact with us. He sat. He listened. He was super sweet with a seriously scratched up face. We agreed to talk it over and return with Dottie today (which we did).
Dottie LOVED her visit to the animal shelter. So many sniffs and dog noises. So many kids and people wanting to pet a nice tripawd girl. She also had a friendly interaction with Lee-oh who was about as polite as a dog can be on a first introduction.
We drove separate vehicles so I could take Dottie home and my partner could bring home now Leo (that spelling was too silly for me 😂).
We’ve done some navigating around the house and Leo and Dottie have had some brief walks (longer for Leo) and they are now resting comfortably on dog beds. Leo is a perfect gentleman and has been giving Dottie space as instructed.
The best news, Dottie seems more relaxed than she’s been since she came home from the pup hospital! ❤️🐾

We will keep you all posted on the adventures of Dottie and Leo!

Until next time! ✌🏽❤️🐾
Tara and Dottie

Dottie’s doctor visit

Dottie had a milestone day–Suture removal! She walked into the animal hospital, greeted by friendly faces. She received a clean bill of health and was told to gain some weight and ordered to not come back except for a friendly visit. Dottie’s trauma team and surgeon are big fans. They even wrote on her discharge paperwork that they adore her. 😍

We are transferring Dottie’s care back to her regular doctor who had only met her once before the accident. We swung by for a visit and to talk about any pup rehab she might need to get strong and prevent future injury. They appeared busy and I asked if they had time to see Dottie. The whole place including her doc came out to give treats and kisses. Dottie isn’t so sure why she’s so popular right now but she sure likes cookies and kisses.

We thought Dottie might be wiped out from her excursions but we arrived home and she insisted we try the stairs. She’s been trying to go up them for 3 days now and she absolutely heard the doctor say she was cleared to try them! “Ok” I said as I grabbed her harness. She looked back and sighed. I let go and stood next to her as she went up one stair at a time,occasionally resting. She made it to the top and immediately went to her dog bed sat and waited to be invited onto the BIG (people) bed. My partner built a platform over the weekend to lower our bed. Dottie needed a lift this time but she was thrilled to have a nap with her people.

We are feeling so lucky. We still miss Clyde who made us laugh daily with his doggie stand up routines. Still, we feel fortunate. We have a healthy three-legged dog who has shown us what surviving and thriving looks like. Dottie is taking this tripawd adventure hour by hour, day by day and we are following her example.

We also want to say THANK YOU to the tripawd community for all your support over the past couple of weeks. The blogs, forums and website have been a great resource and source of support for all of us. Thanks for keeping us sane. I hope to be able to return the favor some day.

✌🏽❤️,
Tara and Dottie 💙🐾

Here are some pictures from Dottie’s big day

Dottie: 1st week as a tripawd

Dottie had her amputation surgery the day after she was hit by a car. Wednesday December 12, 2018. It was a long day. Dottie had blood transfusions. She had a total amputation of her rear left leg, a surgical repaired artery, stitches over her eye. She was bruised and scraped up, a scratch on her eye. She stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon. We brought her home and have been working to nurse her back to health ever since.

She was relieved to be outside. Her nose was happy. The first day she spent some time sitting in the yard. She walked a bit. We thought this was going to be a breeze. They told us to start her on some Tramdol, that we should get ahead of the pain. She also had a fentanyl patch. I was familiar with these mediations from my late Jazz’s cruciate repair surgery. I was prepared because Jazz reacted poorly to Tramadol by howling for a full night.

The first few days and nights were restless, worrisome. I called the vet at least once a day. She was having lots of accidents on her potty pads. She didn’t appear to be in pain but she was getting lethargic and stopped eating. Her incision was seeping. She was fighting taking her pills. She didn’t want to get up.

I called the vet. She ordered an appetite stimulant and told us to stop the Tramadol. I picked up the Entyce and it provided immediate results! Massive salivation and she gobbled up some food. She started to wake up as she came off the Tramdol. Things were looking up again!

But the next couple of days were less rough but still rough. Dottie was eating better but was not comfortable. We called the vet and got some Metacam (NSAID) for her discomfort. It seemed to help a bit but the incision site was bothering her. We did warm compresses, some ice therapy to try to take down some of the inflammation. We talked to vet, emailed pictures and were told that everything was normal. We had no sign of infection, we just needed to be patient with Dottie’s recovery. Remember, Dottie survived being hit by an SUV.

Fast forward to today. Dottie has a small hole near her incision. Her vet says this is a naturally forming drain to release the fluid (I know, and it’s gross). She’s still eating well but is still weak and sore. She’s resting more comfortably, having doggie dreams. She’s wagging her tail Everytime I talk to her. We aren’t having potty accidents. She’s not getting up on her own yet but does adjust her sleeping position and is concentrating on her balancing and taking some steps during her potty breaks.

Each day things get a little bit better. We are getting our Dottie back. ❤️

Dottie sits in the grass on her first full day at home.
Dottie does some resting outside.
Car ride home from the hospital

A tribute to Dottie’s friend, Clyde.

The day Jazz picked Clyde to join our pack.

He was a sweet boy but had likely lived most of his two years in shelters and rescues. He wasn’t socialized and had terribly bad separation anxiety. It took a lot of patience to have Clyde join our family. He was 80lbs of naughty dog with bear strength.
Once Clyde became comfortable, he started showing his typical boxer personality. I call them clown dogs. Clyde loved to make me laugh. He would continue to parade around with a toy if it made me giggle. He loved to be played with and loved to snuggle his people and his dog friends.

 

Clyde was gentle and sweet as our Jazz recovered from a cruciate repair. He was a champion bone chewer. And a fluff liberator (removing stuffing from any and every stuffed toy–his favorite).

Clyde LOVED eating. He would break into the kitchen or trash anytime he was given the chance. He once tore the face off a dishwasher trying to get to a bowl of apples on the kitchen counter. He was always finding ways to get into trouble.

Jazz passed away from cancer in February 2018. Clyde was an only dog until Sept. 1, 2018 when we met Dottie. They were instant pals; trading bones and snuggling together on the dog beds. They had just started their adventures together. They loved life, their people, frequent dog walks, cookies and especially carrots. We actually chose to meet Dottie because her foster wrote about how carrots were her favorite treat. They had a nightly routine of catching baby carrots. Clyde was horrible at catching; Dottie was exceptionally good.

Clyde and Dottie’s adventures came to an end last week when they got out of our yard because of a faulty gate latch and were hit by a car. Clyde died nearly instantly with Dottie by his side. She had a severely fractured rear leg which resulted in an amputation.

I will miss Clyde every day. He was one of the most unique, patchy, ornery and funny dogs I’ve ever had. We will be finding a new dog with some of the same endearing and less of the vandalous qualities to be Dottie’s newest pal. ❤️

Dottie’s story

Dottie and Clyde

On Tuesday December 11th, I kissed my pups (Dottie and Clyde) as I left for work. The day started out as normal as any other. The dogs excited from the moment my feet hit the floor. Happy for breakfast, pats and snuggles with my partner back in bed before he got up. I gave them their morning cookie and headed out the door. Around lunchtime I received a call and text from Pennsylvania “Your dog Dottie has been located”. No way, I thought. You’ve got to be kidding me. Then my phone rang and it was my vet’s office. “Dottie and Clyde have been hit by a car. It’s serious. Please come quickly. Clyde didn’t make it”. I was in shock; I think I screamed in my car in the parking lot. I called my partner who was closer to the vet’s office. He beat me there. The woman that hit them was there with her husband and three teenage girls that had stopped to assist. They were distraught. They hugged us, apologized, asked how they could help.
The vet took us back. We needed to see Clyde and make arrangements, he told us that Dottie’s leg was bad fractured and she may have a head injury. They had taken some images and didn’t see signs of internal bleeding but they couldn’t be sure quite yet. We were told we needed to transport her to the animal hospital for further evaluation and leg surgery. We waited as they prepared her for transport, loaded her in the back of my car and headed as quickly and carefully as we could to our amazing animal hospital.
Dottie was evaluated, given medication to reduce brain swelling if she had any. The first doc came in to tell us the leg was severely fractured and Dottie had internal bleeding. They needed to do a blood transfusion. Would we authorize that? Yes, of course. Ouch $$. It was too early to decide if we should amputate but it was a possibility to be considered. We needed to authorize a range of services for Dottie to be evaluated. There were a lot of numbers to look at through my tear-filled eyes. There was a lot of risk involved. Could we stabilize Dottie so she was strong enough for surgery? We waited. They told us to go home. No news is good news.
Then they called. Crap. Another transfusion was needed. Dottie was losing a lot of blood. They suspected it was the femoral artery but wanted to rule out anything else. They called later and asked us to come in. It’s Wednesday now and we need to do surgery. Dr. Norris the superwoman surgeon had been consulted and said the leg needed to be removed to try to save Dottie. Would we authorize this? Another range. More numbers. Oh my goodness. Could we do this? Would it be money well spent? Would Dottie survive? Could she be happy with three legs? So many questions. We said yes, we will trust you to try to save our dog.
We were grieving and in shock. Sick. Waiting and more waiting. Dottie made it out of surgery! It was a success and it was the femoral artery that had been lacerated; no other internal bleeding. Now we were on the road to help our tripawd recover.
Dottie did well in the hospital. She came home on Friday. She was weak but getting around ok with assistance from the harness. She came home with Tramadol, Antibiotic (oral and for her eye that had a scratch from the accident), and trazadone for anxiety.
I found this website as I began to research how to support Dottie through her recovery. She was very weak, heavily medicated and while she was great the first day, she began to get weaker. I was trying anything to get her to eat. She was going potty on pads on her bed. I was exhausted emotionally and physically.
Yesterday (Monday) I called to talk to the surgeon. I was very worried. She ordered an appetite (Entyce) and ordered us to discontinue her tramadol. Slowly throughout the day, Dottie started to wake up. She began eating. This morning we woke up to a tail wag!
We are taking this day by day. Dottie needs to build up her strength. We are caring for her incision site which has been weeping some especially after she goes out and uses the bathroom. But she’s alert, eating and drinking and responding to our voices. She even got up off her bed by herself today–she’s going to have to monitored closely the next couple of days. Naughty Dottie! 😆
We are going to take this day by day with Dottie and are looking forward to her spunky self coming back and helping her navigate the world with her 3-pawed self.
Thanks for being here. We will keep sharing as Dottie’s journey continues.