Hi Dexter fans! We had a checkup with Dr Collins yesterday. The verdict can be summarized, “He’s not quite as healed as we’d like, but he’s doing well and we think he will keep getting better.” The exact words used were “He hasn’t peaked yet.” So that’s good! There’s also currently no herniation to the right side muscles like I was worried about. The urinary problem is hopefully going to keep improving, as he re-learns the feelings from his bladder. And more importantly, his rectum issue is looking better than a few weeks ago, even if it’s not as “snapped back” as we’d like yet. I got some more instruction on how to squeeze/massage his rear end in order to make sure the area is fully vacated, allowing it to heal more, we hope. Basically, Dexter gets 3 walks with me and 1 with a dog walker (on weekdays, at least), and when I walk him I am going to make sure he’s cleared out as much as we can. This is only possible because of surgery – he was WAY too painful back there before, and if you even tried to touch it, he would cry and shiver. So the fact he lets me touch him at ALL, let alone squeeze the area, is crazy! It’s not pleasant to be sure, but to me, he looks to be improving a little faster now that I have started helping him out in this way. Besides, he is a good little patient. Here are a couple pics from his bath last night. He was so squirmy it was impossible to get any better ones than this!!
Hi everyone! I do apologize for the length in between these updates. I have been carried away with work and getting my life to some state of ‘normal’ again. Anyway, Dexter! Whenever someone asks me “how is he?” I can only say, “I’m still not sure and it varies day to day, but overall, I think he is improving.” It’s not a resounding answer, I know. And I haven’t had another vet appointment yet to provide any more solidity to this update. In a nutshell, his incontinence and pooping ability in general seems to vary a little more than I’d like but compared to a few weeks ago, I think(?) he is better. The ongoing concern is still that while his left side tries to ‘snap back’ to its proper size, it’s not able to use the muscles as well, and his right (surgically-repaired) side is doing too much of the work… and thus at risk for more herniation. I don’t know if that’s happened until I get another rectal exam done at the next vet visit, but I’m definitely not thrilled that his butt has not really decreased in size over the last 2 weeks, either 🙁 His urinary function is still a bit odd. He pees when he’s startled, which was never remotely an issue before; when he goes outside, he only sometimes seems to start and/or stop peeing when he wants to (so he licks at himself when he’s annoyed about it); he only just ran out of pain medicine for that yesterday (10/12) and so I’m not yet sure if I’ll need to refill the prescription or if his pain has improved.
These are the reasons why I’m going to schedule a vet visit within the next few days or possibly this weekend. He’s also running low on rimadyl anti-inflammatory pain medicine, and I’m not sure if it’s still helping or not, but Dr. Collins will know!
I haven’t updated due to my own sudden onset of sore throat sickness draining my energy, but Dexter has been doing well! Today marks 1 week since his surgery, and we had a 2nd progress exam at LFAH. There are so many various things, I think I’ll just make a list this time to hit on each point:
His incisions and sutures are healing well. The bruising is all gone. Only one spot near the neuter site will need some topical treatment (neosporin is all)
His pain levels have been pretty good. Without tramadol, so he has actually been eating, too! We got the OK to continue his treatment with 1 vetprofen a day (any more is ineffective as it’s a 24 hr dosage already)
His appetite and energy levels are great. Adding some unflavored Pedialyte to his food to help supplement his liquids intake, as well.
His bladder and urinary function is recovering but still not ‘normal’ – this makes a lot of sense given they have moved the bladder in such a way that it no longer contracts quite as ‘freely’, as one side is now attached to his abdominal wall. But he no longer has to take bethanechol and so he hasn’t had as much urinary leakage – this also means no more irritation on his underbelly.
Overall, it’s going great!! So far, Dr Collins thinks he is healing enough on his own that we haven’t yet done any laser therapy or other options. I have an appointment with Dr Eshelman on Monday 9/14 to hopefully get his sutures out!! Yay!! That is my birthday too – it will be a great present. 🙂
Dexter was enjoying the grass on his belly! He didn’t want to go inside!
Well, Dexter’s adjusted tramadol dosage definitely affected his appetite a LOT. Though he was comfortable enough for the last day, his desire to eat food completely tanked. Spoiler alert – today, after another adjustment, trying to use Vetprofen (which is an NSAID) instead of Tramadol for his comfort, he finally ate again!! I had also resorted to giving him some Pedialyte against his will, because he hadn’t been drinking, but today he also had two good drinks of water – like a normal dog! His underbelly is getting less red from bruising. His urinary function still seems a little uneven, but his behavior fluctuating with the medicine hasn’t made it easy to tell what is the real cause. In any case, he’s still managed to go every few hours. His poo is not super consistent or the softness I would like it to be, despite giving him so much lactulose (softener), but drinking more fluids will definitely help there. Anyway, less poo talk… I got some pictures from the vet’s office yesterday and wanted to share a couple of cute ones from his surgery. I haven’t taken any pictures of his underbelly yet today, but it’s looking good enough that I don’t want to post the pictures from yesterday, even – it’s already better than that! He did have some itchiness due to hair growing in “down there” but we were able to provide some relief using anti-itch cortisone cream.
Please keep us in your thoughts! Here are two Dexter pics.
Dr Collins with Dexter pre-surgery! I love this pictureA very dubious Dexter coming out of surgery
Hi everyone! I’m going to do as before and make a few updates to this post throughout the day.
7pm: Had a fairly good day overall, but we’ve definitely struggled to get his cocktail of “as needed” medicines just right. And, since the pain management patch is due to wear off in a few hours, it might still change! He’s peed several times outside, but still hasn’t pooped. He had some issues with poo escaping his bum, but it wasn’t too firm, so I don’t think it’s that – he just hasn’t really tried to go. On the plus side, none of his medicines have made him nauseous/sick. I talked to a doctor at Alpenglow and a doctor at LFAH and got advice throughout the day. So right now Dexter’s planned treatment will be no more sedatives, and a bit more tramadol because in the experimental increase of the dosage, it seemed a good result – by experimental I mean there was a concern that he was becoming dysphoric (or “high” you could say) and anxious as a result, but the increase seems to have made him happier, not worse. (It was only a very small increase overall.) Dexter was in better spirits today for sure and even tried to get a toy for a few minutes this afternoon. He clearly WANTS to be better, but isn’t there yet!
I snapped a picture of his underbelly incision and butt areas (the neuter site is out of view) while he was in the crate earlier. Note that we remove the cone when we’re both here watching him and put it on when we feel there’s ANY risk of someone missing a moment.
2 days after surgery. Shows how his underbelly and behind are, post-op
9am: Spent the 8-9am hour waiting for his medicines to kick in, and finally ended up giving him a 2nd dose of sedative in addition to the painkillers. I did just take him for a walk and he urinated again. Yay! Starting to (hopefully) understand which of his whining noises means pain and which could mean pain from needing to urinate. Really hoping he improves in that area sooner rather than later, for his sake!
Last night we had gotten Dexter settled with some medicines and then out of nowhere… The smoke detector I had literally gotten checked out by the landlord’s handyman LAST WEEK, started chirping. Dexter HATES the sound of high-pitched beeping on a good day… well, 1am is even worse. It totally destroyed his restful state and we didn’t get him back to be settled until around 2am. It seemed like at that point he was starting to feel the sedative and tramadol more. I slept on the couch and my mom watched over him.
5am or so he started to wake up more and so did I, though very tired. Around 6:30 we got him outside for another walk. He didn’t want to use his legs, but he totally could, and he peed more! Yay! Back in the house Drugged-Up Dexter laid in his crate and we gave him medications inside treats, which he took grudgingly, and some food, which he ate quite happily! So yay. We are still trying to get him to drink water, though. The food is very wet, but still, I wish he would drink. At least he is urinating on his own.
I fell asleep and it’s now the morning so will be continued in the next post.
[I will keep updating this blog post throughout the night as long as I stay awake! Lol!]
1am: He’s sleeping deeply for the last few minutes and we’re hoping it lasts!
12:30am: Gave him a little walk and he managed to pee more. He’s starting to settle in his crate and we’re hoping and praying that the sedative and pain killers are helping. We’ll be figuring out how to watch him all night – guessing we’ll take some naps in shifts, at the most.
12am: He’s been having some pain issues for the last 45 min. Gave more tramadol (the patch is still on, but could be starting to wear off, since every dog is different). Looked like he was trying to scratch at his incision (the cone can’t help his back feet) so we have tried putting a shirt on him. My smallest shirt is still too big, so a onesie will have to be found. He’s also had 10mg of a sedative that was authorized by the vet I spoke to when I called Alpenglow about 45 minutes ago.
9:45pm: He peed! Outside! Yay! The night will still be a challenge if he seems uncomfortable, but he peed! A stream! Yay! He didn’t really have control over it, but he did go a large enough amount that it helps my concerns a little.
Sorry for the delay, but last night took a long time and by the time I’d had dinner, I was wiped out! Anyway onto the good stuff. Dexter got settled in at Alpenglow for the night (and the waiting I had to do was just to talk to the doctor and fill out papers and such, he was already being taken care of). As of this morning, Dr. Swetz has updated me – the doctor working overnight at Alpenglow. Dexter’s epidural wore off and he is walking around with full function, so it doesn’t seem like there is any issue with his sciatic nerve – yay!! The only issue at the moment is that his bladder function is not yet returned to normal. He’s basically “dribbling” urine instead of going at once. Because they moved his bladder inside his body and tacked it down, they can’t “express” it by pushing on it, and so if it becomes very large they would have to use a urinary catheter to provide relief. The epidural and other surgery medicines are expected to be contributing to this problem, and so it is hopefully going to be improved by the end of the day, but it’s not 100% certain. I’m really glad I got the hospitalization done so that he is being monitored by professionals.
Of course, the total cost for his after-care isn’t really final yet, as a result of these possible complications. If I could afford it, I would have him maybe stay another night at Alpenglow just to be sure he is okay. Dr. Swetz used their ultrasound machine to keep checking on his bladder, and at least that part was free of charge. But until his function is more normal, I am still worried. She told me that if there was no previous history of bladder function issues, then there’s “no reason to think he won’t recover fully,” but the timeline is not so certain. And, Dexter hasn’t wanted to eat while in the hospital, which I’m not surprised at all to hear. He’s so picky! But he seems comfortable and as happy as one would expect at this point.
I’m still not out of the woods yet and I’m honestly a little concerned about the unknowns still ahead… I paid only a partial amount to Louisville Family Animal Hospital mostly because the Paypal debit card has a daily limit, so I still owe them money, but the plan is to work it out on Saturday at Dexter’s first follow-up appointment with Dr. Collins. If you have any change to spare, please consider sending it through my Paypal donate button. Thank you!
I did get a pic of Dexter with his “do not express my bladder!” label.. that they stuck on his forehead. LOL.
They wanted to be sure the message was heard loud and clear!
Just wanted to update everyone that Dexter is still in a good holding pattern before his surgery. He still struggles, but has managed to poop often enough that I don’t have to be too worried. His attitude is good. My mom has arrived in Colorado to stay with me to help with his recovery. Everything is still on track! Thank you everyone! Here is another Dexter picture from the gallery 🙂
Dexter loves when the Kong bone is stuffed with peanut butter! (I snuck some medicine in this one and he still loved it!)
Hello Dexter fans! I am working on getting him into surgery ASAP. Because the plan is have the Alpenglow surgeon travel to LFAH for a “mobile” surgery unfortunately the soonest they could line up the calendars was not until Sept 2nd. 🙁 However, since that seems rather far away, I have spent a lot of time today investigating other options that could be out there. Since LFAH is giving me a discount on the procedure, I am not sure that any other facility would be willing to a) offer a reasonable solution or b) have the ability to do the procedure sooner, or not. (When I say reasonable solution, I mean that I have $5k now to spend right away and if the surgery was a little more than that, if they would allow me to schedule payment(s) to cover the rest.) If I had more money then I could go directly to Alpenglow and have it done sooner but since Squall’s emergency just ate up my next 2 paychecks I am pretty broke. Anyway, I have some awesome allies that are helping me do this research! Thank you, you know who you are! If nothing else works out sooner then he is scheduled for surgery on Sept 2nd.
Dexter will require after-care for a long while, of course, and I will be applying any extra donations (and my own funds) to get him laser therapy treatments afterwards, as well as any dietary adjustments that need to be done to keep his system happy. The money will all go to Dexter no matter what the surgery final cost is! Thank you again!
A young Dexter enjoying the sun with his feline ‘brother’ Squall (ca. 2009?)
OMG!!! I woke up this morning to a generous donation!! I have officially reached and passed the goal of $4800!! This is AMAZING OMG OMG OMG!! Thank you so much to everyone! The only detail I am waiting to determine is the exact cost of Dexter’s post-op hospitalization and then once I’ve confirmed I can pay, they can schedule his procedure!! I did not think next week would EVER be an option but maybe now it is! This is the best morning ever!!! More updates as soon as I know specific dates!! THANK YOU~~!!
