So we made it through another day although she continued to be mad at me for keeping her locked in her kennel. Last night she very loudly voiced her displeasure all night, so needless to say I am one very tired tripawd mom today.
We had to go for a vet check up today and good news, Panda is healing nicely, her swelling is down and the leaking has lessened quite a bit. As for the shivering and panting I was talking about in yesterday’s post the vet says it is her pain that is causing this. That too seems to be better today. Panda seemed very nervous when we walked into the vet’s office, I think she was afraid I would be leaving her there for a while again, now she is napping. Overall it looks like today is a good day and she is doing better!
Thanks to everyone for the continued support and I will keep the updates coming.
Panda came home yesterday and so we began the journey of trial and error. As soon as we got home she wanted to take off running and playing. We tried to give her a bed but she would not stay there and rest, so out came the kennel. She hates the kennel but the vet says she has to be in it for the next few days except to go out to potty. I think after much trying we finally have a system down, we start by making sure that she has a clear path and no other pets are in her way, I get the doors open for her, then I open her kennel and move her dishes. At this point she bolts! I find myself giving chase to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. She patrols the yard and does her business.
Last night was hard she started panting really hard, and shivering but there is no way she is cold we live in Oklahoma and the temperatures have been soaring. Also we have been having some problems with fluid coming from the stitches, the vet says this is normal but it looks like blood and makes me nervous. I found myself up checking on her constantly and at one point in tears over how amazing she is. I am not sure that as humans we could endure this the way that our canine family members do. Well today is another day and we will see how it goes. So far she is mad at me for not letting her come out of the kennel to play, as if that is not bad enough her pouty face is made even more pouty by the boxer in her and all I can do is smile!!!
Panda is a 10 month old boxer mix, who is full of love, life and energy. Monday July, 12, 2010 Panda was hit by a car. She brought herself back home and so began the journey. The first hurdle we had was finding a vet who was open and could see her after hours, as it turns out that is not an easy feat. Finally, my husband called one of the vets at home and he rushed to meet us at his office. Within a matter of minutes he told us that she would have to have her leg amputated. He also told us that if we had to be grateful for anything that had happened it should be that she had been dragged by the car because the wound was cauterized by the friction burn and that is why she did not bleed to death before making it back home.
Our next hurdle came when the vet explained that he would not amputate her leg until she was strong enough, so first we had to see if she would survive the night. At this point my nerves are at their breaking point and I was crying uncontrollably. I stayed up all night because all I could think about was what would i do without her. I called the next morning and she was holding her own, then came the second 24 hours of waiting to see if she would survive. My girl is strong though and she pulled through it! Friday she had her amputation and she came through that just fine no complications. I had gone to see her before her surgery and she was almost like my normal girl, wagging her tail, climbing in my lap and of course washing my face repeatedly. Saturday morning I went to see her again and she was not quite so happy, I just sat and talked with her. The staff asked me if Panda was a timid dog which surprised me, I explained to them that this is my very active, affectionate, fence scaling dog, she usually barks around strangers so I think being timid was her way of dealing with the strangers.
Panda finally got to come home yesterday July 20, 2010 and so begins the road to recovery.
