October 27th, 2012
the return home
Posted by in Uncategorized
sullivan was welcomed home by his two loving, yet neurotic human family members who were so paranoid about doing the right thing, making sure all medication was delivered in the proper cycle, ensuring his three remaining legs stayed strong, hovering behind on trips to the bathroom, wondering how much was too much time to spend downstairs with his rambunctious brothers and so much more. we were a hot mess!
sullivan was an amazing patient. we quickly realized that if we were to lessen our level of anxiety and take a page out of sullivan’s laid back, calm book – together we could weather the recovery storm with ease and quickness. that proved true.
trying to ensure a comfortable and speedy recovery, we purchased a few things to assist in sullivan’s return home.
we got sully an orvis tempur-pedic deep dish dog bed. its soft, plush exterior offers incredible comfort but its firm structure makes getting up and down easy and comfortable.
we also purchased an elevated wooden feeder that helped achieve balance while eating and prevented sully from having to bend over to eat his meals.
brown enjoyed a three day vacation with his friends carin and scott. these wonderful people run critter visits. because brown has so much love for his brother, we were concerned that his unbridled enthusiasm might negatively jeopardize sully’s recovery. brown returned after a few short days and greeted sully with great love and affection.
given the mild temperature, sullivan was able to spend much of his time recovering on the porch futon. he rested a good amount of the day but enjoyed going outdoors to use the restroom, check on the happenings of the neighborhood, and take steps to slowly and steadily get used to life on three legs.
dr. casale did a brilliant job on sullivan’s incision. despite being a little over 12 inches in size, everything healed beautifully and naturally. while some surgeons choose to wrap the incision area, dr. casale opted to keep it open to the air to facilitate healing. we were most grateful that the incision did not become infected or develop puss. infection is quite common after amputation and can negatively stunt forward recovery progress.
sully wore an e-collar the first few days after surgery to prevent licking/biting of the area. after a few days, it was recommended that we dress sullivan in a small t-shirt and use that to cover the incision spot, a much more comfortable alternative to wearing an awkward and cumbersome “cone”.
sullivan did not have much of an appetite when he came home. making sure he ate enough so his stomach could properly handle the pills was an ongoing struggle. creativity became paramount! pill pockets, chicken, kielbasa, meatloaf or even cake were ringers and proved reliable ways to hide the pills and enhance his interest in food. we also purchased moist food supplements of his regular earthborn holistic diet as well as other calorie rich moist foods to wet his appetite and encourage eating. some days were better than others but alas, sully has always been a picky eater and he will eat when hungry.
sullivan was sent home on exercise restriction – only to go outdoors to ‘do business’ and for the occasional short leash walk. that said, there was no stopping him. on saturday morning after going outside to “do business”, we thought sully would casually retreat to the comforts of the family room for a small rest. instead, he RAN upstairs, jumped on my bed and gave me a wake up call i will never forget. sully had been laid up, unable to comfortably move for nearly four months and he was ready to show the world what a “tripawd” was capable of.
sullivan’s surgery was on wednesday. he returned home on friday. this video was taken on saturday afternoon.
one word: AMAZING!
on satur
