First thank you to the wonderful community that is Tripawds! I was haunting the forum last night at 2am PSD because I needed the reassurance that he was going through the same problems others had experienced!
Harley was showing all the classic signs last night, heavy panting, crying, and all around sounding miserable. I slept in the livingroom with him, while Jim took the rest of the pack to bed with him for some sense of being normal. At least one of us is able to sleep!!
Harley finally settled down around 5 this morning…he just kept moving to a new location in the living room. Pretty sure it was just drug overload.
Harley has had seizures since he was about 2, so we are on phenobarb for those and the dr. prescribed both rimaydal and tramadol for pain. So when we feed him he gets the Rimaydal and Pheno and then about 5 to 6 hrs depending on his pain we are giving the tramadol. That has seemed to work really well for today.
I know I mentioned he was an overachiever, we have been very fortunate in the potty department. I think part of the success is staying on the same routine that we have set over the years. There are very specific times that we go out to do business and when we go, that is what you are supposed to do….
Also, because he broke the paw he had already learned to compensate for it to a certain extent before the surgery. We had some time to adapt and actually make the decision to amputate the leg.
He has been drinking plenty of water and his apetite was excellent tonight. Again, one of the advantages we have had though was some serious learning about his diet when he started the seizures, because we discovered along the line allergies. While we did do the BARF diet for a while, when we added the other dogs, we couldn’t afford all the good stuff. So we have moved to bulk turkey that we cook, add rice, and then mix with a healthy dry food.
So hopefully, tonight will be a bit smoother, and I will get sleep that lasts longer than 2 hours. But honestly, if I don’t that will be okay too!
Hugs back to everyone and again thank you for all the wonderful thoughts!
Ilene
Oh yeah, this sounds so familiar…except Happy Hannah’s first night home she went almost nonstop for nineteen hours,, circling, panting, whining, crying, yelping, pacing. And I could not comfort her at all! She was also on rymidayl, tramadol and also gabapinten later, I had a hard time getting her pain med balanced for her.
Finally, on the third day, I saw some spark come back, a few signs she was feeling better…..well that didn’t last very long and still continued with the whining, panting, etc,although she would sleep some in between. I slept downstairs with her for almost three weeks!
I only tell you this for one reason……every thing Harley is experiencingnisnperfectly normal!!Most dogs recover faster than my Happy Hannah and it sounds like Harley will fit in that category…….eating, pooping, peeing…drinking…all good stuff to celebrate!!!
Can’t wait to hear when you start to see some of Harley’s sparkle start to shine through!!!It will and that is a promise!!!
I know it’s soooo hard to watch your Harley not feel good…some of it’s pain and some of it drugs….he still has all the hospital drugs working their way out of his system.
You will see what a positive difference this has made I. His overall well being and everyone will be so happy!!
You are strong and doing such a good job! Just keep on loving him and be by his side! And tell our husband it’s your turn to sleep tonight!
We are herenfornyou with many support you need, Sally and Happy Hannah
Hoping for a speedy recovery… and more peaceful nights for Harley and yourself! (we may be going through the amputation with Athena next week)
Hi Ilene and Harley,
Oh boy do we know about the restlessness during those first few nights. It’s definitely not easy but honestly you are doing so great I know you’ll get through this ruff patch quickly.
You have such a great pack, with that kind of love, great things will come your way. Hang in there!