I was going to detail, item by item, the past two weeks and write all about what Duke and I went through after his cast slipped. I will just leave it at.....he was scheduled 3 times for surgery and 3 times it was cancelled for reasons you will not believe. The surgeon was very skilled and once I got to deal directly with him I felt much better, but Duke will not be going back to that hospital. The management, and some of the vets there are totally incompetent. I have since found new vets, a husband and wife, who will care for Duke in the future. Lets hope that their services will not be required often.
I'm glad to have Duke home with me, and I am very happy that he is no longer suffering. His being home though, has made a lot of work for me. I was told to keep Duke penned for 6-8 weeks, and to keep a Elizabethan collar on him until his stitches are removed in 10 days. That all went out the window within the first hours home. I will not go into the details but let me say Duke was having no part of either. I was afraid that by forcing the issue, fighting him to put the collar on and putting him in the pen, that I would cause reinjury of his leg by enforcing it. For the first three days I had to apply ice for 15 minutes, 4 times a day. When he came home his leg was swelled to twice the size of the other one. The swelling has gone down some and starting tomorrow he has to have heat applied for the same periods. He also has to be given 3 pills twice a day which means they have to be "placed" in his throat and then his snout held shut until they went down. He has to be kept from jumping up on the sofa or a chair, and anytime he goes out the door to relieve himself he has to be on a leash to restrict his movement. All this has meant that I have to pretty much observe him 24/7 to make sure he does not pick at his stitches or become too active.
Duke's incision
The redness on his paw are pressure sores caused by the cast that was on before his operation.
God willing and the creeks don't rise I hope to visit each of you, and get caught up with your diaries in the next two days.
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