Update on Koko

Friday, 2/24/12

Koko is much improved.  I was concerned for a while but after talking to Dr. Dan’s office I began warm compresses (ever try to put a compress on a tornado????) and later that night had to put her in a crate so I could find/catch her and force feed her.  THAT she doesn’t like at all.  She used to come when I called her, now she runs and hides every time she hears my footsteps.

Yesterday she appeared much better, ate, drank and used the litter without any ‘help’ from me.  She still won’t eat canned cat food (always was picky about the brand and flavor!!!), eats a little bit of regular dry food but not that much.  If i rattle the kitty treat bag and she comes still comes running altho has to hear the treats hit the floor right in front of her cause she won't come up to me.  I feed her that and some ‘special’ cat chow, which she will eat a bit of.  (The cats usually get a generic brand from the local feed mill and I hold some of the Purina and other stuff in reserve for occasions like this.)

So Koko seems to be recovering.  She is, once again playing with the other animals a bit, started grooming her face a little and sleeping part of the night on the bed altho she is most definitely avoiding me.  I can’t pet her without her struggling to get away.  Gonna take a while to rebuild her trust I guess.

Thanks to all who sent her good wishes.

-me

Koko, Shaggy, Lucky, Scruffy, Buddy, Lil Red, Tasmanian Devil, Sid Vicious, Newbie

Slim, Polar Bear and Chica

Information on Koko's surgery

                                                                                                            2/22/12

Well………………  This is gonna be a long one.

Koko and I arrived at All Creatures in Amelia about ½ hour before her surgery was scheduled and after about 1 hour and 20 minutes driving.  The traffic was lighter than I expected and I left a bit early. 

She did well on the trip once I released her from her leash in her car seat and let her sit in my lap.  You would think she had sight if you saw her craning her head around at every sound and smell (I cracked the window a little so she could smell the new scents as we drove.)  She was very quiet and well behaved when we were signing in and in the exam room. 

I was surprised to find my friend, Joy was there for tooth extraction surgery for her dog.  She lives in Adams County and volunteers at the Pet Health Day there for Dr. Dan as I do so her drive was further than mine.  Doc, her weiner dog, had been rescued from 8 years in a puppy mill crate and had multiple tooth abscesses, etc., so she was very concerned that it go well.

After a quick check up by Dr. Dan, at 9:55 Koko got a pre-surgery shot to relax her a bit and then at about 10:20 went into prep.  I watched them sedate her, prep her leg for the IV, insert the breathing tube down her throat and hook up the monitors once she was out.  Then they took her into the surgery and I went over to their rescue facility, Friends of Noah with Joy so we could walk some of the dogs waiting for adoption.  They can always use exercise.

When we went back to the clinic Joy learned Doc had come thru surgery fine, 10 teeth pulled.  A little later he was brought out to her, still groggy, and after settling the bill, etc., they went home.  I waited.  I was told Koko was out of surgery, had come thru fine, but was still under the anesthetic.  I waited.  At about 1pm I asked again.  I waited.  At 2pm I was told she wouldn’t be released until at least 4pm.  As I had talked to Dr. Dan and been told otherwise I pulled an end run and had another person talk to him directly.  Then, Dr. Dan walked thru and I asked him what he had found.

He said he had removed glandular tissue from the socket.  No signs of infection but then, she had been on antibiotic for about a week.  She came thru the surgery OK and there was definitely no more glandular tissue, tear duct or anything else remaining he could see that should cause any further issue with the socket.  A few minutes later Koko was brought out to me.

OH MY!  There was no doubt she had been through surgery!  The right side of her face had been shaved, of course.  Most of her right side whiskers and eyebrows seemed to have jumped in front of the shaver.  Oops.  Her face was swelling so the sutures were already pulling with raw edges of flesh bulging between.  Her nose was swollen to where it looked like one of the Inca statues you see on National Geographic.  Her face was swollen so much her upper lip was  pulled away from her teeth on the left side so she had a one-sided snarl.  WOW!  He must have dug deep to make sure he got everything.

She woke up by the time we got out to the car and was very vocal.  I finally let her sit in my lap again and she semi-dozed most of the way home.  I gotta say she looked gross.

We got home at around 4:15 pm and once inside she wanted down and away from me.  The dogs checked her out and Slim, my mother hen dog, wanted to start cleaning her face so I had to put a stop to that.  I made her up a private bed away from the other animals and then........waited.

I offered her food several times but she showed no interest.  At night I gave her some of the pain medicine along with her antibiotic.  And waited.  As far as I know she hadn’t had anything to drink or eat since coming home, nor had she used the litter.  Later in the evening I woke to see she had climbed up on the bed for a while but she was back to her private area in the morning. 

Today, she finally ate a few cat treats but not til well into the afternoon, and then she threw up.  She seems to snort fluids up her nose when she tries to drink, then sneezes and walks away.  Oh Boy.

I called the clinic and one of the women checked directly with Dr. Dan.  I am to put warm compresses on her face several times a day to try and relieve the discomfort and bring the swelling down.  If she doesn’t start eating and drinking on her own I may have to force-feed her to ensure she doesn’t dehydrate.  If she hasn’t improved by tomorrow, back we go.  

If you need a great Vet and are in the Cincinnati area, you can't go wrong with Dr. Dan.  His people and fellow vets are great, their attitude is wonderful and they really care about all animals.  Many people, like Joy and I, travel 1 - 2 hours to get our animals to their care.

Just as I was about to post this, (Wednesday, 4:15 EST) Koko ate some more cat treats and some greenie pill enclosures (always one of her favorite 'treats' and good for her).  She held them down – so far - and then went over to the dogs water bowls and drank some water!  Hooooorrrraaaaayyyyyy! 

Please send good thoughts Koko's way!

-me & Koko & furry crew

Surgery scheduled for Koko

021812

Well, it’s official.  Koko goes to Cincinnati (Amelia actually,) for surgery number 6 this coming Tuesday morning.  Dr. Dan appears to have offered a considerable discount but we are still talking several hundred dollars.  He is a darned good surgeon and his skill and training are worth it but it certainly plays h_ll with the fixed income I find myself on.  He is doing it as his last surgery of the day so I can stay down there and bring her home soon after instead of having to make the round trip twice.

I suspect it almost has to be some type of infection because antibiotics seem to clear it up for a while, and then it starts again.  I can’t let it go no matter what the cause but infection means it can’t wait any longer; I have waited far too long already and I hope I haven’t done her harm.  On top of that, she is developing a sneeze and cough so he called her in a prescription for Azithromycin because she has to be clear of the congestion before he can do surgery.

In addition, I think I have seen seepage from the left eye socket recently, which is NOT a good sign.  That makes it even more likely to be infection I suspect and that is scary!  I will have to ask him to confirm – or not – when I take her in.  Of course if the Azithromycin clears up her congestion it may clear up the seepage as well so he might not see a sign of it in the left socket even if it is there.  Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.  

In other news, Charlie seems to be doing very well at his new home.  I haven’t checked on him in the last week or so but I've heard from others that he is doing great with the kids.  I just can’t imagine he stopped chewing and making messes in the house as soon as he got a new home but apparently he is behaving well so who am I to take it personally.  If he didn’t like me so be it!  I am just glad he is happy and appears to make them happy.

Buddy, the new kitty is a snuggler and fights for space on the bed with the dogs.  Bad me, I let Chica (dog) up on the bed a couple of times when it was storming because she freaks when it thunders.  Until I did that she was the only animal in the house the didn't get on the bed.  Now she is just like the rest and thinks part of the bed is hers.  She crowds in to try and be the first up so she can get the preferred spot.  The human doesn’t seem to have much say in the matter and I often wake in the middle of the night – several times – because I can’t roll over or straighten out my legs.  I know, I know.  I should chase them all off, out of the room and lock the door but what the heck.  I have been leaving the furnace set between 58 – 60 degrees to save money so 3 dogs, 5 – 6 cats (on average,) and an extra blankie make for a warm sleep.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and that all have a safe St. Patrick’s Day.  Stay off the roads and out of sight.  All the green beer drinkers will be out to get ya.

Awwww... I was such a cutie.  

-me

Slim, Polar Bear & Chica

Koko, Lucky, Shaggy, Newbie, Lil Red, Taz, Sid Vicious, Scruffy & Buddy

Koko's eye socket

Well, I guess I have to give it up and decide my next step.  Koko’s eye socket is seeping again.  Very slightly, but seeping non-the-less.  I am very frustrated, and I suspect she is too as she is starting to rub it against things again.  I am not really sure I care for the second vet I took her to.  While he seems very capable he also seems a bit ‘superior’ and I am not totally comfortable with him. 

I would love to take her to Dr. Dan, the vet I volunteer for when he has clinics in the neighboring county but his office is about 1 ½ hours away and I am not sure I care for that either.  While I know him to be a superior vet his fees are a bit high.  I would hope he would consider a discount or payment plan but I am not about to be the one to bring it up.  I am in a quandary.

She isn’t in any pain that I can tell, just aggravated by it at times but it isn’t right so I have to do something.  I will be making some calls tomorrow to decide how to handle what looks like it is going to be surgery #6 for Koko and will update her blog as I make decisions.  Keep her in your thoughts cause she is going thru some pretty traumatic times.

Now for some good news - I hope.  I was chatting on Face Book with another volunteer prior to the vet clinic last Sunday and we ended up in a 3-way chat with a friend of hers who was also going to volunteer.  This second person mentioned she was going to bring along two young men to help and that they were looking for a small dog.  HELLO!  I typed as fast as my fingers could type, posted some of his pics on FB for them to look at,  and bottom line was I took Charlie with me.  It was a chance for them all to be introduced.  (Hard to drive with your fingers and toes crossed you know?) 

They loved him and took him home on a trial basis.  I told them up front he wasn’t 100% housebroken and was a chewer so they needed to watch him and be prepared to do puppy-training 101 for a while.  I offered them a chance to ‘evaluate’ him for 5 – 7 days to see if he could settle in.  So far I haven’t heard from them so he hasn’t totally pi__ed them off - yet.  And volunteer #1 emailed me a short note on Monday saying Charlie had slept between the two of them the first night and they LOVE him!  Of course, that was only the first night………

It would be a good fit for him if he doesn’t blow it as they also have a farm where he can run and lots of different animals, bunnies (lunch,) chickens (dinner,) Siamese cats with attitudes (he would be their snack til he learned,) along with a couple of gerbils (bed time snack,) and goodness knows what else.  I hope he makes it!  Keep your fingers crossed for him AND me!

In another vein; my furry feline roommates are about to get a shock.  The large dining room table and matching buffet I have had for several years now are going to be gone soon.  They are going to be loosing a large perch/bed/sanctuary until I get a new table!  That should be interesting for Koko!  Hope she doesn’t take a flying leap to the table that isn’t there!  I will have to keep an eye on her at first.  For me too as it is the catchall for my purse and stuff when I come in the door.  It belonged to a woman who passed away several years ago and I ended up with it when her young son had no place for it.  It was nice to have but really too large for my space so I will be heading for Good Will and Salvation Army in Dayton to see if I can pick up a replacement once it is gone.  Meanwhile my furry creatures – and I - will simply have to adapt. 

Send Koko good vibes please!

(She's on the soon-to-be-gone table 

in these pics)

-me

Koko, Shaggy, Lucky, Lil Red, Taz, Sid Vicious, Newbie, Scruffy & Buddy

Slim, Polar Bear & Chica