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!
No comments:
Post a Comment