He could not be happier to get home. He has strict orders: no vigorous activity. No going outside except for bathroom breaks. He must not have heard the instructions himself, because at the start of our homeward journey, he got himself up into the back seat of the pick-up before I could stop him! I was so scared he was going to hurt himself, but he did it smoothly and without a fuss.
His buddy Moby (a lean 20-pound cat who thinks he’s a dog) had really missed him. The first thing they did was touch noses and then smell each other around the head and shoulders. If they could talk, it went like this:
Moby: Dude!!! Where the heck have you been?? (a slight rear onto the hind legs)
Connor: Oh, I was at the hospital. I’m glad to be home. (wag wag wag)
Moby: Well, it’s cool that you’re home now. It was getting a bit boring around here without you. (down on his forehand again, walks away)
It was quite touching to behold. 🙂 
Connor hadn’t been eating at the vet hospital. That was part of the reason he came home so soon — she knew he wouldn’t eat for them, was even refusing the food I brought him from home. When he got home, I put a very small amount of chicken and rice in his dish, and he scarfed it up. Then he looked at me for more. So I have been giving him very small amounts every hour or so. He can only eat chicken and rice, or maybe pasta and chicken, a bit of hamburger (boiled meats). Yes, I am cooking for my dog! (It’s amazing how much better his breath smells. What do they put in those dog foods anyway? And Connor was even eating organic before I started cooking for him!)
By the way, I have a tip for those of you who have a dog that is difficult to give pills, courtesy of my small animal veterinarian. Buy a pound of liverwurst at the deli of your favorite market, and when it comes time for your dog’s medicine, make three little balls about an inch in diameter. Hide the pill in the second one. Now get him all excited about the first one, and give it to him to taste. (Dogs LOVE liverwurst!) Now give him the second one (the one that contains the pill) and follow quickly behind it with the third meatball. The dog will quickly swallow the one with the pill to get the third ball. It works like a charm!
But back to the Connor Report. When he jumped up on the very high poster bed, I freaked out, because I knew he would just jump down again and hurt himself (and jumping is expressedly forbidden for two weeks!), and sure enough, he jumped down again immediately and hurt himself. He yelped. So I tried to teach him to climb up and down the mounting block, and he was just trying to jump down even with the block there (I do not think it is wide enough, in his mind), and so I figured it would just be easier to help him on and off the bed when he wants. So that has been working out fine. I make him wait until I get there and sort of slide him down by his front paws, or to get on, I place his front paws on the mattress and then lift his hind end the rest of the way. No yelping, and it seems to work the best. But I make him sleep in his crate at night, because I am not getting up all night to put him on and off the bed! I do have my limits.
My dog Connor is one of the family, one of my “children.” I don’t think I could have received a better Mother’s Day gift than to have him survive that surgery — or, rather, to have him come through it with flying colors. I am so grateful for this. He is well on his way to recovery. Further treatment will depend on what the biopsies showed. We expect those back next week.
Connor and I are both doing the happy dance — gently. 🙂
– CLM
Leave a Reply