In need of sympathy and large quantities of alcohol - updated questions

Artytarty

Aw, Bless you Elsien!
I think it might be better all round if you took the Diazapam!
You are clearly exhausted by all this palaver but we all know we too would whatever it takes to help our pals.
There;s loads of support here for you, maybe not much use in practical sense I'm afraid, but we're rooting for you and your sly sneaky mutt!

elsien

Well the vet had some of the no chew bandage in so we've given it a go today, and guess what?

*fanfare of trumpets*


It hasn't made the slightest bit of difference. :rotfl: It is official, mutt really will eat anything.

Thanks all for the moral support, it is appreciated. We now have a glimmer of hope though - the original amputation is healing well, it's just the self-inflicted bits I need to worry about at the moment. So if (and it's a big if) we can keep the foot chew and slurp free till the end of the week, they will consider trying to leave the bandage off.
Fingers and toes crossed everyone please, although I do feel as if I'm tempting fate a bit by being hopeful.

lisawood78

Everything crossed here, including 8 super long GD legs, healing can be achieved, my girl got signed off from the vet today, she now has a happy tail and that operation was about 6 weeks ago!

Good luck

trudij

everything crossed here too xxx

elsien

Well, it was good(ish) news this morning. The foot is healed well enough to leave the dressings off, but this now means I have to leave the buster collar on her all the time, and wait for the tantrums! The vet says we're not out of the woods yet, as most of the worst bits are the self-inflicted ones.
I've decided to leave the huge double collar just for nights, as it's quite heavy and it seems really unfair on the poor soul to have it round her neck all day. So she's currently rampaging around wearing the smaller one - she can reach her foot with it on, but it takes longer for her to do so, so it gives me time to intervene first.
The thing is, she can't eat and drink with it on - every time she tries she's overturned the water bowl , which considering I'm still meant to be keeping her foot dry is not helpful of her. And she's heading for the water bowl twice as often as usual - something to do, I think, as she's bored witless.
She's not interested in her toys at the moment, (and can't get them into her gob while wearing the collar anyway) and she still isn't allowed to go for walks. The diazepam has finished and unless she loses the plot completely again I'm not asking for any more, so does anyone have any suggestions for keeping her occupied and distracting her from her ailments?

elsien

I've got a couple more questions if anyone is still reading this:
Mutt's foot is looking better, but she's still having to have the collar on all the time, and is still trying to chew her foot. Sometimes it's licking the top of the foot where she infected it last time, and sometimes it's chewing the side where the toe was amputated. So I'm still sleeping on the settee and not able to go out and leave her unless my mum can dogsit.

My question is, how much longer is it likely to take before it stops itching, hurting, or whatever it is that is annoying her? I don't know if it's itching where it's healing, or if it's the nerves where the toe was amputated (do dogs get phantom pains?), but it's not behavioural as I can see her foot twitching away before she has a go.
I know it's a bit like "how long is a piece of string", but if anyone's pet has had similar problems, how long did it take before they were fully healed. We're already on week 7, and no signs of being able to take the collar off yet.

CFC

You have my deepest sympathy with this one. I have no input though as to how long the healing process may take.
I do suggest you ring the vet and discuss it.

lisawood78

Hmmm, can't really help much but its been about 8 weeks since Magics tail was amputated and although she was signed off from the vet her tail still has a scab on it and isn't fully healed, and she is still irritated by it to an extent.
I'd say the end is in sight, just hope you can both last it out!

elsien

Have you tried anything to take the itchiness out?
Although she did seem to be making progess, we've just had the worst night since she had the op done - she was rampaging around for most of the night. The last scab has just come off where the wound was and it looks fine underneath, I just need to keep her teeth away from the site.
And I have a weeks annual leave coming up, where I was hoping to go Christmas shopping, not stay in monitoring the blasted dog!
(Or as my mother commented when someone said the collar looked heavy enough to break her neck, a broken neck is looking very likely, but it won't be due to the collar.)

amibovvered

lisawood78 wrote: »

I'd say the end is in sight

well, it would be, wouldn't it . . .


Sorry, couldn't resist! Poor Magic - what breed is she?