Pooka's Progress

It's Wednesday, and that means a week since Pooks came home to Ballard. She's doing well in many regards, and not so well in a very few.

First, the good news. The swelling (doctor jargon is "edema") in her hind legs has cleared up. The bruising around her back end has cleared up. The incision area is less swollen, and if she'd only stop with the stealth licking it would be nicely scabbed over by now. She's out of the crate several times a day, insistently dragging me over to the nicest-smelling patch of grass out there, and is uninterested in going back inside when our few minutes are over.

Now, for the less-good. She doesn't seem as uncomfortable when she has to pee -- but she's still peeing while laying about the crate & house. I am contemplating buying stock in the company that makes our potty-training pads of choice. They're significantly better than Petco's.

For the last several nights, she's been inconsolably whiny, making this low moaning noise whenever I try to sleep. When I wake up and go to her, or look at her or stand up over her, it stops. At first I thought it might be pain. Nope. Dr. M (the vet, not my dad) thinks it's behavioral. Could be caused by the narcotics, or by a narcotic hangover, or because she wants attention when things get hairy. I went so far as to put my sleeping bag outside the other night. But about three minutes after I lay down, the horrible noise began anew. And I can't take it. So I went back in and sat with her for the rest of the night. At daybreak, the gouls went away and she went to sleep...and was more or less sacked out the rest of the day.

What to do? Though I was operating on almost no sleep yesterday, Dr. M had me keep her awake, and then we drugged the snot out of her with some doggy sedatives. She and I both had a good long night's sleep. And I feel great!

The point was to get her back on a normal schedule for sleeping and waking. The downside: She has spent much of today making the horrible nighttime moaning noises. And I'm supposed to ignore it, so as to not inadvertantly encourage it. These are terrible, terrible noises. I'm working on rewarding the quiet moments now.

Thanks to the other Dr. M, aka Pooka's grandfather, who suggested we lay off the heavy hitter meds and knock her out at night, to keep her from "sundowning," or losing her marbles at night.

And I am so incredibly grateful to my boss & coworkers, who have been incredibly flexible and supportive as I've stumbled through the last week. I'm going to work from home for two more days, then attempt normalcy next week.

Keep sending those good thoughts for speedy healing, and let her know that it's going to be OK. The humans are in control, and she's through the worst of it. I think she's a little worried still.

Pooka update: the first weekend

Pooka's arrival home Wednesday was rather miraculous -- she could stand with help, and seemed very much herself much of the time.

But caring for her in the days since has been exhausting.

She was having problems peeing more than a few drops at a time, and needed to go out every few hours. On Friday afternoon, I chatted with the vet about whether we thought antibiotics were warranted -- bladder infection, or simply trauma? We decided to wait a few more days to see if it fixed itself, but by Friday night it was clear that things were getting worse, not better. Miss P was up ever hour moaning and whining, and so, I was up every hour trying to encourage her to get up and go out (she usually settles down after she's walked a little, peed a little). She's quiet when I'm looking at her, petting her, clearly awake and in charge, but as soon as I try to get some sleep she begins the moaning again. It's an awful sound, and it gets louder if I ignore. And let's be realistic, it's impossible to ignore at this point, because I feel so horrible for her.

Oh, and she's taken to peeing wherever she happens to be laying down. Which is fine, because all that up and down may not have been great for her broken bones. But now a whole host of questions about neurological vs. trauma/infection-induced incontinence is dogging me, and no matter how many times Dr. M (that's dad) tells me to "put away the magnifying glass," I'm still worried.

So, started antibiotics Saturday evening, and so far I'm not sure if things are better or worse. We had a better night Saturday, but back to all of three hours last night. I'm really, really tired, and looking forward to another call from the vet's office to discuss possible pain meds.

Other issues...she's become incredibly picky about what she eats. Normal kibble is out, as is (I found out today) beef-based canned food. She's still semi-enthusiastic about the chicken/turkey canned food, so I'm getting as much into her as I can, but she turns away from portions bigger than a spoonful at a time (best served in the palm of my hand). If I knew she was just being a brat and making the most of the situation, I'd feel better about leaving her a plate and saying take it or leave it. But I feel like I just need to get the calories into her, and if this is what it takes...ugh.

Pooka's grandparents have been fabulous at giving me time to rest and then taking my mind off the poor kid in the eveningtimes. I don't know how I'm going to go back to work and leave her all day. On the one hand, I already feel guilty and nervous about how she'll feel while I'm out. On the other hand, I am desperate for a break. Terrible to leave a suffering creature all alone.

Crate living

I'm sitting on the couch. Pooka is lying down and looking sleepy in the new crate. A crate into which she willingly tumbles, I might add. I think she knows she's safe in there.

I am happy my girl is home. She has an appetite, drinks water sometimes when I put it near her face, and is back to growling at the landlord. But it's breaking my heart to see her so beat up, various gashes and swellings, shaved and sutured. And helping her walk with the sling, seeing her little feet slip on the floor. Sadness.

Now she's snoozing, having some good REM sleep, it looks like. I'm distracted and tired -- the pain meds had her up and panting and whining at 2:30, so I took her out for a bit -- but must work.

Pooka update: HOME

Just a few brief words. I picked up my parents, we dashed to Crown Hill Vet Supply for a new crate, pad, and sling to help the Pooka walk. We dashed home to assemble (easy assembly, thank goodness). We dashed back into the car. And dashed to the hospital.

Met with tech to go over meds (more details later), and Dr. A to go over the X-rays. When he realized my dad (Dr. M) was savvy, he launched into a more macho explanation of his work. Gorgeous new screws (2) in her body. Nice work, Dr. A, as far as we can tell.

And then, they brought her out. She looked at me with eyes wide and ears up. We gently helped her out to the car. And that was it. She was in my care.

Since she's been home we've made two attempts to go to the bathroom -- no pooping since Saturday, but given Pooka's past poop strikes, I'm really not all that concerned, beyond the basic "are things working" knowledge. Attempt #1 yielded a squat but no action. Attempt #2, poop! Two hard little rocks. Hopefully we'll get her more comfy in the next few days, but now that I know she's willing to try even with me helping her with the sling, I'm feeling better.

She's eaten treats, both chewy and Kong; she slurped a little water when I held it to her face. She growled at neighbors. And she watched a housefly very intently, clearly wishing she were well enough to snap it out of the air.

All in all, it's still my girl. She's sacked out now, so we're going to leave her for a bit to grab a bite to eat. Thank you to all for the good wishes. Direct all cosmic vibes to her hind joints, for clean speedy healing.

Pooka accident update: Looking good for coming home

I haven't talked to the vets yet today, but as of yesterday afternoon, she was putting some weight on the newly repaired leg and even ate some food. Both are very good signs.

I also finally felt strong enough to open the envelope containing all the records related to her stay at the emergency clinic. It was hard to go through it, but the notes from the vet were reassuring. The biggest surprise was a note from the Good Samaritan who brought my dear Pooka in. She has a name and a phone number, and I can't wait to call her and thank her for saving my darling. Apparently she ran across Aurora from east to west. I might be wrong, but I think she had headed for Greenlake, one of our favorite walks, and then was trying to get back. Makes me absolutely sick to think about, actually, so I shall sign off and get moving. Lots to do today before I'm ready for her.

Temporary blog time-out

Dear Pooka-lovers:

I'm headed to San Francisco for work for the day, so don't worry -- no updates is a good thing. Keep thinking those good thoughts though.

Pooka, listen: I'm getting on a plane today, but then I'm coming right back. And tomorrow, depending on how your legs feel, you're going to come home again. So show the doc what a strong girl you are today, ok? Love you, Lou, see you in a little while.

Pooka accident update: post-op report, more details

Dr. A called and gave me the run-down. Her chest X-ray was fine. The mysterious "why are things out of whack" issue in the earlier films was due to positioning, and new X-rays showed no additional breaks in the sacrum. The break on her left side is far enough behind the joint that he decided to leave it alone, after rotating her leg around and judging range of motion and lack of crunchy, crackley bits.

He put two screws into her right side, and while he said his work on one was less than perfect, he said also that he didn't think it would make much practical difference.

So, she's closed up and resting, and they'll gauge her ability to put weight on the back legs tomorrow morning. That will likely be my next update.

Please direct your healing thoughts to her immune system, to accept the new screws and fix her wounds, and calming thoughts so she can get through these next days and weeks in the crate without too much frustration. And to kidneys and liver and all those other important parts.