So today was kind of blah. This morning's report was that while he rested pretty well last night, he got agitated this morning and they had to give him what I learned tonight was Trazadone. He also regurgitated some this morning and still wasn't eating.

Because he wasn't eating, I decided to go visit this evening (visiting hours are from 7-8 p.m.) to see if I could get him going. Well, he was one drugged up puppy. The attendant told me that they did get him to eat two small cans of food in the afternoon and he'd stopped regurgitating. The surgeon came by and talked to me as well. He said that the Trazadone really, really knocked him out - to the point they thought something bad had happened. So no more Trazadone for Clyde. He also said they took him outside for a little bit to pee, and he hopped around some. They have switched him to Tramadol - and I realized later after the vet left that Tramadol makes him anxious, causes him to pant, etc. He reacts to it. So I told the tech, who said he would tell the surgeon. Clyde just seems to be pretty sensitive to drugs.

He did wag his tail and thought about getting up a couple of times, but generally was just totally out of it. Which I guess I should have expected. It was hard to see him like that, had flashbacks to the osteo recovery. And then I remembered he did pretty well with that, so hopefully he'll do the same here. I did not get to see his incision, but I did get to see what caused all of this - and I have absolutely no idea what it is. It is a very flexible, long, hard plastic thing with little segmented grooves - it looked like a long, hard worm. It had the circumference of a needle. No clue at all, I've never seen anything like it. There was a bunch of his fur stuck to it. Wonder how long it was in there.

So, that's the update for today. I so wish he felt better. The vet said he's just being really cautious with him, and I appreciate that. He will assess him in the morning and maybe I'll get to take him home tomorrow. I sure hope so!

Kristin (aka Clyde's mom)

Hi Jackie - yes, it did look something like a micro zip tie. But with the circumference of a string. So weird. He was on a Fentanyl patch after his amputation and did well on that. I don't know if they'll switch him to that or not. He has quite a fancy set up - I now know why the hospital costs so much! Beautiful facility, all state of the art. He is in a stall which is the size of a large walk in shower, with a nice heated pad to sleep on and all the fancy gadgets that you would find in a people hospital. I was impressed for sure! I met his dedicated tech - I guess they assign their techs to a small number of pets for dedicated care. He was very nice and very caring. Made me feel a little better about the overall cost of all of this, it truly is an amazing facility. 

So now I'm waiting for this morning's update which I should get around 9:30 or so if they follow the last few days' pattern. Fingers crossed I get to bring him home today!

Kristin

Clyde is home! Woo hoo! He's super tired - was excited to get out of the hospital, had to hop to the car, a 2 hour ride home in LA traffic, and excitement to see all his buddies here at home. He is in a pen in my living room, just like he was nearly 2 years ago after his amputation. He came home with Cerenia, Tramadol, omeprazole, and sucralfate.  He's not interested in eating, although they said they got him to eat if they fed him by hand. I think he's just a little overwhelmed and tired now. I'll try again later to feed him.

I'm going to work from home part time for the next few days to keep an eye on him. I'm so happy he's home!

Oh - none of the doctors I encountered initially believed he really has osteosarcoma because he's still here I had to keep telling each new one I met that yes, his leg was indeed biopsied and osteo confirmed. Ha!