Hi guys.

Yeah, slept a little better last night but not great.  Wally started stirring around 4:30 and then started shivering.  Not sure if it was b/c he was cold or nerves, but I covered him with a blanket, turned up the heat, and comforted him until he stopped.  He was still a bit restless but finally got comfortable enough to get back to sleep.  Also, I have to give him some of his pain meds at 6, so was up again for that.

His appetite is down a bit, but he still ate this morning.  He hasn't peed yet but hasn't drank much water until ~half an hour ago so maybe he'll go next time I take him out.  

He's also laying on his amputation side.  I would think that would be uncomfortable (or painful) for him, but he seems comfortable so guess he is.

Also, here's the selfy as promised:

Thanks Sally and good morning all,

Much to my relief he finally peed at 5 am this morning.  He's always seemed to hold it really well, so don't know if that's what he's doing or if it was him not drinking enough water.  He did seem to drink his normal amount of water in the afternoon yesterday but none this morning.  So maybe I'll try to put some chicken broth in his water with his breakfast, which he scarfed down no problem (edit - as I was typing he actually just got up and drank some water, so that's good).  

He did start to get restless and shivered again a little before 5 this morning and after we went out, so maybe his evening pain meds are wearing off around that time.  It was different than the previous night, as last night it was what he does when he's scared from a thunderstorm of fireworks so could be anxiety too.  I give him Gabapentin every 8 hours (10pm, 6 am, and 2 pm) and Carprofen every 12 hours (10/10).  I can give him Trazodone every 8 hours as needed for anxiety or sedation.  I didn't give it to him last night since he was nice and comfortable and super sleepy in the evening (I did give it to him the night before).  I'll continue to monitor and give the vet a call if he does this again.

Other than that he seems to be doing really well.  When I was making up his breakfast this morning he actually got up from the bed and hopped over to the kitchen on his own!  I'm super encouraged by that.

Thanks again and have a great Sunday!

Hey guys,

Sorry for the delayed update.  I was planning on updating last night but by the time I had a chance to sit down I was exhausted and had a busy day today. 

Wally's doing really well.  Eating and drinking like normal, begging like crazy when either my friend who's been helping out or I am eating, and he's now getting up and hopping around by himself with not much effort.  I'm still following with the sling just in case and helping with the 2 steps from my back door to the back yard, but other than that he's bearing all of the weight.  He's also pretty much pooping and peeing as normal now (jerry - I never thought I'd be thrilled at helping my dog pee at 5 in the morning, lol).  Obviously I'm super encouraged with how well he's doing, but he's starting to become a challenge to keep his energy level down.

I did talk to the surgeon tech today and she said I can give Wally his pain meds early if he gets restless ~an hour before his scheduled meds time, so I'll do that beginning tomorrow if he wakes up restless again.  And speaking of pain meds, I removed his fentanyl patch today.  So we'll see how that impacts him.

We did have a near miss last night.  Wally got away from me and tried to hop up on the couch before I could catch him.  He didn't make it and landed with a yelp .  He seemed pretty shook up initially but seemed ok later in the night and was fine today, so looks like we got lucky.  Now I'm having to block my couch and love seat with dining room chairs and other furniture unless we're sitting on them.  It's a pain but only temporary and for the best.

Thanks again for the support.  Here's a pic of Wally resting on our floor bed.

Hey guys!  Figured you'd really like the pic, lol.  I love Wally's "why are you leaving and what the hell is this around my neck?" face, lol!!

A question on the harness.  Is that something you can leave on throughout the day or just put on when you go for a walk, car ride, etc.?  I'm sure Wally will need my help going up and down the steps in my house, so I'll probably need to put it on for that.

Jerry - I went with the BENCMATE inflatable cone (see link below).  There's other brands that looked similar, Kong being one of them.  One thing that was nice about the BENCMATE is that you slide your dog's normal collar through some straps on the inside of it, which keeps your dog from removing it without having to go super tight with it.

BENCMATE collar

OMG Obie looks adorable there, lol  Thanks for sharing Karen!

Wally continues to get better everyday.  My friend John who was coming over to help out earlier in the week stopped by for a bit today and commented several times at how much better Wally is getting around than early in the week.  I can't wait until Tuesday for (hopefully) his restrictions to get lifted, and I can get back to sleeping in my bed lol.

Wally on the other hand is probably going to be none to happy about losing his comfy living room bed, lol.