Barkley has some bruising on his belly.  I called the clinic and asked them to please have the vet advise me before they leave for the day.  I emailed photos.  No call back. 🙁 It's not awful, and not spreading quickly.  He doesn't seem uncomfortable, but I would have liked the input.  

Tonight, we modified a canvas shopping bag to give him support and took him outside to "walk."  He took a few steps, visibly excited to be out of the house and listen to the sounds of the neighborhood, and peed standing up for the first time since surgery.  He managed to get all of his feet wet, but he did it!  He even walked himself back into the house and by his kennel.  

The vet had us add Benadryl to the mix.  It didn't sedate him- at all.  I gave him an extra quarter tablet of traz.  No change.  He's extremely alert- tail wags, smiles, getting up and down- but doesn't want to settle and be still.   I'm not sure how tonight it going to work. 

We haven't had him in his cone at all since he came home.  He'd been leaving everything alone.  Now, he's interested.  His little surgical suit arrived but I have to get it washed before he can use it.  With the cone on, he gets so agitated, but I think we might need it tonight. 

I'll be calling the vet first thing in the morning to inquire about upping his Gaba and hopefully get him to relax a little, at least at night.  

So here goes night three!

Oh, here’s a couple of pictures of some bruising that, even though it looks pretty rough, their Bet said it was  normal.

Thank you!  That does look similar to what we are seeing.  No other wound related concerns right now, thankfully!

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Barkley just woke me up for meds, right on time... About 40 minutes before the 12 hours mark.  He wants to be licking his wound but is doing such a good job leaving it alone.  He seems to hate the cone more than the itch.  

I pushed myself to not jump every time I heard him reposition last night.  He's gotten quite accustomed to constant attention.  While I want him comfortable physically and emotionally, 24/7 doe eyes and belly rubs isn't sustainable. 😉 At some point, I would up laying my arm in his kennel to keep him from licking.  I feel like I got some solid sleep though.  Definitely dreamed.  

I'll be calling the vet, first thing, to discuss sedation.  Until then, lots of paw holding and hopefully some more sleep. 😉 

I called and emailed Barkley's vet yesterday afternoon because I was concerned about the bruising. Not only did they not respond to the email, but no one called back.  Instead of trying again, I established care with another clinic. 

I called and accredited clinic and explained the situation.  I asked if he could possibly be seen today in order to go into the weekend without worry.  They happily obliged.  

The new vet went over his surgical report before arrival and we handed over the rest of his records when we handed him over.  (Covid has them doing contact Free as much as possible.) The vet called us to review and confirm the information he had.  

Per new vet's advice, we are removing the trazadone unless neccessary for sedation.  He is going to continue on Benadryl.  He is also going to start pepcid(we still need to pick it up but they gave him a shot too.)

Barkley's bruise was also accompanied by an edema.  Vet said it could be for a variety of reasons. Among them was possible heating pad trauma during surgery.  He did the normal run of blood work and also tested for clotting issues.  Barkley's white blood cell count was slightly elevated but his liver and other values looked good.  He was given an injectable antibiotic and we are to check in if it changes(which it has, I'll get to that.)

Barkley loved the trip to the vet and was happily exhausted when we got home.  He slept most of the evening.  He got up a little bit ago and wanted to walk around(we thought to pee.) He all but ran to the kitchen and checked for scraps from dinner and searched the whole kitchen.  He has mastered using his back leg to pivot on and seems to handle the hard floors much easier than the carpet which made us laugh.  He got white the workout and is now cuddling hubby.  

I measured accurately for the surgical suit and ordered a small.  It's a bit baggy on him.  I'm confident I can alter it and have ordered an XS to alternate.  The whole time he was chilling after vet he was wearing it and it seemed to relax him immensely.  We will see as we go on. 

His edema wasn't noticeable to us before the visit.  After being home and resting, it's as big as his lump had been and was concerning.  Knowing it's fluid, though, is a bit of a relief.  I'll call tomorrow and see if there is anything else to be done. He's also bruising a little more around the incision, but the doctor palpated everything to see how he's doing, so I'm hopeful it's just from that. 

Overall, new vet was awesome.  They spent about 1.5 hours with him, a decent amount of time calling me to explain everything, and were just super kind and encouraging, without sugar coating everything.  We are going to have biopsy results emailed to us as soon as they arrive at old vet and then graciously say goodbye. 

Watching him hunting for scraps and wagging his tail and following the kids around was very reassuring! 🙂

Thanks for checking in! We are so thankful for this resource!  I will definitely request material for both offices soon! 

Barkley got his Bupranex for the first time last night.  I thought that was the cause of him whining all night long.  I finally peeked under his t-shirt (longer story) and found that he had developed what I hoped was a fluid edema near his incision.  I woke my husband immediately and I took Barkley to the emergency vet. 

I just spoke with the vet and she suspects it is a secondary infection, despite the antibiotics he got on Friday.   Because it is about to burst, they are going to try and help it out so that it doesn't compromise the incision.  They are also likely going to run more labs. 

It's 7:11 am and I'm in my car in front of the ER (covid) and haven't slept a wink since yesterday morning's nap.  So, keep us in your prayers.  One moment at a time. 

Update 11:12 am.  They injected painkiller and the pustule burst before they could aspirate.  Boy did it make a mess.  His shirt and towel I sent in with him are awful.  They reran bloodwork and his white blood cell count was better than Friday but be is slightly anemic.  They did cold laser treatment on the new wound and incision.  They bandaged him up and sent us home with antibiotics and instructions to up his gabapentin to 3 pills and try 12 hours again.  We have a followup appointment scheduled with his vet on Tuesday morning.  

He's currently whining in his kennel.  He's been doing that pretty much since an hour after Bupranex dose last night. It's definitely tender and he is protective but he's a lot more comfortable than he was earlier today.  He's refusing food right now, but it's been a big day.  He's drinking.  I'm looking forward to/terrified of his next/first pee since bandaging.