Thanks guys, last night was a ROUGH one.. And I, too, was expecting a crash at some point. We're running on only a few hours of sleep.

I'm not discouraged though.. This little sh*t got past the blockade at the steps to run up and came for me while I was in the laundry, then evaded my capture and ran back down. Of course this was just after I talked to the vet, telling her how pathetic he is being and got a script for gabapentin called in to my pharmacy. He's gonna feel that later...

In other news he peed in his onesie. My fault, I didn't hike it up high enough when we went outside. He has a pink bandage on now

Talk to you all later, I'm starving! Need to find some grub.

Yeah, keep Barret calm? Keep him from jumping on the furniture? Right.. Good luck! Might need a straight jacket! He is hard headed, determined, and independent 100% of the time. I did have to smirk when I scolded him for running up and down the steps though.

Went to RiteAid for his gabapentin... He survived me being gone 20 whole minutes gave him his first dose a while go. Seems to make him sleepier than tramadol. Which is good. Guess I should take a nap too... According to the bottle I should not let him drink booze, drive machinery, and I need to call the doc if he becomes suicidal. What is in this stuff?!? Wow...

Still nervous about next week. David has Monday off but he is proving to not be a very good mommy substitute. Some guys just don't have the mommy gene I guess

Thanks everyone,
I know its still early, but 4 days post-op and this little boy continues to amaze me. He hasn't seemed to lose one ounce of his personality through this process, even as stoned on medication as he is! He even hopped over to the toy box, grabbed a plush toy and took it to the couch to suckle it (we are pretty sure he was weaned too early as a babe. He has always done this to comfort himself... He even used to suckle our cat Neptune). I didn't see that for at least a week or 2 after his first operation.

He is still stubborn and determined to do everything he used to, jumping and running laps around the kitchen and living room at dinner time. He's slowed down a bit, and thankfully hasn't attempted his classic 'jump off the back of the sofa' move, but I do my best to limit activity.

His suture site looks good. Minimal bruising and swelling so far.

Couple of questions for the veterans of the site. First, can the tramadol and gaba be given at the same time? Tramadol is every 6 hours, GABA is every 8 so sometimes they are due around the same time. Vet said they are all safe together (he is also on rimadyl and an antibiotic) but that seems like a lot of meds at one time.

Second, he really wants to lay on his injured side, but once he does he can't get up without yelping and really struggling, then he kind of shuts down and shakes uncontrollably. Any tips on how to help get him upright again without too much pain?

Third, like I said the surgery site looks amazing. However, there's a spot further down on his belly I found today, about 2 inches long that's puffy and a little red. It's about 6 inches south of the sutures and its squishy, can a seroma form so far from the site?

Last, is it normal for a front leg tripawd to curve their back in a C shape when standing so that the front leg is centered? It looks really uncomfortable..

Karen, I'll bring Barret to Cali, mind if I tag along I think I'm going to have to equip him with GPS I've ha so many people tell me they want to steal him

Thanks, Heather & Bear

Thanks everyone, and a special thanks to Kelly, Erica, and Lara for talking me down from my meltdown last night in chat. The swelling that had me so worried last night is completely gone this morning, though Barret is less himself. It could be the drugs or his soreness. It was another nearly sleepless night last night. Once I do get him up and moving around he seems great (until his sister tried to tackle him).

Talk to you later, Heather