Thank you, Sally and Tara_2 for your replies. This is all so frustrating for me, I’ll admit. I’m a (retired) RN, but am used to dealing with people who can speak and tell me what is wrong. So much harder to watch an animal go through it.

I did speak to the surgeon since writing the above post and he told me to give her an extra codeine at 4 pm and to give the Trazodone along with it, so that’s what I did. I know that Trazodone doesn’t help the pain, but that particular combination did seem to pull her out of her agitated state. She’s lying quietly now, no longer panting, drifting off (probably quite high). Since I didn’t give the Trazodone until after her agitated state, I’m thinking either she didn’t get her codeine fast enough (original instructions were to give it every 8-12 hours, but we’ve now switched it to every 8), or the codeine is causing her some agitation. Tara, thanks for the timing info on the Trazodone. It did take about an hour for Summer to settle.

Sally, I didn’t read your response until after the surgeon called me back, so haven’t asked about increasing the gabapentin. If this combo/tweak doesn’t work, I will definitely inquire about that. To answer your question, Summer weighs 69 lbs. Oh, and she did lie on her incisional side this morning and yelped (loudly) when she got up. It just breaks your heart. She’s now lying on the other side, so hopefully that won’t happen too often.

We had such an excellent first postop day yesterday, I figured the other shoe would drop today. On the good news front, Summer is pottying outside consistently and had her first real poop this afternoon. Yay for  Poor thing did fall forward on her face while in the poop position, but didn’t hurt herself. She doesn’t really like us to help her with the sling, but we will have to support her a little better until she gets the hang of the new normal. She also uses the ramp like a champ even though we only received it the day before her surgery, and only got to practice it a couple of times Sunday night.

And absolutely, yes, this was a ‘what have I done TO my dog’ day. I know there are better days coming and I sure am looking forward to them. I need to be as brave as Summer and put my big girl panties on.  You know, Be More Dog . Thanks so much for being here.

Robin

Summer update: Summer had a good night. She slept until 6:30 am and even then, we woke her up because we were worried about her being too zonked. Still trying to find that happy medium. But she went out to potty, ate a good breakfast (almost her normal amount), took her meds, and is lying quietly by my feet. We did increase her Gabapentin dosage and are giving it 3 times a day now. Going to try cutting back on the Codeine today and see how it goes.

It’s nice to see my girl calm today. That agitation was awful - for her AND us!

Thanks, Tara! Finding that sweet spot isn’t the easiest, is it? Summer was definitely zonked this morning upon awakening. She did potty and eat, so that made me feel better. I just took her out again and noticed that she tends to hurt more (and gets a little agitated) after going outside to potty. I’m guessing she's still quite sore and this seems to really be a workout for her at this point (we are now on postop day 3, not counting surgery day). I can’t wait until we are further along in her recovery, though I’m sure everyone feels that way.

I’m so glad Bizkit is doing well. It’s hard to watch them find a new normal. Hope your day goes well!

Gabapentin 200 mg three times a day. We only gave half dosage of Codeine this morning and no Trazodone, so will see how it goes.

And, yes, definitely celebrating the small things!

Wow, thanks for the greyhound link! Greyhounds really are special - I’m not sure they’re really dogs.  It’s unfortunate that this disease is so prevalent in them. As soon as Summer started limping, I knew.

Summer’s having a quiet, restful day. She’s a little subdued today (but not zonked), which I think is better than the agitated state she was in yesterday, so I’ll take it. Rest = healing. She’s eating pretty well and we’re taking her out for potty breaks only when she asks. She hasn’t had a single accident in the house since she came home. My little rockstar. 

As a side note, that aminocaproic acid is so important in greys. They gave it to Summer as an injection during surgery and she’s still on it 3 times a day in pill form for now. Something other greyhound owners whose dogs need surgery should know and ask about.

Hope everyone is having a good evening. Will update on Summer tomorrow.