Canine Nurse Maid

That's me. I've been tending to these dogs for so long. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and now Thursday I've been working from home this week alone. I give Bailey antibiotics every 3-4 hours and I check Leo's brace regularly - it's so humid, it cannot be very comfortable. He has a sore on the inside ankle bone which isn't healing. I tried antibiotic ointment on it but it doesn't get enough air or it's still rubbing against the brace or sock on the inside.

Tuesday, the 12th, I take both dogs to Cedarbrae Veterinary Clinic. Dr. Lavoie checks Bailey's eye which he says is 95% healed! I'm pleasantly surprised. I had told him my administering the medications on the weekend was 'intense' and he said that that had paid off. He squirted the neon green/yellow liquid in his eye so that the 'ulcer' (scratch) would show up and there were only a few specs! On Saturday, there was a pinky nail sized solid scratch. I can barely believe it but am relieved this has practically healed, all short of surgery. It is looking much better even since then, he opens it nearly completely (well it's hard to tell since I'm still adding drops to his eyeball every few hours). Dr. Lavoie also tried to withdraw more blood to make the serum. He didn't get much and what was there was fatty (he had to 'spin' it again). I admitted he was fed salmon for breakfast. Isn't that interesting? :) In any case, it isn't as urgent that he receive this serum but the antibiotics should continue another week or two. Wow, that is still very intense. I won't be able to stay home all that time so he'll get as many doses as often as I can give him.

Since I was at a veterinarian's office for Bailey and Leo was scheduled to have his stitches out, I figured I'd get Dr. Lavoie to remove his sutures while I was there. I only took 2 minutes anyway. Leo healed very well but the raw sore was of concern. Dr. Lavoie suggested the brace be modified or left off him to allow it air and a chance to heal. I actually put him in the kennel for a few hours each afternoon without his brace on while I worked so I could watch him. He did try to lick it some but he would settle down when I told him to leave it.

Leo sporting his brace, sniffing around the yard:

Thursday, the 14th - I take Leo to PawsAbility. Janice was kind enough to email me at 8am immediately upon returning from vacation. She was able to see me around 3pm. She adjusted Leo's brace on the inside where he has the sore and padded it with a softer material in case it does rub. She also suggested going without the sock which is great. Janice also fixed his 'tread'. It's a new black rubber 'boot' that I can fix with black electrical tape if necessary. She also gave me a strip of velcro and applied new straps which he had chewed off last week.

Leo certainly gets good use of his brace. Upon arriving home he rolled around on his back in the dirt and grass kicking up a storm. He is always on the go but is obviously slowed down by his limited ability. He is spunky and tries to play with Bailey and Rex a little. He is just so dang cute. The brace fits well and he doesn't seem to have any problems with it. Hopefully when I leave him home tomorrow he won't chew stuff off it. :)

Poodle at the dojo

I administered drops every 2 hours, i.e. starting at 7am and ending at 11pm - 9 times 2 drops each of 2 medications. Whew!

Bailey made out just fine. He enjoyed the outing, meeting new people and getting attention from strangers.... except when the grading was going on then he had to stay in the kennel. He didn't need the cone much after the 2nd day.

Bailey also got to attend Sean's birthday party BBQ where he was the sole dog but he had to dodge Morana's 9-week old kitten a lot. The pussy had to stay inside so Bailey came outside with me. It was very humid and I'm sure the grass is cool.

Bailey has an ulcerated cornea. Really!?

Seriously. Bailey had randomly been "winking" with his left eye. Other times he'd have it open but in the last week or so it seemed to be closed more often than not and this morning it was pussy on the outside and red on the inside.

I called Cedarbrae Veterinary Clinic around 9am and asked if I could get squeezed in today. I couldn't wait another day. Even the vet's office said he should come in right away to get examined. She said come as soon as possible but that Dr. Lavoie is booked. So I arrived around 1030am. Although it was quite busy it cleared out and I was into a room before too long - driving away within an hour of arrivng.

Bailey's left cornea is scratched. Dr. Lavoie applied those neon yellow/green drops into his eyeball and when we opened his lids I could see where it was 'patchy' on the surface over his iris. It was explained (like with Leo last year) that there are no blood vessels there to bring oxygen to the site and assist with healing so what he did was mix several viles of Bailey's blood with 'something' to make a special healing serum at the injured site.

This is what Dr. Porter suggested we do with Leo, use his own blood and re-inject in at the surgical area. Sounds cool. The deal is I have to put 2 drops into his left eye every hour. Every hour! Second day, every 2 hours. Thereafter, every 3-4 hours. He also has the antibiotic drops which remains 2 drops every 2 hours. Thirdly, there is the Metacam anti-inflammatory which will help remove bacteria from the site and promote healing.

Because the drops bothered Bailey (they were painful) we needed to put a cone on him. I cut it a bit when we got home so he can maneuver around better. But the drop applications are so aggressive! I really hope this helps heal his eyeball so he doesn't require surgery.

He seemed to be in fairly decent spirits and slept quite a bit today. He doesn't love the drops but he is a good dog and will stand there for the hourly application. Unfortunately, tomorrow my husband has to work so he can't administer the medicine. I'm going to have to crate Bailey so I can tend to him while at the dojo! Sigh....

Leo chewed his brace off!

I thought I would not put the back harness on overnight, so he'd be more comfortable but by morning Leo had chewed off his sock and slipped out of the brace! His face was damp from mouthing at it just as the sock was. When I sat up in bed, he got up and started hobbling towards me; I freaked out!

My husband and I together struggled to keep the sock on properly while putting his leg back in the brace so for the day we thought we'd try the brace without the sock. Friday evening it was OK but he had still chewed off the 'make-shift' velcro strap and sticky pieces. There were 2 that she applied at the fitting Leo was able to chew these off. The straps that Janice had built into the brace with velcro and metal hooks are secure. I guess he is just going to have to deal with this new braced leg and harness strap. I emailed Janice she advised to always use the harness for the best suspension and the socks for absorption and to watch for chaffing; he has a small sore in one area.

I am to remove his brace daily and check for any sores. It also relieves him of it for a bit while I change his sock.

Post-op Hock Orthesis

Leo's appointment today was at the Canine Wellness Centre where Janice Olynich runs PawsAbility. It's a great 'warehouse' shop with all kinds of prostetics and orthotics and dog runs, braces, everything!

Leo was to actually get custom-fitted so we had to be at the shop so Janice could make the alternations. He was curious and fidgety at first but by the third fitting, adjustments, removal and modifications, Leo was just as happy to sleep while he waited. :) He's wearing one of many socks I was given for him to wear under the brace mainly to help absorb any moisture and add some space between his leg and the brace.

Check out Leo's new custom brace!

Ta-da! Leo is standing on his new brace. He is already beginning to use it as proficiently as he learned to get around in the cast.

Last but not least the much appreciated perfectionist Janice Olynich, B.A., C.P.(c), Certified Prosthetist at PawsAbility! She is great with Leo and made sure everything was going to fit and work properly with the brace before he was good to go.

Here is Janice again with Leo at the end of the appointment. It took about 2 hours for the fittings, adjustments and paying the bill. :)

8 days post-op

Last week, just 3 days after surgery, Leo was still too swollen to be fitted for the brace but after 8 days of healing in a cast, the swelling is reduced, there is more definition in the repaired tendon and he was able to stand on his injured leg!

Leo had his cast removed again, the brace fitted (he was made to walk around a bit), then a cast reapplied.  I had the option of tape colour so I picked red. :)

Leo knows when it's time to go!





Leo in front of TVEH:  Toronto Veterinary Emergency (and Referral) Hospital - they are awesome!

The cast - as well as the brace - is angled so that Leo's leg is slightly bent at the knee (even though it is immobilized so he cannot bend it) and it is designed so that his foot is pointing downwards (so that he is on his tippy-toe).  This is to keep the entire leg immobile and allow it to heal. He can (and does) put his weight down on his peg leg but it is wrapped sufficiently that it can continue to heal without fearing injury.

Leo is getting used to his cast and will walk (even run) a lot more than he did last week especially since he is able to put weight on it. 

It's only for another day though then he gets his new digs - a custom hock brace!

Emme, Karen's dog

I finally met up with Karen and Bill, her husband-to-be (October 22, 2011)... and of course they had Emme with them. :) She hopped in the car, ready-to-go, after waiting patiently for us outside of Tapps at Finch and Tapscott Roads.

See how much she's grown in 2 years... this is from August 2009: