Cole Is Doing Much Better

Cole is doing better now. After the hellish first night, we started seeing glimpses of our dog again. The constant crying did stop once we figured out how to space out all the different medications a little better. I think part of the problem is he had his last dose of everything at the surgery center right before we left so we had to wait so long for him to be able to have anything again. We have been trying to make sure he gets some sort of medication every 3 to 4 hours if he is awake and seems uncomfortable. If he is sleeping, we let him sleep until he wakes up and needs more pain medicine. He is much more comfortable now. He slept several hours at a time last night. I slept with him for the first 4 hours then moved to my bed and he only woke up a few times after that.

He is continuing to eat and drink. His appetite has waned a little but he is still eating at least part of his food and several cookies. He stopped peeing the bed by yesterday morning but was still incontinent so he leaked fairly steadily. It was manageable with puppy pads and not completely stripping the bed every 45 minutes. I think they really pumped him with fluids in surgery and he didn’t know how to pee outside while wearing that harness or not lifting a leg so he tried to hold it. He did the same thing when we first got him. He was 10 months old and we had to wait him out by standing outside before he understood it was ok to pee when on leash. He has mastered peeing outside now and is not leaking anymore so the pee pads are not needed for anything other than placemats when he eats and drinks in bed.

Ella has been a little withdrawn and watchful. She seems concerned and a little confused. She was a big help in getting him to pee in the harness. My husband has been a bit overprotective and is so scared she will get crazy and hurt him while trying to play. I said we need to get him back to his routine so let’s try it. We get him outside and standing steady then let her out. I think the familiar potty trip scene it created helped him and he had his first pee. We told him he was such a good boy and he hasn’t had any trouble since. Ella is like a little cheerleader. She loves his hop and jumps around him and gets the zoomies. It is really encouraging him to walk and I love seeing her run up and touch noses, they wag and nuzzle then she goes bounding around. When he hops, she gets really excited because she thinks he is playing.

She also helped him to relax. We have been really nervous about the port by his incision because that thing is impossible to keep in place. We were scared Ella would accidentally rip it out. She seems to instinctively know to be gentle and is not snuggling up as hard as before. We started having her come in the pen with him once the leaking pee stopped and he relaxed completely for the first time since we brought him home. Their bond is so amazing. They have both been upset at being separated and they both fell into a very deep sleep as soon as they were together. I took this picture last night and then had to go hide to cry mostly happy but also bittersweet tears.

He is doing really well with walking. He got up by himself three times yesterday: once when I left to pick up food for Mike and me and came back, once for Mike when he came home from picking up medicine for him and once for Grandpa when Mike’s dad dropped off some supplies for us. He is wobbly and tires quickly but walks more and more with less and less support from us. He insisted on going to “his spot” which is the far end of the yard to pee. We have moved to the living room and he and Ella are snoozing on their bed in front of the couch. No whining at all and he has been snoozing on and off and just hanging out when awake. I think some of the whining is because he really just hates that pen. The port is supposed to come out today so he will sleep with Ella in their bed. He is a little more tired today but we were expecting a crash from either chemo or few days after surgery so are not concerned. He seems good other than being more tired.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention his incision looks great and already looks like it is healing. There is a little bruising and some swelling but it already looks better.