It’s been 9 days since Caesar’s surgery and his recovery amazes us everyday. The surgery went “perfectly” according to the surgeon.  All of the worries and second-guessing were calmed a bit when we picked him up from the hospital on August 12 and he walked out on his own…Of course he did! He’s a Bully!  Strong-willed and bull-headed. We should have trusted the qualities that get him in trouble would also help him (and us) during this recovery.

Although the tumor was near his hock joint, the surgeon removed his leg at the hip. And it seems to be more of an adjustment for us than it is for Caesar.  For the first few days we followed him around with his sling and loads of encouraging words like the nervous parents we are…I am pretty sure Caesar sighed in annoyance, but he has shown incredible restraint with us…We’re learning.

The past week has been a challenge to get the medication right. He was on at least 1500 mg of antibiotics, tramadol, rimadyl, and the fentanyl patch. The fentanyl patch came off after the 2nd day because it caused Caesar a lot of discomfort. Then after a week of no sleep and constant restlessness, we realized that the tramadol was causing him to have a lot of anxiety, so we had to stop that too. Fortunately by then his pain was under control with the rimadyl and he (and we) got our first good nights sleep in over a week.

The new thing we are trying to work through is the panting. Caesar has labored breathing and then breaks into a pant. At first we thought he was still in pain so we weren’t sure about stopping the pain meds all together. We discovered that the antibiotics that he was prescribed for post surgery needed to stop. We brought him in to our vet and had x-rays done on his chest and saw that his lungs are not as clear as they should be. Because of the surgery, his immune system is down and his allergies are not helping. So we switched him over to a different antibiotic (clavamox) to clear his lungs up. And after 3 days, he is able to breath normally and no panting!

More milestones-

Caesar is drinking water, going potty regularly, and we even came home to find him on the side of his surgery…Ahhh. Relaxation is the best!!

Tonight while taking him outside – before I could get to him with the sling, we bolt up the 3 stairs and made it up like there wasnt any issue at all.  Quite amazing!