Visiting with old friends!

I had a really good time this weekend getting to spend some time with old friends. Saturday Morning I visited with an old college friend Jeff and his wife Melissa. I haven't seen the two of them for maybe five years. I was so happy to get to meet their two cute little kids. They seem really happy and I am glad that things seem to have worked out so well for them. It's nice to see people in a cute little family when so many of my other friends are divorced and living in drama.

Yesterday, my dear old friend Brian was here. He visits often but sometimes I don't manage to see him for much more than a half an hour. We got to go to the arts festival and spend a good few hours wandering the artist's booths and hanging out! I had a great time with him and Andrea and I am so glad we made it work. I bought a cute new necklace even though I shouldn't be spending money.

All in all it was great getting to spend times with friends from my past. I've enjoyed that some of my old friends now have blogs so I can keep up with them even when I don't really see them or talk to them anymore. I know some of my old friends are reading this blog too and it makes me happy that they still care after so many years!!

The limp...

Miss Marley often has a slight limp in her back right leg. She's got a shallow hip joint in that back leg. The last month she has been limping more and more often and when she runs she kicks that right leg out. This is one of the ways I keep track of her pain level.

Tonight she has a very definite limp in her bad leg. I feel awful that she is in that much pain. She's got a strained muscle back there and I wonder if the treatment yesterday has made her sore today. That's happened in the past where she will be sore for a day or two and then I see a lot of improvement after a couple of days.

They say that most dogs innately hide their pain. I know this to be true of Dylan. He only shows he is in pain when it's really bad!! I'm not sure if Marley has come to accept her structural issues as a part of life and so therefore she displays signs of being in pain easier. Or if she's in A LOT of pain and needs to be taking pain medication. I wonder if I could just notice smaller variances of normal behavior with her because I know she has issues. So I see her signs of pain when they are more mild than other dogs because I pay very close attention to her regular movements. On the other hand, she could be hiding her pain so by the time I am able to see it, it could be severe.

I know that if it were me, I'd want pain meds at some point. I was taking them over the weekend because of my damned knee. In my opinion, once pain passes a certain level, some pain medication is totally appropriate. I just don't know where that line is for Marley. It's times like these that I wish she were human, at least just for a moment. Just long enough to tell me exactly how she feels and what she wants me to do about it.

All I really know is that the road to healing is going to be longer than I wished it would be. I was hoping that things were getting back to normal. I forgot that a major trauma can cause damage to your entire body. Up until now, I'd mostly worried about the injuries to her abdomen. I now know I need to focus on doing what I can to help heal her body as a whole.

A whole year!!!

Today is the one year anniversary of my first date with Paul! I can't beleive how fast time goes by. I feel like a better person for having known him. He's had a great impact on my life and I am so grateful for having known him. I can't beleive how much life has changed since we met. I feel so lucky to have met such a wonderful and caring man who also has his s*** together. I think that's rare to find these days. It's an added bonus that he loves the pups as much as I do!

I love you Paul and I hope you have a good day today! Can't wait to get to see you after work!

Raw food on a budget.

I loved feeding my dogs a raw diet. Well, it was a modified raw diet (part kibble, veggies, raw meat, organs, and bones). I got a little out of control though and was spending WAY too much to feed my dogs. I ended up going back to kibble almost a year ago just because of the expense.

After discussion with my vet today, I decided I really need to be giving my dogs some meat! She recommended mostly beef in the summer. She says Chicken is a warming meat so it's best not to feed it during the warm months of summer. She really recommends a "mostly" moist food diet.

So the plan is, a little meat, some veggies, raw eggs, a bone here and there (or meat on the bone when I can afford it!) and some kibble of course. I gotta be careful about meat. I need to make sure I am budgeting for it and weighing it so I am not feeding too much and keeping within my budget. I need to look into feeding ground game meats because I know I can get them really cheap. I forgot to ask my vet when I was there today but I will definitely be asking her next time I am there.

I feel silly working for a pet food company and feeling like I still need to supplement but I don't buy into the idea that a single kibble can give your dog everything they need for life. I just have to stay focused at work that the people that switch to my food - are making a HUGE step up from what they are feeding. The company I work for makes a great product and I don't mind telling people that.

I bought some beef this evening for $1.98 a lb. I really would like to make the daily diet less than $2.00 a lb though. I think I am going to try to give Marley 1/4 lb a day and Dylan 1/2 lb. I am not sure I can afford that so I need to sit down and figure out how much meat is affordable once I figure out what I can feed. These rump roasts were on sale and the price is good for a big old hunk of meat.

I know I felt a lot better about the dogs health when they were on raw. I worry a lot about their teeth these days because I don't brush them as much as I should and they are starting to turn yellow. I didn't have those worries with a raw diet. My biggest concern on raw was their weight because I was feeding them way too much. That's why a scale is an absolute must for me!! I wonder if I can get a cheap one on eBay!

I really hate feeding organs. It makes me gag and I can't handle cutting them up either. I'll feed chicken livers and hearts though because they are cheap and I can Stick them with a fork and feed them whole.

I'm excited to get back into the raw feeding. I just need to be more careful about sticking to a budget while feeding it. The kibble I buy will last a lot longer and I think that Dylan could go back to a food with grains in it if I were supplementing with raw food. That would make buying dog food a lot cheaper as well (plus with employee coupons, I'd be set for a cheap kibble budget).

I spend my life at the vet!

Marley went in for a visit with our holistic vet today. Her body has been really out of alignment since even before the dog fight.

We went over her x rays and the vet says she has some arthritis developing on one of the vertebrae that already causes her problems. She's gonna have problems for life but we are doing everything we can to prevent further issues and manage the issues she already has.

She had some major chiropractic adjustments. Her neck was all out of alignment. Her hips were out of place. She also has a pulled muscle in her leg. The vet says it's probably from being spread out and tied down on an operating table. Tied down under anesthetic, she wasn't able to let the vet techs know that she was being pulled too far. That's already her bad leg with a bad hip on that right side. Now with a strained muscle, she is standing with her leg out turned. A bit of massage and mild stretching should hopefully help over the next several weeks.

She's got some scar tissue building up. This could be problematic if we don't take care of it early. I am going to start massaging the area daily and then in a few weeks we will do some acupuncture in the area and vitamin b12 injections.

She got some acupuncture today and I am starting her on some homeopathic's to help her abdomen healing. Arnica and Silicea should hopefully be helpful in this healing process.

I didn't realize she needed to stay on probiotics for so long after the antibiotics. I guess we will be doing that for another month or so. She also wants her to have some limited activity for another 10 days. We just want to prevent potential issues in her abdomen where she has had so much trauma in that area the last month.

I also got some aconitum for Dylan. It's supposed to help calm him during this horrible firework season. I am not sure why everyone insists on lighting of shooting flames in a desert in the middle of summer. Dylan doesn't think it's the best idea either. It's an extremely scary month for Dylan in July but hopeful the aconitum will be helpful.

Craziness is never ending!

The knee is getting better. No more stabbing pains but it's definitely sore and stiff. One more follow up with the chirporactor and hopefully that will be it.

Now Miss Marley has had an upset tummy. She was having diarreah yesterday. Last night I woke up to a poor wimpering girl. I sat up and asked her if she wanted to go potty. She ran right to the door. I let her out and she couldn't get out to the lawn fast enough. I'm sad my poor baby girl wasn't feeling well. Before I went back to bed, I noticed she had an accident on the kitchen floor. Poor girl never has accidents but it was clear she couldn't hold it in any longer. I'm just glad she chose to go on the kitchen floor and not the carpet. At least it was easy for me to clean up.

I think she just ate too much raw bone the other day. I gave both dogs a raw bone on saturday and then passed out. I'd been taking pain meds for my knee. When I woke up and Marley's bone was gone and she had stolen Dylan's. I'm hoping the tummy upset will pass with another day or two. She actually is supposed to see my holistic vet tomorrow morning though.

Marley is locked up in the house all day. Paul will come by to let her out and take one of the dogs on a walk. Hope she doesn't have any accidents before he comes over there!! He's so wonderful to help with the dogs. They are a bit exercise deprived since I have been trying to take it easy on my sore knee.

My turn at the Chiropractor

The knee pain keeps getting worse and worse. So much so that I finally got online and called every chiropractor that accepts my insurance and by a miracle - one was open today.

The doctor was nice enough to see me and felt bad that I was keeling over in pain while in the waiting room at his office. After an exam of my knee and my feet (since he was pretty sure the knee pain wasn't due to a back problem), the doctor still isn't quite sure what's causing it. Best guess is that my shoes either have too much arch support or not enough. I was wearing my beloved crocs when I went to his office which have no support at all. But when I told him I had been wearing my new keen sandals quite a bit he suspected that too much support might be the issue.

So I am told to wear only sneakers till Monday. He wants me to keep it wrapped and showed me how to wrap it right. Stay off it as much as possible and keep it iced when I can. He adjusted my knee and hip but it didn't seem to make much difference.

Now after several hours of sitting on the couch with my knee up and on ice, the stabbing pains have slowed down a lot. I'm hoping it stays that way.

Tingling is more like stabbing...

So I posted about the tingling sensation in my knee? After several episodes the last few day I decided "tinging" wasn't an accurate description. It feels much more like someone is stabbing me over and over again right in my knee! These short intervals of stabbing are making life pretty miserable.

I actually called in sick to work last night and went to instacare. Damn instacare doc didn't leave me with any hope that this is going away soon. I had been suspecting that this is a pinched nerve somewhere. He said he thinks it could be arthritis. It makes no sense that Arthritis might be an issue. I've never had a problem with my knee ever. Plus isn't arthritis pain just aching? He told me to take Ibuprofen 4 times a day for the next couple of weeks and wear a knee brace. I can't believe I wasted $25.00 and took a night off of work for that. I suspect I should have seen a chiropractor instead of a doctor. Now all the chiropractors are closed for the weekend.

Things are getting progressively worse. This stabbing pain is occurring more and more often. Yesterday when I went to the doc I could count 7 times since Monday. Now, I can count 7 times in the last two hours.

I'm not sure what to do but I am gonna try and go to work this afternoon. I am not sure if I will be able to stand around all day but it's worth a shot.

Stinging, stiff joints, and a monster headache!

My body has been really off this week. It all started Monday night when I was leaving my dog trainer friend's house. I thought I got bit by a spider because I suddenly had a stinging feeling in my knee and shooting pains up the leg. It lasted about a minute and I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it might be a spider bite but there is no mark on my leg at all.

On the way home, I stopped at a store and checked my blood pressure. Paul said it was a good idea because of the strangeness of this incident. Everything was fine but by the time I got home my joints were stiff. My knee was stiff the following day then that evening it happened again. I got a stinging sensation in my knee when I was walking through Home Depot. There wasn't any shooting pain this time but just the stinging. All in the same spot.

Yesterday morning I woke up with a splitting headache. My back is stiff and sore. I'm not sure it's a related issue but I sure feel like crap. Last night, I had that stinging feeling in my knee twice. Once while driving and another while laying on my couch watching tv.

My headache isn't going away either. It's been killing me all day again today. I actually called the doc to see if it's something I should have checked out. They said it's okay to wait it out a few days and see what happens.

I know I am just whining but I sure feel like crap. I wonder what the hell is going on with my body this week. I haven;t been to the gym all week and I've barely done anything except yardwork because that wasn't optional.

Hope it all goes away soon...

Stitches Out!!

Marley's stitches are out! I am so happy that we can now hope things are behind us.

She does have some lumps on her belly now that I am unsure about. I will be watching them and hoping they go away on their own. If they are still there in another day or two, we will be making yet another trip to the vet to have them looked at.

She also needs to get in for a chiropractic treatment. I think her body is out of sync this last few weeks. She needs some treatment to get her back in alignment. They are supposed to call me for an appointment when they figure out what the vet's schedule will be the next couple of weeks. The vet we see can be hard to get into so sometimes it takes a week or two (new clients have to wait months).

Lunch Date!

Paul and I work very opposite shifts. The only reason we get to really spend time together is because he works 7 days on and 7 days off. So on his off week, he's around in the evenings. This week is his on week so I pretty much don't get to see him at all. We've been trying to have a lunch date during the week. We also try to go walk dogs at least once on the weekend since I am around in the mornings those days.

So Paul is coming today to lunch. I was supposed to make something but I haven't been feeling great the last few days. So we are getting food from somewhere. I'm just happy I get to spend a little bit of time with him. It's a nice day so we can eat outside! We have a bunch of tables here around the outside of the building.

Should be a nice afternoon! Now I just hope this persistent headache goes away sometime today. It's been making me a bit miserable.

On our way!

The stitches come out tomorrow! Then hopefully Marley will be able to go back to normal activities.

I want to try to get her in for a chiropractic treatment. She seems to be having some pain in her back or hips. She's not sitting straight on her hips most of the time. She has been kicking her leg back when she runs. She was due to go in the beginning of June but they said to wait until after she was healed from the injuries.

My clumsiness is humorous!!

I have to laugh at myself sometimes. I can be quite clumsy at times but at least I don't generally get injured.

Yesterday we went up the canyon to go for a hike with the dogs. There's a stream that runs right near where we parked and the water level is high enough in some spots the dogs can swim. I wanted to let Dylan get some swimming in before we headed up the trail. He's not the strongest swimmer but doing better and better every year. I figured since Marley was not there it was okay to use my expensive Frisbee. When the two are together they don't retrieve very well but Dylan will ALWAYS get his Frisbee when he is playing one on one.

I threw the Frisbee and on the first throw it got sucked into a corner on the other side of the stream. Dylan made a few attempts to get to it but the water was too deep and he was working against the current.

I walked down and crossed the bridge while Paul kept an eye on the Frisbee so it didn't get lost. I took Dylan hoping he would get it from the opposite side of the stream. He wouldn't retrieve it so I went in ankle deep to get the Frisbee. I had to walk down the bank less than 10 feet to get to it. In the process of trying not to get stuck in the mud, I took one step and all of the sudden was in the water up to my chest. The edge where I had been walking just dropped off about 4 feet!!

It was COLD and definitely took me by surprise. My first reaction was to get OUT! Paul reminded me to grab the Frisbee and my treat bag that had come off when I fell. I retrieved my stuff and made my way across the stream to where he was!! I'm glad I took my camel back off before I tried to walk up the bank!!

Unfortunately, I was wearing jeans. They weren't gonna dry very soon and with the weight of the water, they were nearly falling off!! Poor Dylan and Leon had to get loaded right back up and make the 45 minute drive back home instead of going on a nice afternoon hike!! They didn't understand what happened I am sure!!

Now that I can laugh about the incident, I wish I had thought to have Paul take some pictures of me in my soaking wet clothes!! It would have been funny!!

Finally Getting Better!!!

I think Miss Marley is finally on her way to getting better. She had the drain pulled out last night because I accidentally pulled it partially out when I was cleaning it. It's looking better today than it was even yesterday. That's probably partially due to the fact that she has had opportunity to do some grooming and clean things up a bit. She's not licking the wounds excessively but I let her do some cleaning last night and this morning.


The bruises are starting to fade and she has two wholes where the drain once was. She bled all over my sheets last night because I didn't expect that she would be bleeding still.

The incision that is still stitched has some bubbling areas. I am not sure what that's all about but I think it will be okay. I am sure the vet's office is getting tired of hearing from me all the time so I will just watch it for a few days.

She's acting much like nothing ever happened so I think she is feeling well. I think today may be the last day of pain meds if she keeps acting like she feels okay.

Go Thunder Paws!!!

My Flyball Club is headed south this weekend for a U-FLI tournament. Dylan and I will be staying home and taking care of Miss Marley.

I just joined this team a few months ago but I am glad I finally made the decision. It was a tough one but after a few months of practicing I am positive it was the right one. I am back to enjoying practices and no one yells at me (or at anyone else for that matter)! Plus no one throws anything at the dogs!! There's no one making snide comments about (or to) the other member's of the team!! Now I just wish I could get my friends to make the move too but I know that's never gonna happen!!

I really hope TP does great this weekend but most of all, I hope they have lots of fun! I wish so much that I could go with them but I am glad that I am not committed to going since Marley has been in such bad shape!!

Go Thunder Paws!!!!!

The drain on day #2

Two days in and this drain is looking pretty disgusting. Her fur is all crusty and gross and I have yet to find a good way to clean it. I thought I had some waterless pet shampoo but I can't find it in my messy house. A warm wash cloth is not helping much. Two more days and Marley will be able to do some cleaning herself. At least that will get us by until she can have a real bath.

I'm concerned about the new bruises. The vet's office said just to put warm compresses on the area a couple times a day. When I do this, the drain drips more frequently so I guess it should be working. I keep cleaning her skin but some of it is looking a bit irritated.

The good news is you can barely see the scar from the original surgery in the picture. It's looking so good! One down and three more to go! I can't believe that incision is only 12 days old.

I wonder how long it will be until her hair grows back. She's had her belly shaved twice in the past 2 weeks and also one of her legs has a ring where it's been shaved twice for the IV. It looks a bit funny for sure!!

I'm still just so grateful that my baby girl has lived through all of this. She's been a pretty good sport and is getting very used to showing people her belly on demand. She already knew this as a trick but she often rolled all the way over instead of stopping on her back. Now she is stopping on her back every time because I keep making her do it 10 times a day.

BOB DYLAN

OMG Bob Dylan is coming to SLC again! I promised myself that I wouldn't go to any shows this summer but now I am hating life!! I love, love, love him!! I saw him 5 or 6 years ago at Deer Valley and that was the first time I hung out with my very best friend. Then I saw him at Usana a few years ago as well (and we had 2nd row seats!)......

I really hate that there are all these good shows coming to Utah this summer and I can't afford anything. I don't understand how other people can afford to do all this stuff and I have spent the last year stressing and worrying over nearly every penny.

It makes me cry when I can't afford to do anything yet everyone I know is going out to do everything. No flyball tournaments for me and after this whole Marley mess I probably won't be able to go to NY for xmas either. And no going out to eat, or movies, or just out with friends. Or buying new clothes, or cars, or new cool dog stuff. Life seriously sucks (and it sucked before I dumped all my savings into Marley).

I kind of wish I could go back to where I didn't care about saving money. I have been trying so hard to save money but every time I do, I end up needing it because my car broke down or Dylan tore his knee open or Marley gets attacked by a dog. So what's the point? I know it's a bad plan never to save any money but it seems like every time i save it i have to spend it anyway.

So anyway, now I am sitting at my desk and crying because I feel like I can't afford to do anything. I won't be seeing Rat Dog, or Steve Miller Band, or Bob Dylan this summer. Just be trying to save my money so I can have a savings account.

Shouldn't Bob Dylan give me free tickets because I named my dog after him???

More about Marley.

The dripping is getting better. She's still dripping fluids but not at the frequency she was on Sunday evening. She's learned to drink and eat with the cone on and is hanging out on her dog bed in the x pen. I did have her out and about in the house most the night last night and over at Paul's house as well.

She seems to not really care that she has this drain hanging out of her belly. She was trying to run after Dylan in the yard. We went out and walked last night and she was ecstatic to get out of the house. I learned though that it's too much to take her and Dylan out together right now if there are going to be other dogs off leash. So we will be doing separate walks or just walking the neighborhood until the stitches come out.

She does have some new bruising next to her new incision. It's swollen and yucky and I hope it doesn't get any worse because I don't want to have to go into the vet earlier than planned. We will see what it looks like tonight though. I'm glad this vet's office is open later!!!

I can't wait to give her a bath. Her fur around the belly is crusty and gross from all the draining. It won't wash out with a washcloth. I think I have some of that waterless pet shampoo though so maybe I will try that tonight.

Too Sleepy

I'm falling asleep at my desk at work. I think it's a combination of me being up half the night and sugar deprivation. I've really been trying cut back on the amount of soda I drink. My work has it for free here and I have become an addict over the past few years. It's so bad for me and I know it and so I am trying to cut back and only drink water when I am here at work.

Plus I didn't sleep well. I had some caffeine later in the evening last night and then I was up all night stressed about Marley and this whole mess. I'm bored with the work I am doing today and the combination of all of it is making me sleepy.

I went and got a mt dew thinking it would wake me up but I can't drink it. I keep trying to talk myself into it but I need to remember how bad it is!!!

Sad Girl in a cone!

This poor girl is starting to wake up. She's been so groggy since I picked her up but finally perked up a bit late tonight. She's confined to an X-Pen for the most part because of the dripping. I made a comfy bed in there for her with her regular dog bed, covered with some blankets so I can clean them when all is said and done!

She's been laying on this dog bed all night and barely moved. She looks so sad and pathetic. The doc says she has to wear the E collar 24 hours a day for the next 4 days until the drain comes out. It's too risky that she could rip it right out since it's easy to grab on to. She can't walk very well with the cone on because it keeps dragging on the ground. I feel bad for her since she's constantly banging into things and dragging her cone along everywhere.

I think it would be a lot worse for Dylan. He's my cuddle buddy and always sleeps on the bed. Marley generally chooses to sleep on her dog bed or on the couch so at least she's not being forced to stay off the bed. I'll miss her coming up for morning cuddles but maybe I can put some towels down and bring her up there with me early in the morning.

The Drain!

Marley is home and she has a drain in her belly. It's pretty gross and dripping bloody fluid constantly. Because of the location, there isn't a way to bandage it. The vet says it's best with no bandage anyway but sometimes they allow people to put a loose bandage on them if they change it a couple times a day. Marley's won't be bandaged at all but I have her contained to an x pen in the front room for now. She'll likely stay there most the time for the first few days since they are likely to be the worst.

She gets the drain out Thursday and then she will get the stitches out later.

They didn't find a fifth hole which is good. They also cut my bill down quite a bit from the original amount. This vet's office has really been great to work with that way! Plus the vet has been absolutely wonderful! We still have at least 2-3 more visits before this is all over and done with but hopefully I have paid the final bill for this whole thing.

The good news is, the vet said she can start going on easy walks on leash. I'm really excited to take her out tomorrow. She's been going a bit stir crazy being cooped up in the house all week.

A second surgery!

Marley is in surgery again! The vet said the seroma got so bad that she really thinks a drain was necessary. Since they had to put her under anesthesia they thought it best to go in and check her body wall for a fifth hole.

So she will come home with a drain and hopefully the mystery of the fifth hole will be solved. Hopefully she won't require an overnight stay and I can pick her up in a few hours! In the mean time, I get to hang with Dylan. He's looking pretty relaxed.

Muddy Boy!

We took Dylan and Leon out walking today. Dylan ran into the trees and came out looking like this!! This isn't normal mud. It's completely BLACK! It looked more like TAR than mud!

This pic is from my crappy camera phone. I am surprised it turned out as well as it did.

Is it ever gonna end?

Marley's had a pocket of fluid trapped on her belly the last week as she's been healing from all this. The seroma is getting worse. The fluid is spread over a bigger area and there seems to be more of it.

I called in to the vet today. She's been so wonderful to take my phone calls and put in so much time with Marley and I. She said she would like to treat the seroma before she goes out of town. Plus do another check for the potential fifth hold in her body wall. So back to the vet we get to go. They don't want to put a drain in for the seroma though. It requires anesthesia and another incision. So instead, they will use a K laser. I don't have a clue what that means but I guess I will find out tomorrow. I didn't want to take up so much of her time on the phone asking a zillion questions.

I'm so glad this vet's office is open on weekends. The office visit is usually more expensive on Sunday but she said she would do free follow ups with no office visit charge. I still have to pay for any treatment though. She's been so wonderful that I got her a thank you card from Miss Marley to take in with us tomorrow.

This event feels like it is going on forever. I really hope that Marley can get healed up one of these days so we can go out walking and play again. Until then, we will just have lots of cuddle time.

I'm very thankful that she lived through this whole mess. It never really sunk in at the time, how serious all this was. She could have died or had much more serious complications. Can you imagine what it would have been like if 4 holes turned into 4 hernias? Or if the punctures had gone through and hit her organs? I can't imagine life without my baby girl and am so glad that the injuries she had were ones that were easier to repair.

Another Marley Update

We went in for another follow up last night. The vet we have been working with has been so wonderful and given me a lot of time and energy. I really have been so happy that I made the decision to go to willow creek on the night this all happened.

She said Marley's incision looks great! It's looking better than she expected. The sagging from the fluid is a bit better than it was Monday as well. She did feel what she believed to be a hole in her body wall. She thought it was likely a different one than the holes they fixed last week. After feeling around, she had some vet techs feel as well. They did an x ray that looked good so she got a second opinion from another vet. All in all, they aren't really sure what's going on in there. But the consensus is that there's not enough evidence to warrant a second surgery at this time. They are hoping it's just fluid that will be absorbed into her body as she heals. If things get worse and not better I will need to take her back in for another check.

I am supposed to keep her down at least another week or two. No walks or running or jumping. Poor girl wants to play but she doesn't understand I can't play with her now. I'm just hoping she will heal up fast. I wonder if it is okay, at this point, to do some free shaping or something to work her brain a bit since we can't work her body.

More bruising for Marley

Marley girl has even more bruising. It's spreading all down the one side. I'm anxious to go into the vet this evening and see what they say.

The good news is, her flank is sagging less than it was before. That probably means some of the fluid has been absorbed into her body. Hopefully that means there won't be a need for a drain.

Marley also hasn't been pottying like she normally does. I have been having a hard time getting her to go out and go potty. Usually I send her out with Dylan and leave them out there for a few minutes. I've been letting her out alone since the surgery so she is not inclined to play with Dylan or fight at the fence with the new neighbor dog. Instead of going out to go potty she just stands on the porch waiting to be let in. If I go out there with her, she stands there looking at me.

I think she may not be drinking enough water. I will talk to the vet tonight but I may start her on some pedialite and low sodium chicken broth to make sure she is staying hydrated. I am also going to ask the vet to express her anal glands since she keeps rubbing her little bum on the carpet.

Taking a break from AAT.

We haven't been to our regularly scheduled Animal Assisted Therapy visit for over a month now. I missed the last visit because it was the day after Puck died. We were scheduled to go again today but Marley is not in any condition to be working right now. I finally got in touch with the Activities director at the place that we visit. We are planning on taking at least the next month off.

Marley needs to have ample time to heal. I also want to make sure she wasn't so traumatized by this whole thing that she will react so negatively towards other dogs if we meet them there. She went to flyball practice with me on Sunday and seemed a bit grumpy. I never really want her to interact with other dogs when on the job but it seems we always run into them. I may have to make it more clear that I need to know if other dogs are in the building before we go in to visit.

Marley is generally pretty vocal when she first meets new dogs. I figure it's her way of telling them that she has pain in her back and hips and so she's not able to roughhouse with them. Other than that, she does really well with other dogs. I really hope that will still be the case after she heals from all this!!

It's not over yet....

Last night I came home and checked Marley's incision. It looked so good and the bruising was almost completely gone!! I took her out to my parents house with me for dinner. She kept trying to jump down off this ledge from their kitchen to family room. She's not supposed to be jumping so I did the best I could to get her to use the stairs.

When my sister asked to see her belly I turned her over and found a new bruise!! That's really concerning so I called and talked to the vet that did the surgery. She wanted to see her so I rushed her over before they closed. I'm so glad this vet's office is open late!

The vet said she has some build up of fluid and that's what causes the bruising. Not a big concern unless it gets worse. It could just reabsorb into her body but it could also get worse and need a drain. We will have to watch it and see what happens.

She also said she feels an indentation in Marley's abdomen. That's really scary! It's possible one of the punctures they repaired has broken open again. She's not sure but the only way to find out is to surgically open her up and look. So we have to go back Wednesday and she is gonna check her again. If it's still there or any bigger, she may have to have a second exploratory surgery :(.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed things get lots better before Wed! I really hate the idea of putting her through all that surgery and hospitalization again!! Plus I am out of money and really can't afford to go through a second surgery.

Dogs Bounce Back

I'm amazed after such a serious injury that Marley has bounced right back. She wants to run and play and acts like she is in no pain at all. The bruising is fading more and more every day and the incision looks like it is healing well. I am doing whatever I can to keep her from running and jumping up on things.

I think if people were in her situation they would still be in bed. Dog's somehow bounce right back to normal after major surgeries. It's like she doesn't realize she is hurt! I'm just so happy to see her act like her normal self. I think that's a good sign that she is healing really well!!

New Blue

So Dylan made his debut on his new Flyball Team yesterday! He did great but I am a bit concerned about his box turn after seeing the pics. I am not sure why his back end is so far out from the box. I'm going to request to get him on the box alone for a bit at practice to see what he's doing up close. It's so hard when I am 100 ft away to see if his turn is holding up. It used to be really nice but this picture is making me wonder if it's falling apart!

Overall he did really well. He wore a blue collar this time since his new team color is BLUE. I also wore a borrowed team shirt since I haven't had a chance to order one just yet.

Miss Marley got to stay over at Paul's to get puppy sat. He took good care of her and she is recovering well. Her belly had a ton of reddish Purple areas when she came home on Friday. They are fading a lot and she is happy and energetic and wishing that she could play.