April
2012
Two Weeks5
It amazes me that two weeks have gone by and life is almost back to normal. Bailey is using the doggie doors, chasing the mailman around the yard, barking at anything he hears or sees (sight and hearing is diminished – he is after all 17, specifically 17 years, 9 months). At least it is back to normal for him. I still have not left him alone, he has come to work with me (my office if full of dog lovers and Bailey supporters – he is the king of the mountain there), tennis lessons, anywhere I have to go if my husband is not home. I am still worried he will lick the wound area or hurt himself if I am not here to watch him. I have scheduled in alone time for Bailey late this week – baby steps. My vet says his can lick his wound but not chew – so far so good he has only tried to lick every now and then and his incision area seems almost healed. It amazes me how quick dogs heal over humans. Why hasn’t somebody studied that…or have they????
We also have a lot more rugs – the only shopping I do right now is for rugs or dog beds. The house is almost “tripawd proof” – no big areas of slippery tile and plenty of dog beds for the dog who always slept on the couch or bed. If you can believe this – I found a BeautyRest dog bed at the HomeGoods Store (Marshalls). It is nice and big and soft and sturdy. He looks so comfy on it. He still sleeps in bed with me but spends the rest of the day on the numerous dog beds around the house, he particularly likes the one by the front door which gives him a view of almost the whole house and the yard..
Our Sarabelle is having her r.front leg amputated in about 3 weeks. We wanted to save her leg via cyberknife radiation therapy and 6 carboplatin treatments. The cyberknife therapy appeared to work however,the OS has returned.
Your reports of Bailey’s progress has been helpful in determining what to expect and what we needed to do to make our home Tripawd friendly.
Will continue to follow Bailey’s progress – warmest wishes, Lavenia, Sarabelle, Tarabelle, and Mozart.
I wish you the best of luck and will be praying for a swift recovery for your Sarabelle. I am sorry you and your family and Sarabelle have to deal with this but it has not been as bad as I expected. Bailey gets tons of attention when we are out – I think he feels like a movie star. We still have tripping and falling down moments but he just gets back up – honestly I think it bothers me more than him. He definetly has slowed down some but I think he is just adjusting to three legs – his back leg just needs to build up more strength. If he was a younger dog I might look into physical therapy to help with his balance but considering his age I didn’t want to add even more changes to his life. My vet said short walks should be fine for him. Please keep me up to date on Sarabelle’s progress.
Wow, Bailey sounds like he’s got it made. What an inspiration…almost 18 yrs old! That’s so amazing.
Leslie
sounds like bailey has the world by its tail!! keep up the great work.
charon & spirit gayle
Bailey has a strong soul that keeps on looking forward to more important things rather than mope around because of a handicap. He’s the happy type of dog and at least that helps the both of you to be happy. Just keep on taking care of him and he’ll be sure to have a happy life no matter what happens.