Ginger's Tripaw Journey

April 17th, a full 12 days after surgery and out came the staples.  Ginger of course handled it like a champ though seems the skin folded in on itself in a few places so now we are adding neosporin to a couple “raw but sealed” places as part of the medication regimen that she generally hates.  They also recommend keeping it covered via cone or shirt to keep her from licking.

Stitches out but still wearing a shirt, more becoming than a collar

Will consider it a positive recovery sign but Ginger is now in “I hate taking meds mode” and don’t know if it’s her nose or her being able to read my behavior but even if I bury it in the middle of pill pocket, hot dog, etc…. if I don’t bury it enough she will refuse to take it at all.   Seemed completely uninterested in peanut butter so I keep sticking to the meats.  But even if I am successful in burying a pill completely in treat/food technique she will take it, manage to eat the treat and spit the pill on the floor.  We’ve had more than one “hold head back and drop it down throat” session at this point.

We finished our pain med scripts Sunday morning.  At about 2 a.m. Monday I woke up and she was panting, a little whining and repeatedly licking her paw… based on research seemed like a reasonable assumption she was probably in some pain.  Fortunately my aunt has both tramadol and gabapentin in exact same dosage that she can’t take and gave to me, with vet approval to use them – so she is now on a PRN dose, which for now I’m just giving her before bedtime and watching closely.

So Ginger continues her recovery and showing us what a resilient dog she is, and I shift into another mode of research into joint supplements and exercises to start looking at adding to her routine.  Thanks as always to this site for a wealth of information as well as support – until next time.

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