[Dailydrool] Watson update

[Katie Strobel]

Hi everyone,
So Watson and I ventured to the vet yesterday for his two week check
up from his ligament repair/replacement surgery. As I have said
before, this specialist who did the surgery is about an hours drive
away from our house. Watson did fine in the car - he always does, and
we got to the vet early. He was so excited to get out of the car that
he didn't realize until we got inside that we were at the vet. He hid
behind me the whole time and tried to back out of the door when
someone else walked in. This appointment was to get the staples out
and check his progress so a nurse came out and tried to coax Watson
out from under the chair I was sitting in. He would only stick his
nose out between my legs and i finally had to drag him on his back out
from under the chair. She took him back and took the staples out and
checked his liver enzymes because the last time they were a bit high -
they're fine now. She brought him back out after they were done and
said that he had a cyst filled with fluid that is caused by too much
activity after surgery.

I had asked for sedatives three times before yesterday to keep Watson
calm because he is a puppy who thinks he's healed. He wants to run and
play and jump on everything. Every time I asked for sedatives they
said no or avoided giving me them. So then when I was being given a
guilt trip about "letting him play too much" I asked again and she
said no AGAIN! I responded by saying that if they weren't going to
help me keep this 1.5 year old puppy calm then they couldn't give me
the "you're a bad pet owner" speech. She said to ask my regular vet
for the sedatives but that they weren't going to do it - grrrrr. We
have been doing everything we're supposed to be doing, but when you
keep a 1 year old puppy locked up all day that energy builds up and he
jumps in the x-pen, rolls around while on his leash to get out of it,
lunges and jumps on the potty walks, and even got out of his leash
twice and ran from us for 15 minutes! We seriously did the best we
could but give me a break!

Anyway, we have to do a warm compress for 20 minutes 3 times a day and
the cyst will go away. We called the regular vet who said "do they
realize he's a puppy?!?" and immediately gave me a prescription for
sedatives. We gave Watson his first one at 8 last night and it was the
first night in two weeks that I actually slept through the night
without having to deal with a crying hound wanting to be let out. I
let him out again at 6:30 this morning and he was still droopy and
tired, but he perked up after breakfast. It was so nice to be able to
get ready for work without a howling hound in the background. It's not
like I enjoy sedating him....it just takes the edge off for him so
that he isn't just a crazy caged animal all day while we're at work,
and it relieves so much of the guilt and stress from us.

Anyway, the next adventure is underwater treadmill rehab which I have
to make an appointment for. First though I have to go on a rafting
trip in Moab, Utah this weekend so Watsons swimming adventure will
have to be next week sometime.

So, the saga continues....
We send drool and belly rubs to all sick hounds or those who have
recently ventured to the bridge and their families.
Katie and Watson (FINALLY relaxed!!!)