Just wanted to give a little update on Shelby Lynn <3
We are 6 days post op now, and so far we haven’t found anything from 7 days ago that she cant do. We struggle to keep her from jumping, her favorite spot is in our bed with us , so she takes it upon herself to climb on up through out the night while we sleep. We do try to limit her jumping so we know she wont injury herself, but she gets something in her head and there is nothing or nobody going to stop her.
I have noticed she is hesitant to eat the last day or so, I am not sure if that is due to pain or she is just tired from being so active and still learning. She used to eat 3/4 of her food as soon as you gave it to her then would pick at the remaining, now she seems uninterested and will pick little bits here and there and still have some the next day. She does take her meds, antibiotic and pain, twice daily, so I am hoping the pain med is strong enough for her. She does take two supplements (vet is ok with them) for immune system to help her fight her battle.
She is moving around good and doesn’t seem to be slowing down in that area. In fact, quite the opposite, we find ourselves guarding her more so she doesn’t fall because of how good she is going. Her surgical site is healing good, no inflammation or stitches are alarming.
We did order her some fancy new gear, both for her benefit and ours <3 She now has a raised food and water dish, the ruffwear webmaster plus (its put together but not on her yet), and a new ramp to help her get in and out of the vehicles. I am going to start today working with her on the ramp. I opted to go with one that had heavy rubber and ridges, over the sandpaper lined ones. Not sure one is better than the other, just a matter of what I think Shelby would be comfortable with and how comfy I feel with using it for her. Hopefully I can atleast get her walking on it flat and then the goal is to slowly raise it til she is comfortable walking up it with assistance.
Well, that’s all for now…. Hopefully Shelby gives me some good news with this ramp and I can let you guys know how she handled it.
Go Shelby! Just not too much this early on 😉.
Boone had some appetite ups and downs over the first couple of weeks too. And like Shelby, he was active so I think on those days he’d overdone it a bit.
It is incredible how quickly and how well they adapt to three legs. We have to use baby gates to keep Boone off the bed.
Sending lots of happy healing thoughts! Keep us posted on Shelby’s progress.
Jeanette & Boone
Thank you for sharing Boone had appetite ups and downs. I was starting to get a little worried. She usually doesn’t let food go, and the last few days, she just picks. She hasn’t totally stopped eating, but just isn’t herself either. I don’t see any signs of her being in pain, but then again I am not real sure what to look for either. She isn’t crying out or laying around, so this was a little bit of a shock to me.
We use a baby gate while we are at work, I am scared that she will get hurt while we aren’t home. If we separate her from us though she cries and I am a huge sucker for her and I swear she plays me for it, lol. I just don’t know how much activity to restrict and how much is ok. I know we are the parents, but I am not sure if I should let her tell me what she can and cant do, or when I should step in and put my “paw” down, lol.
I think I would “put my paw down” as far as activity is concerned. Just short leased potty breaks until the stitches come out. Shelby is likely to think she can do more than she ought to do if left to her own devices.
Oh wow…. talk about stopping me in my tracks! I also had a “Shelby Lynne” (however Lynne was with an E). I am just now reading your story.
I would agree – the raised bowls will really help her. The first couple of days are indeed tough but it will get better!
Hugs and so nice to meet you!
Alison with Spirit Shelby in her heart (and little Jasper too)
I am slowly catching up on everyones stories here and I have to say, reading your January blog gave me goosebumps. It was such a heart warming blog. I can feel in my heart how much your Shelby is loved <3 I have to say though, my Shelby is more like your new member, lol. We always say she barks at her own shadow, nothing and everything gets past her. She puts on a good show, but will do nothing more than lick ya to death when you get to her <3
It is so wonderful to meet such great people who understand atleast a small part of each other.
Thank you again and its nice to meet you as well!!
It sounds as if things are going pretty smoothly and at a normal pace. I just wanted to mention that when we were teaching Murphy to use his ramp, we put it next to the wall and then walked him at heel. That way he didn’t have a choice about where he was going to go. We also found that even though he was capable, Murphy never wanted to load up unless he was wearing his harness. Probably just his own particular eccentricity, but it might work for you if she doesn’t want to go up the ramp. We have a couple of videos on his YouTube channel, Murphy the Three Legged Dog.
Thank you very much for the suggestion!! I will def check out your furbaby’s you tube. At the moment the cats have taken a better liken to the ramp than Shelby, lol. We do have a harness for her already, but I am hesitant to put it on her until she gets the stitches removed next Friday, however, hearing how Murphy was, honestly it helps because I wont totally feel helpless now until I get to try it that way as well.
You are right about not trying the harness until the stitches are out. Murphy was a rear legger, and we didn’t know about Tripawds (or about harnesses) until after he had his hip replacement. Sure wish we had known about these before!