Plateau

Wilbur seems to have hit a bit of a plateau. We had been taking him for longer walks, but after two long walks back to back Wilbur seemed to be more stiff. We've re-started some of his anti-inflammatory medications which has helped a bit. One big change is that we've started leaving Wilbur home unattended during the day. Before we were crating the dogs while we were out, but in order to decrease his stiffness we thought it would be better if Wilbur could walk around and stretch during the day. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive the first few times, as Wilbur's known to have a love of garbage and anything left on the counter. Today I was pleasantly greeted by an excited pup, who thankfully had destroyed only the beef knuckle I had given him in the morning.

POD# ????

So I've lost track of how long ago Wilbur's surgery, which must be a good thing. He went for his longest walk today - a full 12 blocks (round trip). He seemed to enjoy it immensely and his limp is improving. I'll try and get some pics tomorrow of his re-growth - as Quinn said tonight during our walk "it's good, he's starting to look less gross."

POD#13

Wilbur's on a fairly steady recovery. He's still got a pretty serious limp, but it doesn't really seem to slow him down. Today we walked from 112th ave to 109th ave and back, which is the longest walk he's been on since his surgery. Since his trajectory seems good at the moment, I may not blog as frequently. Given my superstitions though, and the fact that he had to go for surgery after I closed the blog last time I will be leaving it open - maybe indefinitely! Feel free to check in from time, and I will add pics and stories a couple times a week.

POD#12

Last night when I got home from Winnipeg we took Wilbur's staples out. He was awesome and didn't even flinch. It probably helped that Quinn had a hand full of food to distract him. He's so desperate to go for walks that he almost loses his mind when we touch his leash. Given the chilly, wet weather we've been having I suited up appropriately. I'm not sure why it looks like my hood is wet - that's weird, and from the look Wilbur's giving me I think he concurs.

POD#9

Wilbur was apparently a little loafier today than usual. We've been taking him for slightly longer walks to try and remedy his boredom, but maybe they made him tired . . . It's hard to know! Life with Wilbur would be far more interesting if he could just tell us what's going on. I'm in my way to Winnipeg, so no posts from me over the weekend. For those of you interested in the graphic pics, make sure to check in on Sunday because I will be removing his staples and will post some photos on the blog, Have a great weekend!

POD#7

Wilbur's doing even better today . . . he's clearly got his spunk back AKA is frantic about any type of small mammals. Quinn took his bandage off, but he's snoozing now so I can't get a good pic of his staples. Yesterday Quinn opened a birthday package care of his dad - cookbooks and a salt pig and apparently Wilbur's just as taken with ceramic mammals as he is with the live ones.

POD #6

Wilbur had a lot of resting in his crate today, as will be the case on Tuesdays for the foreseeable future.

Tuesdays Quinn's out of the house from 0830-2130 (school + work), and I happened to be at a meeting at a First Nation about 200 KMs from Edmonton. When I got home, Wilbur was ready to go, so I took him out for a few short walks. I figured it would be fun to try and document said excursions. It turns out taking selfies are way more complicated with a dog who's set his sights on a neighbourhood cat, hence the WAY too close up!

POD#5 - turning a corner

Wilbur seems to be doing a lot better. He seems more full of energy and generally a little happier. We've been trying to take him out for a few short walks a day (one block or less) to get some movement over his shoulder joint and to get his brain stimulated with the outside smells. He gets SO excited for his walks and stays excited for a few minutes when we get home. These pics are of him post walk - tongue-lolling, head on bed with beautiful, big, brown begging eyes and finally a few of his peek-a-boo staples. The staples come out on POD#14.

POD#4

Wilbur's pretty much the same as yesterday. We went out again - this time to Safeway. Apparently the fringes of the Safeway parking lot are a treasure trove of disgusting bits of trash which are heavenly to Wilbur. He really enjoyed exploring the parking lot. Now he's busy resting. We will post again tomorrow.

POD#3

Wilbur and I ran a few errands today. He looks ridiculously cute with his cone head smooshed between the seats. I'm still not sure how he got from the 'way back' into the back seat. It must have been pretty entertaining for the random passersby who happened upon the scene.

Here's a video of him in the yard, so you can see that he's managing fairly well.

POD #2

POD is "post op day" shorthand.
Wilbur's a little more sore than he was yesterday but still getting around. We're all going to have a quiet night. Here are a few pics from around the yard at dinner time.

Wibur had a good night

As far as I can tell, Wilbur slept pretty well. I guess big doses of narcotic have their benefits. He wasn't restless, and only needed to reposition himself a few times. I can't imagine how uncomfortable it must be to have to sleep with a plastic cone on your head - poor guy. I'm off to work, but Quinn or I will post later with more pics.

Homecoming #3 . . . continued curse of the cone

Wilbur's home again. He's back to limping from loafing spot to loafing spot. Although he's clearly in more pain today than he was yesterday, he still looks way better than that very first time we brought him home.

He's now on Keflex (antibiotics) 1g twice a day, tramadol (narcotic) twice a day, and meticam (meloxicam - anti-inflammatory) once a day. He had been off meds completely.

He's able to get down the stairs by himself, but he's back to moving more slowly in general.
When we took him into the yard after dinner he took the longest pee I've ever seen a dog take. It was reminiscent of the Austin Powers scene only longer. I'm guessing they took his catheter out but left the IV in . . . his fluid balance was a little off.

So we're back to daily progress posts, feel free to check back.

Blog back on - broken shoulder

Well crappy news. . . Quinn took Wilbur to the ortho yesterday to check out his R shoulder since he still hadn't been using it very much. It turns out he has an articular scapular fracture and superscapular nerve damage. They took him to the OR yesterday afternoon and were in there for several hours. Because the leg's been healing for four weeks, everything was pretty well stuck down and it was a pretty tough surgery. They put in one pin, but they're not sure in the long run whether that will make a difference. He will definitely end up with some pretty bad arthritis in that leg.

He's still in the hospital, and he did well with the surgery. They think we'll be able to pick him up tonight.

We will try to post pics later.