Overall Sophie is doing great - no fussing with the incisions, so no need for the elizabethan collar which is a relief since she hated it. We have not made her wear it since the first day. However, I am not sure what will happen when I can't be here to watch her tomorrow. Playing it by ear at this point.

She slept pretty much straight for about the first 24 hours. She peed, ate some chicken, drank water, took her pills, went outside very briefly on her leash. There has been an improvement every day, her appetite is almost normal and she is very interested in going outside, but starting on Saturday night, we noticed that something was making her pant and be anxious. We were concerned, called Dr. Tina, who said she could have up to 6 pain pills per day (she had prescribed 3 per day). So we gave her an extra pill. She didn't seem to need another one until after dinner yesterday, when she seemed to be in pain again, so we gave her one.

Then last night, we noticed the panting and anxiety again - and concluded that while the pain meds may take away the pain, they are giving her anxiety. She doesn't need more pills - she needs to be weaned off. In some ways the anxiety is worse than soreness, she gets really scared and does things that might cause her to hurt her incisions - jamming herself in tight spaces, won't lay down, etc. So I decided to try going without them. She had her last pain pill at about 2 am last night, and she was OK until about noon today.

At about 11, I fed her lunch, and then leashed her up and we went outside. She hadn't pooped yet. I guess that is nothing to be concerned about, it often takes 4-5 days after surgery for that to happen, and the pain meds are constipating, so that is another good reason to take her off of them. I mixed pumpkin in with her food at lunch to see if that would help, and it did. She went!

After we came inside, she was fairly restless all afternoon. I managed to get her to come in from the porch and lay on her futon by using a trail of cookie pieces, one at at time every few inches, to lead her to it. (Sam was so good, he did not take them.) That made her sleep for a while, and she even wrapped herself and covered her head, but after a while she got up, and was wandering around, anxious, going to the door, trying to go behind furniture, etc. So I fed her some cookie pieces and made the decision to give her a Tramadol, which she had at 3:30. She is now laying on the floor, sleeping, by a chair. I covered her. There is such a delicate balance between alleviating pain, and dealing with side effects.


Her incisions are huge, and with one on each side it can be a challenge for her to find a comfortable position. The one on her hindleg has a drain, which Dr. Tina will take out at her follow up on Friday. She walks mostly on three legs, although she can use it somewhat. When I first saw her on Friday, I got tears in my eyes. She is pitiful enough without having to go through surgery. Poor Sophalina Wegalicious Hotdog.


Sam and Teddy have been awesome. They both insist on staying in the same room as her - which means that I have to play door man since we have a baby gate in front of the stairs and Ted's catbox is downstairs in the utility room, plus Sam has to go to the yard through the kitchen. I'm working at Bob's convalescing space, on our laptop in the living room so I can be near her, but I am not used to the keyboard so may not be very productive. Will be very glad when she is more independent, I feel like I have been a nurse for the past two years!