Almost 4 Weeks Out!

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks since Henrietta's TPLO surgery. She is recovering well from her incision reaction from the end of last week. The opening at the top of her incision has closed up and scabbed over, and the redness and swelling are nearly gone. She is walking well now, almost like nothing ever happened! Corey and I are simultaneously thrilled and relieved that Henrietta is going to come through this with much more function in her right leg than she did when she had surgery on her left knee. We are still trying to use her leg brace to stabilize the left knee, but I think the top of the brace might be too big, and it's allowing her knee to slide by not being able to hold the top of her thigh like it should. We'll be contacting the company that made it to find out if there are adjustments that we could make to the brace, or if we need to send it in to be reshaped.

In other news, we received a donation from the wonderful, awesome, fantastic Jay. A great big THANK YOU goes out to you! We have placed your name on the "Henrietta's Heartfelt Helpers" Donor wall, which you can see here:

This brings out total amount of donations received to: $708.80, and $10.00 proceeds from my Etsy shop! Henrietta's medical bills so far add up to: $5458.56. Our gratitude goes out to everyone who has donated, shared our story, and send loving notes and thoughts.

We still have a long way to go, and we need your help! If you are able to, please consider donating. Even a single dollar helps! Use our Paypal button below:

Or consider purchasing an item from my Etsy shop. I am adding new products as fast as I can, and I also take requests! The latest item added, The Squeaky Bone Chew Toy, has been personally tested by Henrietta (pictured above), and she found it to be fun and durable! All of the proceeds from my sales go directly to Henrietta's medical bills. 

Rush To The E.R.!

On Friday night, we had to drive Henrietta back to the surgery center in Sugarland for an emergency examination. Her incision had started to swell at the top of her knee throughout the day on Friday, and by late afternoon it had split open and was oozing.

Her surgeon wasn't there, but the on-call vet was able to call her, and sent her some pictures of the wound. She said it looked like Henrietta's skin was reacting to the sutures rather than an infection. They cleaned and disinfected the wound, and gave us some antibiotics to give her. Luckily, we were able to put the money we had on credit (left over from the surgery) towards the bill, and there was only about $20 left over for us to pay. But now we'll have to pay in full for her x-rays in a few weeks.

Yesterday her incision stopped oozing, and the swelling had gone done. Today it looks even better, with almost no swelling, and the incision has dried up and scabbed over. Henrietta is doing well on her antibiotics, and we've been medicating her for pain as well. She seems back to normal today, and has been helping me test out some pet toys I've been making for my etsy shop.

3 Weeks Post-Op

It's been 3 weeks since Henrietta's TPLO surgery! She is healing up nicely. Her incision is clean and dry, and the swelling around her knee is almost completely gone. The redness of her skin is also greatly improved. Over the next few weeks, the stitches will start to dissolve and disappear. Hopefully it won't be too itchy for her. The fur on her leg and backside is getting longer, too.

She's been relaxing in her pen, and enjoying all these extra walks. And she's walking really well now, almost like nothing even happened! We haven't had to use her Gingerlead harness at all in the last week or so.

Henrietta's left knee still crunches and pops when she walks, which I find totally unnerving. We've been working on wearing her leg brace, but Henrietta is not convinced of it's usefulness quite yet. She won't be still long enough for me to get a picture of her wearing it yet.

We are getting back to our regular schedule now. Everyone is starting to relax. Except for Edelweiss, who has been pretty chill about the whole thing.

Bee Movie Horror Flick!

Here's the video of the honeybees invading our house! Luckily, there have been no more problems with bees after we sealed around the house.



We will eventually have to open up the wall to remove the honeycomb that I suspect is still inside, but that probably won't happen for a while.

Optimus Henrietta

Henrietta's custom made leg brace arrived on Thursday, and we have been very slowly introducing it to her. I started on Thursday evening by placing it on her leg, and just tightening the straps before taking it off again. Then yesterday, I placed it on her leg and let her take a few steps in it while in our living room. She did not like it one bit! She kept her left leg very stiff and only took a few steps before sitting down. Tonight we will be trying to take a few steps with the brace again. I'm also still trying to find the correct, perfect fit. There's a learning curve for everyone. But I'm sure we'll all get used to it, and before we know it, Henrietta will be running around and making sounds like this:

And our yard will be full of tire tracks, and the neighbors will start complaining about all the lasers, explosions, and flying machine parts. I'll have to convince them that having Autodogs living here is better than being overrun by Decepticats.

Nerd Jokes!

2 Weeks Post-Op

Today marks 2 weeks since Henrietta's TPLO surgery. We also went to Sugarland today for her first check-up. She was excited about going for a ride in the car, cone collar and all.

Her surgeon said that Henrietta is doing great! She said that Henrietta is using her leg as well as they expect to see in a dog after 4 weeks of healing. And she gave us a list of new rehab exercises, which includes making her sit squarely while keeping her knees in instead of sitting on her hipbones and splaying her legs out. We will also be going on longer walks, and continuing to lower Henrietta's weight through dieting to reduce the stress on her knees. Henrietta's incision has closed up and will be completely healed in 3 to 4 more weeks. This means that as long as she isn't excessively licking her leg, she will only have to wear her cone collar at night. Henrietta is going to enjoy that tremendously as she only barely tolerates wearing it.

And her custom made leg brace will be delivered tomorrow! We are very excited that we were able to buy this much-needed equipment thanks to all of the donations we have received thus far. A great big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who has donated, shared our story, and send loving thoughts. We wouldn't have made it this far without you! We are deeply grateful to you all!

Our struggle to pay Henrietta's medical bills is still on-going. If you are able to donate anything to help, it would be greatly appreciated. Even a single dollar helps! Please use our PayPal Donation Button below:

And if you are in the market for a handmade hat, scarf, or other yarn item, please keep my Etsy shop in mind. I have a few finished items for sale, with more to come, and I also take custom item requests! All the proceeds from my shop goes towards Henrietta's medical bills.

Doggie Withdrawal - Day 2

Henrietta is not as grumpy today, and her nausea seems to have calmed down. She is drinking plenty of water, and readily accepts treats and eats them quickly, which is Henrietta's M.O. However, she spent 2 hours cleaning her face and licking her paws this morning, which is not a thing she usually does, so I think she is still coming off of those drugs. I had to put her cone collar back on so she would stop. She still gets excited each time we take her out for her walks, but she doesn't want to walk as far as she had been going a few days ago.

In the mean time, I have been as busy as a bee (heh) making things to sell in my Etsy shop to help raise money for Henrietta's medical bills. Check them out:



And as a special treat for those of you still reading this blog, I've made a 10% OFF coupon code for my store on purchases of $25 or more! Just enter the phrase BLOG10 when checking out (expires April 30th). Keep an eye on my shop for new items to come, and feel free to request an item!

Doggie Withdrawal

Henrietta is coming off of her opiate-based pain medication, and is VERY grumpy today. She doesn't want to be touched at all, so I haven't been able to do any of her rehab exercises. I think she must be feeling nauseous too, because she took a long time to eat the treats from her Kong toy. She even stopped and rested a few times, which is totally out of character for her. I finally just had to take it away from her. She still walks well outside, but had to be coaxed out of her pen for her 3 o'clock walk this afternoon. Mostly, she just wants to be left alone, and I don't blame her. I just hope she's in a better mood by her Wednesday follow-up appointment with the surgeon. Otherwise, they are going to have a heck of a time trying to take her staples out.

Edelweiss, on the other hand, seems to think she is on some kind of vacation...

No Bees Allowed

The bees didn't show up at all today. I'm totally relieved! Our bee nightmare is over as quickly as it began! And since there are no more bees to worry about, Henrietta and I were able to resume our walks around the house. She has more and more energy every day. She is walking further and longer each day, but she is getting less and less patient about her rehab exercises. I do as much as she will let me, but she resisting by tensing up her muscles and making it more difficult to stretch her leg. She willingly stretches and fully extends her leg back on her own now, but she's not quite able to extend up and scratch her ear yet. After Henrietta's last surgery, it was almost 3 months before she could stretch her left leg high enough to scratch her ear, and she certainly wasn't walking around after only a couple of days.

Tomorrow Henrietta will be going through withdrawal as her opiate-based pain medication has run out. I'm expecting her to be grumpier for a few days. I also wouldn't be surprised if she started limping more on her left leg as she starts to really feel the effects of her surgery. The silver lining to this cloud is that we won't be medicating her every 4 hours. She will be getting her pills at breakfast and dinner like normal. I think everyone will be happy about that. We've gone through 2 packages of sliced cheese already, wrapping the pills we can't hide in her food, and to be honest, the cheese doesn't seem to be agreeing with Henrietta...

In conclusion, dog farts are the worst.

What All The Buzz Is About

I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yesterday it finally did, but it was not what I was expecting at all.

When Corey and I bought this house 2 years ago, there was a massive bee hive inside of one of the exterior walls of the living room. It's the reason we named this house Honeyhome (a shortening of The Honeycomb Home). We had to have the bees killed, though, which was sad. And we thought they had removed the honeycomb, but later we found out that they had opened the wrong wall void, and that the majority of the honeycomb remained intact inside the wall. In the summer time, when that wall receives the full heat of the sun, that corner of our living room smells strongly of honey.

Yesterday afternoon, to our horror, the bees came back. The same wall had filled up with honeybees. Lots and lots of honeybees. We immediately called the only other exterminator in town, hoping he might do a better job than the first guys. He agreed to come out last night, saying he likes to tackle bees after dark when they are less active. When he got here, he was totally prepared with an entire bee keeper's suit and hat, and a big bottle of bug chemicals. But there were no bees!

So it turns out that the bees hadn't actually moved in yet! They had all gone home to their original hive at the end of the day. The exterminator said that the bees had most likely been scouting for locations to move their hive to, and our house was apparently at the top of the list. One bee had found the wall void, and brought more and more bees back to check the place out. When the first exterminator 2 years ago "sealed the wall" all he actually did was shove a small piece of pipe insulation under the siding without making sure if it even fit, and called it a day. The wall void was still wide open for any bees to come in, and come in they did. So our new exterminator sprayed bug killer into the wall void, and told us to seal up every crack so the bees couldn't get back in. Corey went around our entire house with a flashlight, a mirror, and a can of spray foam, and sealed up every hole under the siding he could find. Then he nailed a big board across the bottom of the open wall void and sealed completely around it.

This morning, I put my ear to the wall to see if I could hear the bees. Silence truly is golden! But while the bees can't actually get inside the wall now, this hasn't stopped them from coming to the house. I can hear them buzzing in our a/c unit while I'm typing this. Hopefully a big swarm won't show up later today! Corey took some video to show the exterminator, so we will be uploading that later today or tomorrow for everyone to see.

They say, "When it rains, it pours." I never thought bees would be pouring into the wall like that, though. Life is such a crazy, unpredictable thing! All I can do is laugh!

We're Bustin' Outta Jail!

Good morning, everyone! Everything is going well with Henrietta this morning. We've settled into a daily routine, which is very calming for dogs. Henrietta is waking up refreshed and full of energy in the mornings, though she's still pretty worn out by evening time. Since it has been a week since the surgery, and Henrietta is very stable on her feet now, I feel comfortable with letting her be loose in our living room for a short period of time. She has been very bored after being cooped up in her pen. Especially with the cone collar on, since it makes it hard for her to chew on toys. The temperature dropped overnight, so the first thing Henrietta did was to park herself directly in front of our space heater. I brought over her pig toy, which she chewed on for a few minutes. Then she brought over the other two toys and chewed each one in rotation for a few more minutes. Right now she is laying at my feet and looking out of the front windows, which is her favorite pastime. 

In 6 days, Henrietta will have her first follow-up appointment with the surgeon. We'll have to drive her back up to Sugarland. Luckily, she seemed to really like the vet that was taking care of her, so I hope she won't be too scared to go back in. We've been really lucky that she absolutely adores her vet in town, too. I think it must be his mustache. Everyone loves a well groomed mustache!

The Shop Is Open!

My Etsy shop is officially open for business! I only have a few items for sale today, but I am working hard every day to make new and better items, so please check back often! You can see my shop and view the items I have for sale here: 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/HoneyhomeYarnworks

All the proceeds go towards Henrietta's medical bills, so I hope you will keep my shop in mind when looking for a gift for someone special or for yourself!

1 Week Post-Op

Good morning, everyone! Today marks a whole week since Henrietta's TPLO surgery! She is doing great, and well on her way to being a happy, healthy, active dog again. She's sitting around with her goofy smile again, cone collar and all. She makes me laugh!

Henrietta's incision looks really good. I almost wouldn't believe she went through a major surgery just 7 days ago if I only had these picture to go on. The fluid around her ankle has nearly drained completely away now, but she still has some swelling on the top of her right foot. We talked to the surgeon, and sent her some pictures. She said that she is ok with some swelling there. We told her we were icing it, and she said we could also use a warm compress and a light 3 minute massage to break up the swelling. Other than that, Henrietta is walking well with her sling, has a good appetite, and is doing really great with her rehab exercises. She is wagging her tail in her sleep again, too!

Henrietta's custom leg brace is being constructed today, too! Hopefully it will be here some time next week. It will make a world of difference for Henrietta's mobility, and hopefully preserve her left knee. I'm kind of scared to see the bill, though. I'm hoping that we have raised enough donations to pay for the brace.

We ask that if you are able to spare a few dollars to help us pay down Henrietta's medical bills, that you click our Paypal Donation Button:

Medical bills for pets are a lot different that medical bills for people. Everything must be fully paid BEFORE services are rendered. We had to apply for a special credit card, and while it has 0% interest for the next 6 months, if we cannot pay it off within the interest-free period, the interest will jump to 24.99%. We have paid for the TPLO surgery with this card, and the balance right now sits at $4,500.00. Everything else that Henrietta needs is paid for out-of-pocket by us. Between Corey's heart problems and the kidney stone operation he needed last fall, and our fixer-upper house, we are stretched beyond our limit right now. We are asking for help. Anything you can spare for us is greatly appreciated. Even a single dollar helps.

The Story Of How We Found Henrietta

The title of "Rescued Dog" could not be more appropriate when describing how Henrietta came to be our pet. It all started...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR
WARS

Corey and I were married in 

the spring of 2005, and in the autumn 

of that year we moved to Bay City so that 

Corey could be closer to work. Just like countless 

young adults before us, we found it hard adjusting to being 

so far away from our families and familiar home town. We didn't 

know anyone in our new town, Corey was still a fairly new face at his job, 

and we had to learn where everything was. We took up some hobbies to pass the 

time. I started to crochet gifts for the family members I missed so much, and Corey got 

into a GPS game called Geocaching. It was nice to get out into nature and search for hidden "treasure," so I often went with him on his Geocaching excursions. We had a lot of fun.

On April 1st, 2006, Corey picked a new set of co-ordinates for us to hunt down, and we set off on our new treasure hunting adventure. We had a hard time finding the secluded park. It was unmarked on any maps, and behind a sprawling neighborhood. We drove around for an hour before we finally stumbled on it. By then, we were hungry and wanted to get out of the car. We had packed a picnic lunch, so we set up our sandwiches and thermos of water on one of the picnic tables in the park.

I had just taken the first bite of my sandwich when, out of nowhere, this huge puppy jumped up onto the bench, walked straight across Corey's lap, and plopped herself right down into my lap like she belonged there. I was totally shocked! The puppy looked up at me with the biggest, roundest, most hope-filled eyes I've ever seen, and wagged her tail with joy at having found somebody to cuddle with. My heart melted! She didn't have a collar on, and I could see she was a little dirty and a bit thin, so I offered her half of my sandwich, which she SWALLOWED WHOLE! I was totally shocked for the second time in 2 minutes! I immediately gave her the rest of my sandwich, and made Corey surrender his as well. Corey poured some of our water into the thermos cap, and the puppy drained it within seconds. So he refilled it, and she drained it again. He repeated this until our 1L thermos was empty. This puppy has just eaten our entire picnic!

I tried to convince Corey that we should take the dog home and try to find her owners. He wasn't excited about the idea, firstly because we were living in a rented house, and secondly because we had no room in our car. We decided to call the county animal control office and report her as a stray dog. We then went looking for the Geocache with this big goofy puppy tagging along after us down the trail. After finding and then re-hiding the cache, it was time for us to leave. I tried again to convince Corey to bring her home with us but he refused, saying it wouldn't be safe to have a strange dog in our cramped car driving nearly an hour back home. The puppy watched us with big, sad eyes from underneath the picnic table as we drove away.

We called animal control on the way home, and asked that they call us if they were able to pick her up. They called us back after a few hours, but it was to ask for directions to the park! We weren't the only ones who had a hard time finding it. I received another call 2 days later, saying that they had found her and taken her to the county animal control kennel. I asked if there was a way for them to find her owners, and I was told that they only hold the dog for 7 days. If no one calls in to claim an animal after 7 days, the animal is euthanized. I was floored! Had we just handed this dog a potential death sentence?  As soon as I hung up, I called Corey at work and cried into the phone for 5 minutes. I finally managed to blubber out the situation, and he immediately agreed that we couldn't leave her there. I called the animal control office back and set up an appointment to pick her up the first day Corey was off from work. They required documentation of taking her to a veterinarian within 7 days, so I set up a vet appointment for the same afternoon. 3 days passed, and we finally were able to go and pick the dog up. Like some kind of plot twist, we realized that the kennel facility was located right next to the county prison.

The puppy had contracted kennel cough during her time at the county kennels, but we got her fixed right up at the vet. He told us that she looked like a German Shepherd/Lab mix, was about 5 months old, and had possibly been spayed already (which turned out to be true). She didn't have a microchip, though. But somebody had cared for this dog, so they must be out looking for her. We plastered the park and surrounding neighborhood with "Found Dog" flyers, and we even called the SPCA so they would know where she was if anyone called looking for her. We thought for sure that a pretty dog like her would be missed and looked for, but no one ever called. The weeks dragged into months. Finally, Corey and I had to admit that no one was going to come looking for this pup. By that time, however, she had settled in our hearts. We decided that she was our dog, and she deserved the best life that we could give her.

We named her Henrietta, and she's been with us ever since, through thick and thin, ever a loyal friend, and an important member of our family. We love you, Henrietta!

Henrietta's First Day Home - 5 Months Old

Henrietta - 10 Months Old

Henrietta - 1 Year, 5 Months Old

Henrietta meets Edelweiss

We're Slinging Our Dog Around 2: Electric Boogaloo

Here's the video of Corey and Henrietta trying out the new Gingerlead sling:



It's pretty awesome. The lining is super soft corduroy, so it won't hurt Henrietta's tummy. It definitely helps take the weight off of her knees, but it makes her take smaller steps because it blocks her thighs from moving all the way forward. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but Henrietta seems to like it.

We're Slinging Our Dog Around

Today we received our Gingerlead sling (you can watch a video of Henrietta walking with it in our next post), and just in the nick of time, too! Henrietta has been walking around at every opportunity, putting weight on her right leg, and her right foot above the toes has started to swell up. I'm hoping that by reducing the amount of weight she's putting on it, the swelling will go down. We've been icing it after walking her, too. The fluid that was collecting around her ankle seems to be lessening, so that is nice to see. And the swelling around her knee has reduced a lot. Her incision looks like it is healing very nicely.

We also received a donation from the awesome, wonderful, charming Ramon L. A great big THANK YOU goes out to you. We have placed your name on the "Henrietta's Heartfelt Helpers" donor wall, which you can see here:

This brings our total amount of donations received to: $703.80! Amazing! Thank you to everyone taking the time to donate, spread our story, and send lovely messages and healing thoughts! We are feeling the love, and feeling very lucky that so many wonderful people are reaching out to us!

And for those of you wondering, Edelweiss is doing fine, but is completely jealous of all the attention Henrietta is getting. I have to make sure to spend time with her after exercising Henrietta.

In The Event Of Exceeding Our Goals

In the event that we are able to raise more money than the total cost of Henrietta's medical bills, Corey and I have decided to donate the rest to Tender Loving Canines' Wounded Warrior Program, a great charity that provides service dogs to our wounded military veterans. I love this program because I know what it's like to suffer from anxiety to the point of having to adjust your life and the way you live, and I know the healing power that having a dog brings. I can't even begin to imagine what our fighting men and women go through on a daily basis, but I believe that a working dog trained not only to do helpful tasks, like turning on a light switch, but to also alleviate anxiety, would bring about an immense amount of comfort and healing for them.

From the Wounded Warrior website (click here):

"Challenged by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and/or mobility issues, the dog can be a calming influence, redirecting and helping to mitigate the anger and impatience many veterans experience as they navigate life in a world they thought they knew.

For a veteran who perceives many things as a potential threat, the dog generates a significant amount of safety, both physically and emotionally. A sell-out baseball game, a concert, a family reunion, can now not only be tolerated again, but enjoyed."

I hope that everyone who donates to us will approve of our decision to pass on any extra money to this wonderful charity.

One Day At A Time

Good Morning, everyone! Henrietta is doing well this morning. She is finding it easier to sit up, and is doing well with her rehab exercises. She still hates her cone collar, though. We try to give her breaks without it, but she licks her incision every chance she gets, so the collar will probably be around until her stitches come out. Henrietta's leg and ankle are still quite swollen, but it seems to be going down a little bit every day. She is also still retaining fluid around the ankle. I managed to finally snap a picture while she was eating her breakfast. I will try to take another picture in a few days so we can do a side by side comparison.

Henrietta stills loves a cuddle, which is nice for everyone. Lately she has been insistent that I hold her after breakfast, and loves to snuggle up with Corey when he gets home from work.

We also received donations from the fantastic, wonderful, lovely Jerry & Elizabeth G. and Morris J. so a great big THANK YOU goes out to you. We have put your names on our donor wall, which you can see here:

Henrietta looks at everyone's names often, and even though she doesn't know what it means, she is excited and wags her tail every time I add a new heart. 

Our total donations received so far is: $663.80! We are so grateful to everyone! Corey and I feel a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders. We have a warm place in our hearts for everyone taking the time to donate, share our story, and send loving messages and thoughts. From the bottom of our hearts: THANK YOU!

Birds Of A Feather Stick Together

Edelweiss is glad Henrietta is home, but is also sad that they are not able to play together like they used to. She takes care of Henrietta the only way she can, by just being there for her.

This morning was another good morning. Henrietta is standing when she eats, walking slowly but a little more steadily when we take her outside, and moving around in her pen every so often. She did need some support towards the evening yesterday, but that's to be expected after a long day of small walks and rehab exercises. We've ordered a special sling with an integrated leash, which should arrive by Wednesday, and will make it much easier for us to support her while guiding her around the lawn. The swelling around her knee is continuing to decrease, though she seems to be retaining fluid around her ankle. Her right ankle is twice the size of her left ankle. All in all, I'd say she's in pretty good shape after only 3 days since the surgery. Also, today marks 1 week since she blew out her knee last Saturday. We feel very lucky that we were able to get treatment quickly, which minimized the damage, and will help her to heal more completely.

We also received a donation from the wonderful, fantastic, awesome Bryan G. A great big THANK YOU goes out to you! We have put your name on  the "Henrietta's Heartfelt Helpers" donor wall. This brings our donation total up to $388.80!

Now that Henrietta is settled into a routine, I will be spending my days yarn-crafting, and I hope to be able to open my Etsy shop sometime next week. I will do a big post about it, so don't miss it!

Cast Away, And The Surgery Total

Here is a picture of the casting the Vet took of Henrietta's left leg. We will be sending this off ASAP to have a brace made. It will help stabilize and hopefully preserve her left knee. A few people have asked us why we don't just have the TPLO surgery on Henrietta's left knee, too. We asked the same thing at the Vet's office, and they said she would not be a good candidate because she already had LSS surgery on that knee, and now she has quite a bit of arthritis and deterioration in the joint. Doing another surgery at this point would cause more harm than good. Getting this leg brace is our second-best option.

We also received the statement from the surgeon for the exact amount of Henrietta's TPLO surgery. On Tuesday, we had to pay mid-way between the estimates upfront, which was $4500.00, but the surgery only ended up costing $4,372.54. They put the amount to be refunded ($127.46) onto a credit at the surgery center, and we can use that money to pay for some of the follow-up x-rays Henrietta will need in 6 weeks.

So far, we have accumulated $4661.34 in veterinary medical bills. We are expecting to pay between $600 and $800 for Henrietta's leg brace, and another $300 to $500 for follow-up x-rays and pain medication. Hopefully, Henrietta will make a full recovery at top speed and not need any major examinations after that!

The grand total of donations we have received so far is: $338.80! Our lovely, wonderful, fantastic, graceful, charming donors are: Johnny M. and Julie C.! A huge THANK YOU goes out to those great people! And also a big Thank You to goes out to everyone who took the time to share our story, sent notes of encouragement, and kept us in your thoughts. We appreciate your support! It feels great to know that so many people care about our little family!

And one last reminder, if you are able to spare anything to help us pay down these bills (even just a single dollar helps), just click that orange "Donate" button at the top right-hand corner of the page. Your donation will be processed through Paypal, and made available to us right away. Thanks!

A Tail Is Wagging

This morning was great for us! The night was a little rough, but we got through it, and Henrietta seems to be very happy to be back home. She had a few problems overnight with incontinence, which we think are a side effect of the epidural they gave her. But it seems to have sorted itself out now. Corey slept in the living room with her until he had to go to work at 4 o'clock this morning, and then I spent the wee hours of the morning with her. When I woke up at 7:30 and checked on her, she wagged her tail! It made me so happy because yesterday she couldn't even hold her tail up. And when I fed her breakfast, she stood up to eat! Last night she stayed sitting to eat, but halfway through her meal she got tired and laid down to finish eating. She walked on her own, and even took a big stretch! We had to hold up her back end with a towel looped under her abdomen yesterday, and her right foot just dragged on the ground. Her leg is still pretty swollen today, but I managed to get a picture of her incision.

The surgeon was kind enough to put all the stitches inside her skin so that they wouldn't be as itchy as last time (she even chewed a few out, which almost made me faint). They also said she had staples, but I can't see any. The swelling might be covering them up.

We got a big packet of information from the Vet, plus a lot of medicines, and even a rehabilitation exercise program. I have to flex and extend her leg 3 to 4 times a day, which Henrietta tolerates, but she lets me know that it hurts. I warm up her knee first with a hot water bag, and then afterwards I put an ice pack on. Henrietta seems to like the ice pack more than the hot compress, but sits still for both. We also have to do a weight bearing exercise 2 to 3 times a day, where I slowly tilt her side to side at the hips so that she starts to bear weight on her right leg. And finally, We take her out for very slow walks, about 10 minutes, 3 to 4 times a day, which is also when she goes potty outside.

I had to type up a spreadsheet so that Corey and I can keep track of what prescriptions she gets at certain times of the day, and when she should do her exercising. I even color coded her medicine bottles so we don't mix them up.

We also got copies of her x-rays taken just before and just after the surgery, which I've pasted together for you. You can clearly see how the knee has been reshaped, and the metal plate they installed into the bone with screws. The surgeon said that we can expect her to regain 85 to 90% of the use of her knee back, which is fantastic! Especially considering that she never really fully recovered from the surgery she had on her left knee 2 years ago. The plates and screws are made of stainless steel, and are used to hold the top part of the tibia bone that they cut off and repositioned to the rest of the tibia until they fuse together, which usually takes 6 to 8 weeks. We were cautioned that there is a very small chance that Henrietta may develop cancer around that knee, but it would take 5 years or more to grow to the point of being a problem. At 7 years old, we decided that it probably wouldn't matter since Henrietta would be well into her senior years before we saw any kind of impact, if it even developed at all.

Poor Henrietta's butt is very cold, though... Maybe I should make her some little pants?

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Henrietta is home and settling in. We tucked her away into her little pen, gave her some of her pain medicine, and let her have some quiet time after the long drive home. She's snoring away as I type this.

Henrietta did great on the car ride home. She mostly snoozed, and sat up to look around whenever we came to a stop. Corey and I almost had a nervous breakdown trying to get her up the ramp and into the back of the car. Getting her out went a lot better, though. She wanted to sniff around outside, so we indulged her for a few minutes until she was able to go potty.

Once we got her inside, she made her way over to Edelweiss' crate to say hello. Then she noticed the new stuffed pig toy we got her, and tried to rush into her pen. But she wanted to lay down pretty quickly, so Corey sat in the pen with her for a little while. She also readily drank water when we brought in her bowl, so that made us feel better.

We picked up a cone collar on the way home, since she was already starting to lick her incision at the vet's office. Henrietta was not happy about it, but she was a bit too loopy on pain meds to put up much of a fight.

She is going to be feeling cold over the next several weeks. The vet had to shave nearly the entire back end of Henrietta, from the waist down. You can kind of see where her black fur ends and her gray-colored skin starts in the pictures above. Tonight we will just be keeping her calm, and trying to calm ourselves down as well. Tomorrow I will post lots more details, and I can show you the x-rays they took right after Henrietta's surgery. Also, sorry for the blurry pictures. I hope you can understand that we were a bit emotional when I was taking them.

Keep sending us those loving thoughts!

Our Package Is Ready!

Henrietta will be coming home today! We have a 3 o'clock appointment to discuss everything with the surgeon. I think we will have to come back in a week for follow-up x-rays, but I will know more tonight.

Edelweiss has been completely inconsolable this morning, spending her time either sulking in her crate or being glued to my hip. We're all ready for things to go back to normal, but it will still be a few months before we can really relax.

Also, we are asking you to hit that donate button at the top right corner of the page if you can spare anything for us. We will still be paying Henrietta's medical bills long after she has healed, and we need all the help we can get. After Henrietta is settled, I will also be making and selling crocheted items in my Etsy shop, so keep your eyes open for a post all about that in a few days.

We would also like to say thank you to everyone who shared our story on Facebook, and everyone who sent us kind comments. Thank You for keeping us in your thoughts! We can feel the love!

Awake And Doing Well

We got our update phone call. The Vet said Henrietta woke up from the anesthesia without any problems, and that she is doing well on her pain medicine. They are going to call us again in the morning to let us know how she does overnight. Henrietta will also be getting a cast made of her other leg tomorrow so that a brace can be made for her. If everything goes well, we should be able to bring her home tomorrow afternoon.