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!