gracegirl

Thanks for the good thoughts, they must be working! For a few days I had my house covered in towels, sheets and blankets so ooze wouldn't get all over everything. Now most of those are in the wash and she's wearing her "turtleneck"....I cut the legs off of sweatpants and now I have two things I can use to keep her neck covered. I just hope she doesn't scratch it too much in the next few days. With her turtleneck and booties, she's mostly protected.

Thanks for the info. Maybe she wanted to look like Glitter and Go Barbie for Christmas?

Who knows what these guys are thinking sometimes.....Fenway just ate part of a duraflame log. I hope your crew feels better soon!

Keep up the healing, Mr. Poohead.

For those of you who would like to continue off topic, feel free to do so here. Feel free to speculate, ponder and point fingers all you want. Only I was there to see what happened, but for those of you who know more than the rest of us, please feel free to continue. For those of you who actually care about how Grace is doing, I've started a new topic. Feel free to send all well-wishes and good thoughts through that thread. For those of you who are truly concerned, I really do appreciate it. Many of you have been nothing short of wonderful, and to those I wish a very happy holidays!

Hi all! Thanks for your continued support and well-wishes. Since many of you have been asking for an update, here it is. So far today we have cockroached for bellyrubs, barked at our brother for being a nut, played with Ugly Kitty and Bird Brain, pranced our way through a walk, and generally have left our staples alone. These last two days Grace has really turned around and while she's not 100% yet, she's getting there. We visited with Dr. Fisher again yesterday. She'd already had her drains removed prior to this visit. The skin infection is right at the point where she was bitten and torn, about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the staples. The second antibiotic is doing it's job to kill the infection, but some of the tissue had already died. I'm to keep a close eye on that area to insure there is no further dying tissue. I'm still flushing with an antiseptic twice a day and applying warm compresses. We'll go back for another visit on Wednesday. Dr. Fisher hopes to take out most of the staples at that time. Some might have to stay in where the infection is. He did say there is still a small chance that we'd need a second surgery to remove the dead tissue. I have my fingers crosses that the second surgery will not be necessary. Poor Grace has had a rough week! Night of the attack: Day 1 Post Op: Day 3 Post Op (kinda yucky): Day 4 Post Op (getting really gross): Day 6 Post Op (drains removed): Day 7 Post Op:

He might be rubbing his nose against something while you are away. My friend's Greater Swiss Mountain dog was doing this when he was crated. He'd put his nose against the front of the crate at the very bottom, then he'd move his head up and scratch his nose pretty good. They used neosporin and padded his crate. See if there is anything he might be rubbing on that you could pad to prevent future opening of the wound. I hope he feels better soon!

oooffff! Soory to hear you are hurtying, buddy. Get well soon!

I now have an extra muzzle, but won't be taking in any boarders I don't know well from now on and all my "regulars" know muzzles are required.

Prayers for a quick recovery. We hate infections here too!

She's feeling much better, thanks for checking in on her! After the vet last night I asked the boys "who wants to go for a walk?" and was delighted to find not two but three hounds at the door wanting to go. I decided to use a coupler with the boys and walk her with us, up until then she'd been going alone. We took just a short walk, she was so happy NOT to be left behind. She slept on the couch again last night, another good sign. And this morning when I went to give her the meds she's on, she cockroached so I could rub her belly. That's the first cockroach we've had since the attack, and I got a total of three this morning. My little girl is starting to feel better (but we're still not out of the woods yet.)

I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of Skipper. Godspeed.....

Prayers for Frank coming your way! Feel better soon, big guy!

Okay, back from the vet. We got all cleaned up again. The wounds are healing a tiny bit better than Tuesday's visit. No surgery needed....yet. He was optimistic that she wouldn't need surgery, but he said there is still a chance she might. Several of the staples towards the middle of the incision are the ones to keep an eye on. ETA: Her drains were also removed. I still need to flush the holes out (yuk) where the drains were. I'll upload photos tonight when I get home from work. I hope, hope, hope that she gets a clan bill of health by next Thursday, before Dr. Fisher leaves town for a vacation. (Who knew vets were allowed to take vacations ) He did show the other doctors her wounds so they have a point of comparison, in case thing are not better by the end of next week.

Thanks for checking in on us! She's doing better today. Her favorite spot to sleep is on the couch in the living room with her little brother. Last night she slept there for the first time since her attack. She also tried to cockroach so I could give her a belly rub. She didn't cry out this time, but I wouldn't let her get all the way to her back. I'm leaving work in an hour or so to go to the vet. Her wound still looks horrible (I'm not posting pics, it's REALLY nasty) so I'm not sure if it's healing better or not. I just hope, hope, hope she does not have to have a second surgery since she's finally feeling better today. More Rescue Remedy before the visit with the Dr. and we'll take another new route to the office. Fingers crossed for good news, I'll update when I'm home from the vet. NO MORE SURGERY! :hope

Your healing thoughts help more than you know! I'm no vet, but I think the wounds look better today. It could just be wishful thinking.....but here's hoping! I won't be posting photos because it's super gross with all the draining. Blech! She tried to cockroach again tonight. She didn't yelp this time, but i wouldn't let her get all the way on her back. I told her she could be silly soon enough.

Yep, used the Rescue Remedy. Tomorrow we embark on yet another adventure to see Dr. Fisher. Time to try from the other side of the building now. I'm quickly running out of directions from which we can approach.

Unfortunately she's not doing too good. She now won't get off her bed in fear that her mom will poke and prod her (per the vets instructions). I have some antiseptic that I'm supposed to use to flush the wounds out twice a day, in addition to the warm compresses. She tolerates them, but is not happy about it. So, instead she tries her best to stay camped out on her bed. I have to leash her and encourage her from behind (lifting up her rear) to get her off her bed now. She slept okay last night. Every few hours someone moved and I got up to make sure Grace was okay. By choice she is sleeping in a kennel in my room with the door open, she usually sleeps on the couch in the living room. I'm thankful I can be back in my bed again, even if it's just for a few hours. Fingers crossed for a good, healing day today!

He didn't say she was not in pain, he said she was not in as much pain as I was believing she was in. Example, I walked past her when she was on the couch and rubbed her paw, she screamed bloody murder and ran across the room. Did that hurt? Probably not. Did she think I was going to put a warm compress on her neck? Yep, I had a hand full of laundry I was taking to the hamper. He reassured me that I can gently clean her wounds and she's not going to pass out from the pain. I did just that, with a lot more confidence, and she was very good. I muzzled her just in case, and while she was not pleased she didn't scream either. I told her, "if you behave and stand still, this will be over much quicker. If you scream, I'm still going to do it." She obviously didn't understand my words, but understood my confidence and body language.

Phew, that's good to know. The vet mentioned a second surgery and after that I tried to pay attention but mainly heard wha, wha, wha.....like Charlie Brown's teacher. Thanks for that glimmer of hope.

For such a drama queen the other day, she went in just fine today. I parked a few blocks away and walked a different way into the office. Still used the same door, but came from a different direction. Of course, when we got home she wouldn't get out of the car. We'll see how it goes on Thursday, I hope to have her harness by then.

Oh Monty...I hope you heal quickly! NO MORE VET VISITS. If you want to see the vet, jsut ask. I'm sure your mom would be happy to stop in for a quick hello.

Feel better soon Emma, those drugs make you loopy, huh?

Thanks Xan! Your kind thoughts mean more to me than you know. I'm in tears again...we are heading to the vet as soon as I finish my lunch and wrap up a work project. I *hope* we are through the worst of it. Home from the vet now. Her drains are infected. Crap, crap, crap, crap. He mentioned a second surgery. Again, crap, crap, crap, crap. She's on a second antibiotic and I have a solution to flush her drains with. They informed me that she had my number, and she's not in as much pain as she's letting me believe she's in. She runs and hides from me when I'm trying to apply the warm compress. They said to muzzle her and just do it, she definitely hurts but it's not *that* bad. Please send prayers and good healing thoughts that the antibiotics will kick the infection so we can avoid a second surgery.

Give him a hug from me. Glad to hear he's still happy. I'll keep him in my thoughts.