Ooky Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 So, Odin's gets his bionic arm tomorrow and we're having a lovely evening where he gets to shred all the paper and cardboard he wants (he's not eating it, no worries). I don't know if it's the metacam he's been on for 2 weeks now, but the past few days he barely limps at all! So it's hard and weird to think he needs this (to me) major surgery. I think through most of the following phases, it's going to be harder on me than him (I hope!). Today was his last day at work for a while (don't know how long). He obviously has no idea, so was thrilled when we worked a long day and both myself and 30 other people spoiled him rotten. My vegetarian coworker brought him frozen beef bones she had to go specifically out of her way to buy, pretty much everyone took him out of his crate at some point during the day to rile him up, people laughed when he dug and took a dump in our native plant garden (they laughed at me too for telling him off for digging, but they don't know he can dig a very deep hole surprisingly fast!). Then I got the card, for Odin's last day of work. Now, I know many of your BCs are much luckier than Odin in that they have access to sheep (!!) and are allowed to run around and not have surgery. But how many BCs get a card from their "coworkers"? It cracked me up, I don't know why. Apparently the big scarily-brilliant and no-nonsense principal (boss) who never acknowledges Odin's presence muttered "What, is the ($*%* dog going to read it himself?" when he signed it. But reading it that's almost what I thought too. And Steve (the principal) wrote a very nice message "Hope to see you back again soon" and then smiled at Odin today Not everyone signed it, but only because they waited until I left yesterday to send it around. ...So this debate we were having on the boards this weekend about how people see dogs, well, the whole world is crazy, practically, for a good BC and can't help the anthropomorphizing. Anyway, I just thought it was pretty cool he seems to be such a big hit. People come by all the time and swear he lowers their blood pressure or that they need a "puppy break". I stand behind while they get him all riled up and yell like the manners gestapo: "Ahht! No jumping. Ahht! No lunging! Odin, look at me. Sit! Ahhhht! No shoe-licking!!" and so forth. Anyway, here are some pictures of the card and the lucky collie at work. front - what the heck it that person doing, anyway? inside with some fairly hilarious or delusional signatures (depending on how you see it) Odin and "Pukeface" the rat terrier. Note how I am keeping him tightly under control. No small dog has really impressed upon him the importance of manners yet, unlike Benway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Good luck tomorrow, Odin! Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afrancis Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Thinking of you Kelly and Odin. Good luck! He is very cute. And very well behaved Ailsa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 I hope all goes well with the surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Good luck, Odin and Ooky - keep yourself busy today! Where are you having the surgery? We're sending good thoughts from Wine Country . . . Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchersMomma Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Best Wishes Odin for a speedy recovery! Don't let those cats bully you when you're down!! And btw...you shoulda just ate that rat thing!! It's cute but really..it kinda looks like dinner don't it? Hang in there Odin's "mommy"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afrancis Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Kelly, How did Odin's surgery go? We want updates Ailsa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachdogz Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 has anyone heard about the surgery? and what is the background on it - what exactly is being done and why? B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Here's the link to the thread about Odin's leg/arm. Fingers and paws crossed here that all goes well. And I loved the card . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afrancis Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 has anyone heard about the surgery? and what is the background on it - what exactly is being done and why? B Here's link to what's happened http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.p...mp;#entry267725 and then before that you'll have to go to Ooky's id and look back at her posts. She had been worried about his limp for a while. I'm sure he'll come through with flying colours -- she might need a scotch tho'. Ailsa P.S. I see Tassie's already given it to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooky Posted November 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Hi guys, Thanks so much for all the well-wishes. Odin is doing well and staying over at the Berkeley Animal Hospital tonight. Tomorrow I pick him up when he is deemed well enoug to go home. He came through the surgery with flying colors although he did have to have the full shoulder opening surgery instead of arthroscopic. He had actual bone shards floating around in there - not cartilage joint mice but bone. He was also progressing fast in spite of all our efforts at keeping him calm so it is good we got him in. They harvested stem cells from his stomach-tuck area and had hoped to get four vials of fat from a dog his age-size-sex. They could only get two. I feel a bit bad - didn't mean to keep him so thin! But on the other hand I kept reading that was better for joints, less weight. I wonder if now that he's essentially had lipo there that he'll always have a good tuck? Weird. He gets reinjected on Friday. It has been a long, long day and I did not get a chance to update. Ruth, you are so right, I stayed as busy as I possibly could for 14 hours today and now am back home and sort of dazed. Am so ready for him to come home tomorrow! Thanks again guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sluj Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Glad to hear the surgery went well. Ouch. Good on you for catching it early Hi guys,Thanks so much for all the well-wishes. Odin is doing well and staying over at the Berkeley Animal Hospital tonight. honk as you pass derby st! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Thanks for the update, I thought about you guys all day! Take it easy on yourself today as well, Ooky. Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esox Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Glad to hear he's doing well. He is a lucky fella. Esox and Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afrancis Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 They harvested stem cells from his stomach-tuck area and had hoped to get four vials of fat from a dog his age-size-sex. They could only get two. I feel a bit bad - didn't mean to keep him so thin! But on the other hand I kept reading that was better for joints, less weight. I wonder if now that he's essentially had lipo there that he'll always have a good tuck? Weird. He gets reinjected on Friday. It has been a long, long day and I did not get a chance to update. Ruth, you are so right, I stayed as busy as I possibly could for 14 hours today and now am back home and sort of dazed. Am so ready for him to come home tomorrow! Thanks again guys. Glad to hear he is doing well. It makes total sense to me that they wanted to keep him there overnight to ensure he kept quiet and still. But, I am feeling your pain He will heal really quickly and will be back to himself in no time. You will be very happy you went ahead with this and caught it while he was still young and able to recover without any age-related problems. Let us know how he does today. Ailsa P.S. If you need more I have some extra cells in the tuck area that you might be interested in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Oh, good to hear that he's come through alright! Keep us updated on his progress of course and give him and extra belly rub from us! julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 I am glad to hear that things went well. Oddly, there was an expose on our evening news about that stem cell procedure last night! Feel better Odin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Darn double post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchersMomma Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 AilsaP.S. If you need more I have some extra cells in the tuck area that you might be interested in LOL Ailsa! I have some extras as well! So glad Odin is doing well and coming home soon. Think I'll give Archer some extra cuddles tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooky Posted November 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Odin and Ooky update: we are doing pretty good. Actually, Odin's doing better than to be expected and I am doing worse than I'd like. The vets were amazed - "He doesn't even know he's had surgery!" A vet tech with her own 1.5 yr BC (so she lurrvs Odin) "slipped" us extra ACE, which is a sedative. I kept him flying high most of yesterday on tramadol and ACE but it is a very fine balance. We can't really pick him up due to the location of his incisions. Too much ACE, and when he has to go out to the bathroom he might fall splat on the floor as we're walking slowly. Too much tramadol, and he feels so good that he has no respect for either of the 5-to-7-inch incisions he has. Too little of either, and he is uncomfortable and wants to move around a LOT as if he's trying to leave the uncomfortable "zone". So we have had a couple accidents, like yesterday when I was ushering him carefully, choke lead and all to the water after getting home and he easily and fluidly jumps up on the bed in 0.0006 seconds. If this next 4 weeks doesn't improve my general handler skills (remember what a newbie I am) nothing will. I did notice when we handed him off to the vet today for stem cell injection they were less careful with him than I was, though. And they swear that he can and should have an outside walk around the block as early as tomorrow. We are supposed to restrict activity for 4 weeks, but going on gradually longer and longer controlled leash walks. Then after the 1st month, we begin reconditioning in earnest. Already he doesn't limp, and I am wowed the surgery didn't bother him more but they did pull a marble-sized piece of loose bone out of his joint. I guess even with surgical trauma it feels better to him than it has in a long time! They also gave me the bone to keep. He doesn't hate us at all, he is very lovey. He is starving like crazy and not only went wild for his boiled chicken and brown rice last night, but can't wait for pills wrapped in cheese or any other sort of food. He will "leave" his incisions alone on command and already gets that he's not allowed to lick them, not that he doesn't want to at times but if I remind him once he will stop himself after that. His ears were up and tail wagging and he actually wanted to run around this morning after he pooped; DH and I had to really put all our effort into restraining him. In bad news he had to have so much of himself shaved that he now has half a poodle cut. Once he got on the bed last night I just let him stay up there like a bad owner, and we watched videos together. Here is a fuzzy screen cam picture of the poodle cut and incision. Thanks so much to everyone for all the good thoughts and well wishes - this is such a supportive community and it really helps during tough times like these. I am so happy he is on the road to recovery, and seeing that he even feels better already lets me know I did the right thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachdogz Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Here is a fuzzy screen cam picture of the poodle cut and incision. aww to the poodle cut and incision, but hooray to the great recovery steps...and since he'll be able to walk without a limp and run and play eventually...it was all worth it. So glad to hear it went well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afrancis Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Awww! Poor guy -- clearly only you guys can see the incision and he just feels a bit cooler , but I'm sure for all his energy and bluster, he's pretty wiped still from the surgery. Let's see that was Wednesday, so by the weekend (that's tomorrow ) he should be feeling pretty good. It will definitely be hard keeping him quiet for the next 4 weeks or so, but I bet he'll adapt ok and let you know how quickly he's recovering. Are you able to take some time off? What strategy do you have for keeping him away from the incision and quiet when you're not home? Or is he going to work with you? Really glad he's home and you're all settling back into being together again. Keep us informed, Ailsa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Good to read the update. Sounds like Odin is doing just great, and it was certainly so worth doing. Now all you have to do is hang in there for the recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesney's Girl Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Good to hear everything is going well. Puppy pats to Odin! I bet an outside walk does well for his spirits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllieMackie Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Yay Odin! I'm glad everything went well. And I had to have a giggle at the half-poodle cut - gotta love the splotchy BC skin. <3 Please keep us posted as to how he heals up! And dude, they gave you the bone to keep! Maybe I'm weird, but I think that's a pretty awesome souvenir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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