Thursday was a whirlwind. The vet’s office called Thursday morning with an update. Xan had a good night, and had been up on three legs and out to go potty. But he wasn’t interested in food. We were told to come in the afternoon for a visit to determine whether he’d come home or stay another night. We visted with Xanadu at 4:45 pm and the surgeon met with us. When I first saw Xan, I could tell how medicated he was. He had two techs assisting him and he was having a hard time standing. But as soon as he saw me, his tail started going. Good sign #1.
Dr. Staatz is great. He is one of the nicest vets I have ever met and he is excellent at his job. Xan’s incision looked clean with very little seepage. He had a fentynal patch on in his rear leg and a catheter in his front. We went into a carpeted room where we could comfortably visit with Xan. He laid down and placed his head in my lap with a big sigh. Good sign #2.
I brought some ground turkey in a small bowl thinking I would hand-feed him and he inhaled it all on his own. Good sign #3.
Dr. Staatz gave us the option of leaving him for a second night. He explained that Xan would need a lot of extra care for the next 24 hours. We talked it over, but I knew what I wanted to do – take him home. So he was discharged!
At our discharge appointment on 2/10 at 5:00 pm.
We brought Xan home to get him settled. The kids and Zoey (our 8-year-old Lab/Great Dane) were at my mom’s house so we had some quiet time, which I really appreciated. Thanks, Mom! I gave him some chicken breast and rice, which he gobbled up. We took him outside, but he wasn’t ready. The rest of the night was so-so. I set up my aero bed next to his ex-pen and tried to get some sleep. Around 12:30 am, he woke me up. I thought he was hungry so I went into the kitchen to get some more chicken. I heard a commotion and ran into the dining room. He had gotten up on his own and was standing! I put on his harness – the Webmaster is awesome!! I know tripawds.com recommends not using it until the area is healed, but the surgeon thought it would be fine and I needed help getting him outside. We went outside and he went potty.
He had some trouble between 1:30-3:30am. Some whining, and restlessness, but I expected that. I gave him 2 tramadol to help him sleep. We went outside again at 4am and then he finally settled down and slept until 6:30 am when the kids came barreling in. Lucky for Xan, he is deaf, so he doesn’t hear most of the craziness.
Xan’s incision this morning, day 2.
I am so glad he is home!!