Look what Bruno found in the backyard...
Bunnies! I saw that he was fixated on something in the grass, and I thought he was eating rabbit poo again, but then something moved....bunnies! There about four, at least that is all I saw. They're pretty deep in the hole under loose grass and their eyes aren't open yet. It will be fun watching them grow, from afar.
Chow!
Bruno came home Friday, yay! He still had the second tube in which we had removed on Saturday. We are now tube free. Now, it's 3-4 time daily cleaning of the holes, 4 if you're counting. Warm compresses for 10-20 minutes and an anti-biotic cleanser. At first this was hard for me to do, b/c I didn't want to hurt the lil' guy, because the holes need to stay open, and if they close up, I need to open them back up, for continuous drainage. However, since I've done it just about a dozen times so far, I'm getting used to it. And, he doesn't seem to mind if I have a treat on hand. He's looking really good, however, I won't show any pictures until the holes look better.
Thanks for the card Barney!
Chow!
I didn't post yesterday because I didn't feel like getting on the computer, so here's yesterdays update...
*Another Abscess! (Thursday, July 17th, 2008)
Well, I went to visit Bruno at lunch, per usual, and another abscess appeared where Dr. Jude sampled the initial abscess on Monday. So in goes another tube for drainage. Now Bruno has two tubes sticking out of his neck. Dr. Jude said they're going to keep him another night and take out the first tube tomorrow(Friday) let him go home with us for the weekend and then have us bring him back Sunday so she can take out the second tube. All the while Bruno is wagging his tail. One of the nurses said that while they were squeezing the second abscess, Bruno was wagging his tail(he was under a small anesthesia that numbs the area they are working on.)*
Ok, back to today. He looked good at lunch today. Dr. Jude was in surgery, so I didn't get a chance to see her. Plus, not sure if we'll see much of her actually, she's due to have her baby TODAY! I took Bruno out for a little walk and a fly came back with us, he loved that. Hopefully Dr. Jude will let us take him home tonight. We miss him terribly!
Thanks so much for the card Aunt Linda, so cute!
That's all for now!
Chow!
(WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART)
Bruno is recovering well. Dr. Jude said they might be able to take the tube out tomorrow, yippie! Below is an image from today.
Chow!
(WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART)
Bruno got out of surgery at 1p.m. today. I went over to visit him during my lunch hour. He was groggy and tired, but his tail was wagging. I'm sure he feels 100% better. They had a stint in his neck area to keep the drainage flowing. Dr. Jude said there was about 20 oz. of puss that came out from the abscess, holy cow! I'll spare you any pictures. He's shaved from his chin to behind the ears, I'm sure he'll be much cooler in this summer heat. They'll probably keep him until Thursday, maybe Friday, for observation.
That's all for now!
Chow!
Well, Bruno has an abscess. A very, very, large abscess. The Dr. thinks a saliva gland most likely ruptured/burst or was irritated during the horse episode. Bruno will go under local anesthesia tomorrow morning and will have to stay over two nights, so that they can monitor him, just to make sure the abscess does not come back. He has a lot of drugs he'll be taking over the next four weeks. The abscess has gotten huge, see below.
Well, I'm off to ice Bruno's cheek again, it seems to help with the swelling. I'll keep everyone posted!
Chow!
Bruno has a little more swelling and now his left lymph node is swelling. He seems to be in a better mood. I took him for a short, low key, walk this afternoon and that seemed to help. Here's an image of his swelling...
Ok, so enough with the downer blog. Here are some pics of Bruno's first swim/fetch the stick in the river, Elkhorn River btw. Though he wasn't feeling 100% he did awesome. He loved the water and the small rapids. I can't wait to bring him back after he battles this issue he's having. You'll have to excuse the cloudy images...I took them with my camera phone, and as most of you know, Bruno got ahold of my phone and cracked in a few places, one being the camera lens. Ah well.
The Golden Retriever is our new friend Hann, as in Cole Hann. We're so trendy!
Thanks for all the well wishes from all our friends and family. We, as well as the patient, really appreciate the support.
Chow!
Last Sunday started out nice and sunny. Went out to our friend's, Becky, farm to visit and ride, and Bruno got more than he expected, kicked/stepped on by a horse. After a four hour wait at the ER for small animals, Bruno's diagnosis looked good. Looked as though Bruno got nailed in the jaw and bit his tongue, with some bruising. A prescription of Rimadyl and some good RNR. Bruno seemed just fine during the week. Until this afternoon. We came home from breakfast out with some friends, to a lethargic and shivering baby boy. His ears were flat on the sides of his head, this was not our lil' boy! He was shivering but didn't feel cold. He didn't want to eat, even treats! There is a thunder storm around Lexington, so we thought maybe he got scared because we weren't home when this started, but he never had reacted to a thunder storm this way.
I thought, maybe he need to get out of the house and into the woods. A friend was going to her Uncle's house, who lives near a creek, and invited us to go, as they were going to teach a family dog how to swim. I thought this might be the perfect medicine! Bruno loved chasing the sticks into the water, and he swam for the first time, wonderful Bruno! I thought things were better, well, when we got home he went back to shivering and now wheezing. Our vet's office closed just as I called to get an opinion on what to do. They sent us directly to the ER for small animals, again. This would be the second time in a week.
So, we get to the ER and the nurses all recognize him and give him praises and hellos. Ok, well, the short of the long of it, he has swelling in his right lymph node, probably from the previous horse incident. The Dr. thought because his Rimadyl wore off that he was now feeling the pain, this was the reasoning for the shivering. The Dr. gave us another perscription of Rimadyl and Tramadol, basically an anti-inflamatory and a pain killer. We have to feed him wet puppy food now, even mix it with water to make it easier for him to eat, and NO CHEW TOYS! Poor guy.
Here are some pics of the lil' buggers swallon node...
Poor Baby!
I'll keep you posted on how the lil' guy is doing!
(wet)Chow for now...
