Seventh Day At Home

(Enjoying some cuddle time with his brother)

Titan is ever defiant. We say get up, he stays down.  We push him to the side, he pushes right back to the other side.  We say go to the back door, he goes to the front door.  And so goes our life together.  However, this is very frustrating right now when he loves and longs for his most favourite thing in the world, his couch.  I say "No couch" and he pouts and turns away from me.  This has been going on for a few days now and although he hasn't actually tried to climb up, I still leave items on the couch as a deterrent, just to be safe.  Today was a bit different and we had a small scare.  I had Titan all relaxed and resting on his fluffy bed of blankets and thought it was a good time to cut up some veg for dinner.  I made sure his leg was covered with a blanket so he couldn't lick his incision and went off into the kitchen, not noticing I hadn't put anything on the couch and it was now clear of any items  and open for sitting.  The kitchen is literally around the corner and I thought I could hear everything, but like a ninja Titan took his opportunity.  Without any assistance he made his way to the couch and once there I can only assume that he jumped with great determination onto it.  I just heard a thumping of the couch and thought to myself "what is that noise, it sounds like a tail wagging and hitting something but Ares is right....oh my god!"  I rushed back into the living room and see this:

Titan content and settled on his couch.  I couldn't' believe it, the sneak!  If he had fingers I swear he would of flipped me off right there and said "told you I could do it".  In the end we had to get him down and back onto his bedding on the floor because he can't use that leg to climb things yet.  Titan did let us move him down with little effort and let us inspect his leg to make sure it was ok (it was) so I think he was just letting us know he does what he wants.  Other then that excitement things are still progressing slowly at this point and some concerns are starting to arise.

The least of my concerns right now is the bathroom issues we were having.  Titan has asked to go out twice now and hasn't had another accident in the house.  This is wonderful progress forward and I'm so glad he is well enough to make the journey into the yard more then once a day and mostly on his own.  One of us is still always beside him, just to be safe.

We have taken a step back in the food department today.  This will be the most difficult hurdle in the recovery I think as he is now refusing beef liver treats and the stewing beef as well.  For the sake of getting meds into him I have reverted back to force feeding Titan the pate.  We even tried chicken with no luck.  I am a little worried about the lack of appetite but many people have said that the drugs he is on will do that and the fact that he isn't exercising and working up an appetite will also affect him.  He only has one day left of the pain meds so I'm hoping for better food luck after that.  Also, any food ideas are more than welcome.

Another thing I am worried about is with the leg.  I have noticed a small golf sized ball of swelling on his hock (ankle) that doesn't seem to be going away.  We are continuing to massage the area and read on other blogs that this is something other people have experienced as well.  Also there is still some redness around the incision and some tiny swelling there too.  I measure this every day to make sure it is not getting worse, which it is not, but it still isn't getting better either.  The other thing I noticed is Titan still won't put weight on that leg yet and is instead holding it up and off the ground.  Once he gets moving there is some toe touching but that's about it.  From the videos I've seen and info I've read I feel like there should be a bit more progress with him using the leg, but I have to keep reminding myself that every dog heals different and Titan has a lot of weight to put down on it.  So again we are monitoring and making sure to keep up the physio therapy.  If at the end of week two there is no improvement we will have to go for a vet visit.

Hard to believe that tomorrow will be a week already.  Time is flying and I am so glad because I just want to put this all behind us and have my happy playful dog back.  I miss our daily walk adventures and can't wait to get out and play in the snow together.  Here's hoping for an even better day tomorrow.

Titan's leg day 7: