Thought I’d better try and do a blog update. What a nightmare the past few days have been! And I didn’t realise that it had been a week since I’d written.
So, Jez had her operation, and true to form, paced until around 3.30am, so I slept on the sofa with her – no way would she get near her crate. But she seemed much better the next day and was using her leg quite a bit. Of course, she still wouldn’t go in her crate and wouldn’t settle at night, so Wednesday night Chris slept downstairs with her. Thursday it was back to the vet for a check and she was really pleased with her, plus Jez was using her leg a lot. And of course, Thursday night she still wouldn’t settle. I let her bark for a long time, but Chris had a Murder Weekend coming up and I was worried about his lack of sleep, so once again I gave up and went downstairs to sleep.
Friday you would never have known she’d had something wrong with her leg. But the vet had said absolutely no jumping up at all for 6 weeks, so we started a new regime to try and keep her of the sofas. Basically there are things either on them or in front of them to stop her jumping up. And we have to take her out into the garden on a lead so that she doesn’t go up the steps or jump onto the wall. The joint is really good – the problem is the pins moving again.
So Friday I was on my own with her and we had a couple of very short walks just round the footpaths here as this tended to keep her quieter when she came back in. Friday night as I was on my own with her I did cold turkey and just let her bark and howl. She eventually gave up and I got to sleep (in my bed this time). Saturday it rained hard and was freezing, but we still had a couple of short walks.
Saturday night was dreadful – loads of fireworks close to the house. Jez barked from about 8pm until 10pm. I waited until it had all gone quiet and all the firework parties seemed to have finished then took her out for her bedtime wee. She was doing fine – until someone let of two more rockets which burst above the garden. Jez lunged on the lead at them (yes, in the sky) and pulled herself up onto her hind legs. So much for keeping her quiet.
Saturday night she settled down very quickly and I got a good night’s sleep. But Sunday morning she wasn’t walking so well again, and there were two lumps on her leg where the pins are. I was so uspet.
We went back to the vet on Monday and she says the pins have moved but not enough to warrant another operation, thank goodness. But now we have to keep her really quiet and she wants to keep her sedated. I’d been resisting this, but the movement in the pins gave me a real scare. So yesterday I tried her on 2 Tramadol as suggested. Hopeless! She slept for an hour and a half and was then was back into her dog-from-hell mode – pacing, anxious, ears back, barking at the trees! So I phoned the vet was given a different sedative for today.
Today I’ve tried her on the new sedative and am not happy. I’d looked it up on the internet and some dogs had reacted badly to it, plus most people had recommended cutting the dose. As the vet had suggested I vary the dose I started her off on half a tablet. She didn’t sleep though – she lay by the patio doors staring out. Turns out the brain is alert but the legs won’t move! Poor little soul. When she eventually got up she wobbled all round the house. It clearly scares her. I tried giving her the other half to see if that was any better and it’s been worse. She can’t settle for more than a couple of minutes and wobbles everywhere, sometimes at speed. From time to time she sits and shakes. And something (either these or the Tramadol) have really upset her stomach. Oh – and she’s trying to eat me out of house and home despite the upset stomach, and drinking loads. She is clearly very distressed and I can’t stand seeing her like this. 3 hours after the second half tablet she’s finally managed to settle a bit. . I’ve got a call into the vet at the moment. I know she wanted me to give her up to 3 tablets, but I’m really not prepared to. I’ll ask if we can try something else. What I want is something to make her sleepy and less alert. The obvious thing is valium, and I’m not sure why she hasn’t given her this. At this rate, though, drawing the blinds seems to be the best thing to keep her calm and dozy.
So that’s pretty much it. Nursing Jez has turned into a full time job. I did manage to make my two Christmas cakes over the weekend. And I coloured my hair again, but used a slightly different colour and don’t like it. Then today I’ve started to learn my part for this week-end. I was going to play the tart again but have swapped and am playing the killer, which is a really easy role. I’ll be in Salisbury so should be able to get to the shops on Saturday morning and get a bit of shopping in.
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