Ray the Rottie

Well today has been one week since Ray’s amputation. The first few days seemed to be pretty good for Ray. I don’t know what has happened but these past 2 days have been pretty tough & I hate not knowing what he is feeling. Ray hadn’t given any indication that he was in pain for the first few days but yesterday he started whimpering even when he was lying still. When he goes to get up – which has only been a few times lately – he seems to be in pain & whimpers and lays right back down. I can’t tell if it is his remaining hinde leg that is bothering him or something else. The incision looks good (to me at least) but I don’t know if maybe that could be causing him pain? Yesterday we were told to try & cut back the tramadol to 2 every 12 hours because he seemed depressed and has no interest in drinking or eating but we told to go back to the every 6-8 hours because he seemed like he was in pain.

 I’m concerned with him getting enough fluids and am running out of ideas….he doesn’t want anything from his food & water bowls. I have figured out that he will eat if I put the food on the floor in front of him – but not if it’s in his bowl. He now knows that pills are sometimes hidden in his food – so now he carefully licks everything that goes into his mouth so he can spit out the pills. Forget about drinking water – he turns his head as if in disgust at the very thought of having to drink it! I tried chicken broth/water, which he did like but only once yesterday. He will drink milk/water but again, not out of his bowl, he prefers to drink it out of a drinking glass – I think because he feels as if he is having some of our stuff!

He doesn’t even seem like he wants to go out to potty – he hasn’t gone out since last night and won’t even look at the door, let alone get up. Ray is going back on Tuesday to get looked at and have his sutures removed, I just hope this will pass and he starts to perk up a bit. Is this normal? I’ve been in contact with his surgeon and have been doing all that she says. I’m not sure if it’s the Tramadol & Deramax making him this way or if he is in a lot of pain??

I wish I knew what he was feeling so I could help him feel better quicker,  hate the feeling of being so helpless…I hope tomorrow brings a better day for Ray. I want to see him enjoy life again & would love for him to be able to enjoy being outside. The leaves are starting to fall from our trees now & it reminds me of last year & how much Ray loved playing in the leaves! I hope he starts to feel better so he can do this again.

Ray's version of "hide 'n seek"

It was a long, long night last night. Not being allowed in bed is very hard on poor Ray. I CANNOT wait until he gets the green light to be able to sleep in bed again! He has been doing pretty good, as far as being relaxed but come bedtime he is restless and is desperately wanting to go to bed – the REAL, king size, memory foamed topped bed! This dog bed business just isn’t his cup of tea! I know this really makes him depressed & eventhough my husband or myself spend the night next to him, it’s just not good enough. Last night Ray seemed good, although a little more moppy than normal but I think that’s the meds. Around midnight he got up and started whining to go into the bedroom. I tried my best to calm him down and come back to his bed but he wasn’t having it. We let him in the bedroom thinking maybe he would sleep at the foot of the bed, but nope…he just kept looking at it, like “how can I make it up here?” At that point I felt it was safer for him just to go back out to the LR to his bed. He paced around until 2:30am and after several time taking him outside, thinking he had to go – when he didn’t – he FINALLY settled down on his bed. Than the alarm went off at 5am. When I got up off the sofa, totally exhausted, I looked over at Ray – peacefully sleeping. Lucky duck.

We were VERY anxious the day Ray had his surgery. We had UPenn do a cat scan prior to surgery to get a good look to see if the cancer had spread to his chest/lungs. We got a call around noon on Friday that his cat scan came back clear and didn’t show any signs of spreading. We were so thrilled to hear this news but do realize that even though the scan was clear, there was the possibility that there were very tiny amounts present. Nonetheless, we were happy to hear that and were now anxiously awaiting the call that he was out of surgery. Finally – around 5:30pm we got the call that everything went really well & were told that he would probably come home Sunday. The dr. felt that since Ray was a big boy, he may need that extra day to get some help getting up and around. We were very surprised when we got the call at 7:45am Saturday morning that we could pick him up & take him home! They said that he was doing really well and up and about wanting to leave to go home! That is our Ray…he loves being home – on his sofa watching tv & getting into bed with us at night. I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw him and was really nervous about seeing him. I forgot about all that once we walked into his room and all I was, was just happy to see him! Getting him home was a little tricky…he was tired by the time we got home and it took a long time just getting him into the house. He would take a few steps and than lay down for a little while. He was wearing his harness which came in handy because he really did need the support. I was surprised with myself – I thought I would be just devasted seeing him without his leg but instead I saw my Ray who already looked like he was in so much less pain than before the surgery, and that made me feel good. Once we got him inside, we had an area setup with a cushiony bed and setup a pen around it so he wouldn’t try & get up on the sofa. I felt horrible because I know how he likes to get up on the sofa and loaf around. What was even harder was not allowing him in the bedroom. Ray loves, loves, loves bedtime & has an internal clock that let’s him know is 10pm and he would grab his 3ft long bone and jump into bed. We do have a ramp for the bed but until he heals we need to keep him out. I would say that the only thing that seemed to bother him his first few days home was not being allowed in the bedroom. He would just scratch at the door and whimper – broke my heart. His bruising was very intense looking but all in all I think his sutures looked pretty good. So far no leakage or swelling – I hope it stays that way! This is the first time Ray has ever slept in a dog bed. We did buy them for him before but he wouldn’t even put a paw on it! Not even if we put a treat on the bed! He is getting Tramadol and Deramaxx and Pepcid AC and I think this is really diminishing his appettite. He is eating but this is the first time he has left food in his bowl. Since he is a little over weight – he is getting even smaller portions than before. I just hope he can lose the weight quickly since now he only has 3 legs & I worry about him injuring his remaining rear leg. We have had Ray on a diet since March – Nutra Source weight management & green beans and he has had trouble dropping the weight. He is 100lbs and in 10/09 he was 92lbs. He really doesn’t have an interest in drinking water – so we have switched to the canned food & I have been trying to add some gatorade into his food. All in all, I think he is doing GREAT for what he just went through. I just worry so much and can’t wait until Tuesday when we meet with the oncologist to discuss chemo!

Less than 24 hours after surgery

Ray July 2010

Ray’s journey – with us – began in July 2006. My husband & I rescued Ray when he was approximately 3 years old. We were told that he came up from down south and was a rescue from Hurricane Katrina. He was in pretty bad shape…he had lived in a kennel for about a year & was blind from his untreated entropia. That same month we had eye surgery for him at UPenn that would finally end the agonizing pain he endured every time he blinked his eyes. We thought this would be the worst of his days and vowed to spoil him with lots of love and attention. When we first brought Ray home we quickly discovered his “dislike” for other dogs. He was an only child at the time but now 4 years later he has 3 siblings after we rescued his sister Storm. We rescued her from a kill shelter in S.C. and after some wonderful pilots from Pilots N Paws flew her here, we took her to our vet who told us she was pregnant. In March 2010 she gave birth to 10 puppies. Ray was still not in love with the idea of siblings, so we kept everybody seperated. Once the pups were about 8-9 weeks old, we found them great homes and adopted them out and kept 2!! Tatonka and Theodore are now little brothers to Ray and he actually has come to LOVE having them around – and now more than ever, I see how they make a difference in his life and give him that extra “spunk” that he needs since be diagnosed with Osteosarcoma.

Yup, that’s right, our poor Ray was diagnosed with bone cancer on 9/18/10. Ray had been at the vet 8/14/10 for a checkup and he had no signs or symptoms of the bone cancer than. Our vet is AMAZING to say the least. He truly cares about Ray. Not long after that appointment we noticed one day that he was limping. Ray is a 100lb Rottie and would jump in and out of my husband’s truck – so when we saw him limping we thought maybe he hurt himself doing just that. The limp seemed to disappear but when it returned we took him back to the vet, fearing it was his hips or lyme’s disease. Never in a million years did we think he had cancer. Upon examination by our vet, he felt a lump on the rear left leg and was worried. An xray confirmed our vet’s suspicions…cancer. We were deeply devasted at the news. We made an appointment at UPenn for a consult on 9/23/10 & on 9/24/10 Ray had his leg amputated. We initially thought after first hearing the diagnosis that we would not choose to amputate but after leaving Penn we were convinced that amputation was the only choice. We just want what’s best for Ray & amputation gives him that chance to live the rest of his life without the pain. After talking to our Vet and reading everything from the tripawds site, we felt like we made the right choice.

Ray trying on his Halloween pirate costume a week before his diagnosis

Christmas 2009