10 days later

and Lola is doing GREAT!

She isn't quite ready for a bikini

how cute are those spots!

But she's back to her old self. And was even playing with multiple toys at once.

We are spoiling her. She has slept on the people bed. And is getting extra treats. But she does still have a few pounds to gain.

And while she may have forgotten how awful this whole experience was, we haven't, and we're really really happy to have our Lola back.

Lola is on trend

I saw this article a few weeks ago, and realized that Lola is not just post-op, she's stylish. While her shaved "tattoo" may not be heart or paw print shaped, it does offer a peek at her secret spotted skin. (She had a pain patch there for a few days post-op).

She is also super model thin. But making serious strides to regaining her more curvaceous figure. She's finally hungry (after a week of not eating). 

She has a little cankle problem that may prevent her from cashing in on her new stylish appearance. The IVs have left her paws rather swollen. But they too seem to be improving.

She's exploring new fashions, as she needs to wear a t-shirt most of the time to keep her incision clean (and keep her bedding from getting incision goo on it). 

And no dog surgery would be complete without the cone of shame. Lola's not wearing it all the time, but when resting she does have a tendency to lick her paws where the IVs were, so she gets to wear the cone then.

Overall she's recovering well. Night one at home was uneventful. She hasn't had pain meds in about 14 hours and seems comfortable. And I'm just really happy to have her home.

What a week (all is well)

A week ago we came home from a week away.
Picked up the dogs at camp.
Noticed that Lola looked skinny.
Noticed that she wasn't interested in food.
Coaxed her to eat.
Cleaned up vomit.
Took her to the emergency vet.
Thought she just had a bug.
Saw her get worse.
Back to the ER.
X-rays didn't show any objects, but showed something in her stomach.
Surgery found a giant wad of blanket. Stomach and intestine impacted.
Back to emergency vet for recovery
Midnight call to let us know she wasn't doing well.
Slight improvement in the wee hours of the morning.
Slight improvement by afternoon visit.
Steady progress over next few days.
5 nights at the emergency vet.
and finally today, home.

We knew that Lola gets stressed when crated when we have people over (and she's crated because she freaks out when we have people over and scares them), and we knew that she shreds her bedding in times of extreme stress. What we didn't know was that she was eating some of the bedding.

I wish I had some lessons to share to help others avoid the week we've had, but other than piecing together shredded bedding to see if anything is missing, or perhaps not putting bedding in with a stressed out dog, I'm not sure what to say. We may have also downplayed some warning signs that something was wrong.

I'm also unsure about pet insurance. We do not have it. This week was very expensive. But looking at the premiums and multiplying that by the number of pets we have, and their general good health, and comparing what we would've paid in premiums against what we've paid in vet bills over the past years, I think we come out even, or ahead without the insurance. It was just a hard pill to swallow all at once.

We're just very happy to have Lola at home, snoozing in her t-shirt. And making our family complete once again.

Happy New Year!

As you can probably tell by the complete lack of updates, life has gotten quite busy. The new job and school are keeping me too busy to take many pictures of the gang, much less write anything that isn't work or school related.  (I do post pics occasionally on Franklin's Facebook page)

Everyone is doing great. The 2011 holiday gift stuffed toys are still intact. The tubshitters seem to have stopped tubshitting.

Lola has claimed a new bed with her best friend:

Franklin is testing the bounds of how long he can go without a haircut (3 months seems to be the limit, I called and made an appointment for next weekend):

and he got a new necktie

Doesn't he look smart and businesslike?

Lola is suffering a bit from winter - fewer outings and opportunities to see strangers. We haven't been able to go to SocialBulls often, but we'll try to get back in a groove. She misses her weekly trips to the farmers' market as well, and is showing more fear and stress. We're going to try the Thundershirt. Have any of you had luck with it for anxious dogs? 

In general, life is good.

We wish all of you the best for 2013!

Franklin Friday

Franklin has been getting along better with Lindsey lately. They've cuddled in the chair, and they've sunbathed together.

BFFs?

More Lola's bed - twin style

Our friends at Two Pitties in the City often talk about how their dogs have melded into one over the years. Lola and Franklin have lived together for two years, and I don't think they're ever going to look as related as Mr. B and Ms. M, but they are starting to share mannerisms.

All Lola's bed posts here.

WW