Okay, panicking a little here. When Syd got up at the vet's before we picked him up, he didn't cry or whimper. When we got him up to go home, he didn't cry or whimper. We got him halfway home and he started to cry a little. Thinking it was because he was partly in the sun, he was okay. When we got home and tried to coax him up, his back legs just didn't act like they wanted to work and he would scream. We finally got him up using a towel and then he slowly went down the ramp to the grass. He just stood there and wouldn't move. We tried to get him into the shade to potty and he stood there and urinated. We finally got him over to the steps to try and help him come in. He tripped and hit his sutered up jaw and he just laid down and wouldn't move anymore. We let the other dogs out to sniff him and maybe hoped he would go inside the ground level garage until we got the ramp put up from the garage into the basement (about a 4 foot drop). We got a fan and put on him and gave him something to eat (half a can of dog food, which he ate. And we gave him a little water). During the time my husband was building the ramp, Sydney would try and just barely move and scream. He did this for over an hour. I called the vet and told him what was going on and he said I could go ahead and give him a deramaxx and if needed, I could also give him one later on (these were prescribed for one every 24 hours). He said to keep an eye on him and not let him have any deramaxx for an hour, then give him one if he kept his food/water down. He said that he checked on his mobility and pain after his surgery and he said Syd didn't show any screaming or pain. He did say that sometimes when they are away from home and in a strange place, endorphins are higher and thus they are in less pain, and as soon as they are home, they sometimes will be more painful. (And like an idiot, I forgot to get the vet's home # in case of something like this).
Well we finally got him up after an hour to go down the ramp into the basement. My husband was trying to help guide him and I told him to go and he tried to race down the ramp and fell on his front. My husband caught him and we slowly slid him down the carpeted ramp until he got to the end. He then very unsteadily hobbled into the bedroom where the dog beds are and laid down. The whole time he was there, every so often he would scream just lying there doing nothing (was not trying to get up or anything). I had to deliver the tissue samples to Fed-Ex so I left for an hour. When I came back, Sydney and my husband were in an adjacent bedroom where the ramp was. I asked him if he had gotten up by himself and my husband said with a little help from him, but that he's been screaming about every 20 minutes. My husband said he relaxed when we barely rubbed the shaved skin above the incision. So I laid down beside him and did that. He would fall almost asleep and then I noticed he would start to dream and move his back legs slightly as well as his left front leg. Then he would tense up the bottom part of his incision and scream. I then would rub it and he would relax again. He did this several more times within the past hour and I'm thinking he's just tensing up the muscle to "dream run" and it hurts him and he screams. Just a little bit ago, when my husband brought down some dinner for me to eat, he said earlier when I was gone and my husband went into the other room, Syd couldn't stand it and wanted to not let him out of his sight. So my husband moved him into that room with him and told me that as long as he was within sight of me, he was relaxed. As I was eating my dinner at the desk in that room, Syd started to low growl like he does when he's wanting to be vocal with us. But this time, he started moaning, then he'd tense up and scream. God, is this normal for the first day????
I called the vet's office, which rings over to one of the vet's homes and I left a message asking if we could get something for the pain so he could sleep tonight and start to mend. After watching him for another hour, I thought it might be muscle spasms and called the vet again and left another message. I don't think the deramaxx is working at all and I am just beside myself (and probably so is Sydney) because of his screaming and pain. We have some muscle relaxants, lortab and valium, but not sure if these would be safe if we have given him deramaxx a few hours ago or even have any effect on a dog. He needs to get some rest so he can start to heal. I'm hoping that the vet calls back soon. So much for Sydney being one of those that bounces back 2 hours after surgery. Now I'm beginning to think that I underestimated Syd's resolve to be able to do this. I sure hope it gets better, cause it can't get much worse than it is right now. |
