The vet finally called me back around 4:30pm and was consulting with another vet about what would be the best course for pain management. He said the valium is only a mild sedative and does nothing for pain. He wanted me to stop giving him deramaxx and they had talked about metacam (which he said it like deramaxx and there were a slew of them that just came out on the market for anti-inflammatory and pain control), but they decided on Tylenol 4 with codeine (he said 4 instead of 3 to get the dosing correct). He said he would like to start on the high end of the dosing and work our way down to give Syd some relief. He said to give him 2 tablets 3 times per day (about every 8 hours). He said in a few days if that seems to help him, to cut back to 1 tablet every 8 hours. He said that should give him the sedation he needs to sleep tonight and the pain control to let him start healing. He jokingly asked me what I did to his dog because Syd was not crying or whining or screaming yesterday at all and even when he walked for the first few times there, he did not scream. (He was kidding, so don't think too bad of my vet right now). He called it into Wal-Mart Pharmacy and I told him that if my doctor usually calls in, they have to leave their new script on the answering machine and they are always bad about checking it. He assured me since this was a new script, he would call and speak to the pharamacist directly to get that going for me. Oh, also, he mentioned the fetanyl patch and said due to it being a schedule 2 drug and requires a bunch of red tape and because he knew we were trying to be somewhat cost conscious, he said that he didn't carry them, but he and the other vet felt the Tylenol 4 with codeine would be just as effective and would start working right away. He said he would call the Emergency Vet Clinic to see if they carry them and give them my name, just in case we needed it, we could go get one. My husband had to go to work and I called him to update him on the pain meds. He informed me that when I went to pick up Syd's meds, that I pay cash for it and not try and use our insurance out of habit! Kind of hard to explain how Sydney the Dog Schroeder's pain meds ended up being paid by my insurance company! I guess I had never experienced a vet calling in a script to a people pharmacy as most of the meds I've ever obtained have been at the vet's office. Guess you learn something new everyday!
When I went to feed him tonight, he wouldn't eat at all and everyone else used the ramp coming and going and he wouldn't budge, just kept whining. So I went to Wal-Mart to get the pain meds and hurried back home. After I got back home, I got some raw chicken thighs for Syd. I cut them up and brought them downstairs and went into the room he has been lying in for 2 days. He wasn't there. I panicked. I looked all over and could not find him. I turned on the hall light next to the bathroom (which is at the meeting point of all three bedrooms and there he was standing there in the dark bathroom, very alert, ears perked up and he was grinning! (He had apparently got up to get a drink of water from the bucket). How he did it with only one small lamp on in the bedroom he came from, I'll never know. He looked like he was feeling better so I told him to come into the other bedroom where our bed is at and the other dog beds are at. Of course, I had his cut up chicken and everyone followed me in there. I was trying to get him on a particular bed away from everyone, but couldn't get anyone out of the way and they kept bumping into him and he tottered for a minute, but stayed upright! I then got him to where I wanted him to and he laid down. I then fed him, which he ate well. I gave him his pill and petted him for awhile. I went back upstairs and came back down and put a warm washcloth over his incision area for a few minutes. When I went back out, he was starting to moan a little and cried when he tried to go from lying on his side to propping himself up with his remaining paw. He started acting like he was getting sleepy, so I gave him some water while he was still in the "down" position. I couldn't get him to want to go outside to potty, but I think that when I'm not around, he gets up and does what he wants to do and if he gets tired, he lays down again. I was shocked when I saw him standing there in the bathroom doorway. He wasn't looking too bad, just had a big grin on his face as I greeted him and told him he was a good boy!
After an hour or two, the pain meds seem to help a lot, although it didn't take away all the pain, just the edge. Syd would still cry, but it wasn't screaming but maybe once an hour when he moved wrong. Now he keeps whining like he wants to get up and walk, but doesn't want to. Just now, I told him if he wanted to get up, he'd have to decide on his own. He started to get up, then didn't know how to get moving forward off his bed, so he laid back down. I was thinking about buying some rubber backed throw rugs to put down as a path out of the room so he can learn to stand and get moving forward. I know he knows how to do it, because he's done it when we weren't looking. I'm guessing he'll start motivating around when he's darn good and ready. So, like a rottie, he has to decide on his own what he wants. He's still VERY unsteady on his feet, not knowing which foot to move first, but it's a start.
Syd also seems to like it when he has my leg, my body or a blanket in back of him so he doesn't have to lay down all the way on his side. Right now he's moaning (he's just lying there on his side propped up against a blanket) a horrible blood-curdling moan. (It's gotta get better, it's gotta get better, it's gotta get better!!!). Now if he can just sleep well tonight, then I will too! I have a feeling it's going to be another very LONG night. However, when we finally went to sleep that tonight, Syd would cry and yelp once in awhile or wake up and be screaming. My husband and I took turns laying on the floor with him when he would start this and he would then snuggle up to us and fall sound asleep snoring loudly! At least we were all able to get an hour or two sleep at a time!
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