Pup Surgery

 

Last Friday, my sweet little pit bull Carmen had surgery to repair a torn ACL. For almost a month we had known it was partially torn, and we'd been doing everything we could per the vet's instructions to keep it from tearing completely.  Then, Christmas happened.  Lots of people and changes from routines and, somehow, in the middle of all the madness, she tore it completely.

 

The drive home from the vet's office after picking her up from her surgery was heartbreaking (see above). She laid like that on the seat next to me and just cried.  My dog never cries.  She doesn't whine or complain much at all, but this was heart-wrenching. Of course, with my dog being my baby and the actual baby inside me producing crazy hormones, I cried too. Wept. The whole way home.

That was a bad, bad night.  We were instructed to make sure she was confined ("strict confinement" was what we were told) and to keep her from licking the bandages.  So, for most of the night we just watched her and tried to make her comfortable. She kept crying, and she had a wild, crazed look in her eyes from all the medication. Poor pup was strung. out.

At bedtime, I decided to stay out in the living room with her, where her crate was. We put her cone on her and put her in the crate, and my husband went to bed. She couldn't figure out how to lay down with the cone on, even when I showed her, and she started panicking. 

Mostly because I was worried she'd puke in her cone or have a total anxiety attack, but also because I'm a bleeding heart, I took her out of the crate and took her cone off her.  We laid on the floor together, but every time she would fall asleep and I'd try to Ninja my pregnant self off the floor and onto the couch, she'd wake up and whine again.

The vet's office told us not to put her on furniture in case she jumped down, but whatever...I know my dog. She needed SLEEP. At 5am, I climbed up into our big chaise, picked her up with me, and put her on my chest, with her bandaged leg stretched out. After a few minutes, she fell asleep right on my chest, and I did soon after.  We slept like that for 3 hours.

I woke up my husband -- coffee at the ready -- at 9 and asked him to take the morning shift so I could SLEEP. Our  baby girl was in much better spirits.

 

After a few stressful days of wearing the cone pictured above, we discovered that it was too small, and she was able to reach her bandages and lick them incessantly.  Pain in the ass. We already felt like we had to watch her constantly without the cone...but now we couldn't leave her alone WITH the cone.  Plus, we confined her to a spare room each night, where she would whine. Incessantly.

Yesterday, we went to have her bandages removed.  And she got a brand. new. e-collar.  Check out the look on her face below. I died laughing when they brought her out wearing it. Apparently it needed to be way past her nose, so she couldn't get to her leg with the sutures now exposed.

However, as much as she acted all awkward and pitiful, she finally got tired and found a way to lay down...and she did. not. move. for four hours. She slept so long and so hard that I actually went over and put my hands on her belly a few times to make sure she was still breathing.  Poor baby.  She had a much better night last night, and I was actually able to come to work guilt- and worry-free today.  I REALLY don't think she'll be able to get to her sutures with this cone on, and she seems to whine more when she knows we're in the house but she can't get to us.

So now we just have to put up with this big, floppy, awkward cone for another 5-7 days.

The hardest part for her is not being able to sit and cuddle with us...me especially.  She's been incredibly clingy with me ever since I got pregnant, and now she can't get close. It's hard on her AND hard on me.  But we can do it.

Pitbulls are Awesome

Did you know that October 27th is National Pit Bull Awareness Day? A lot of organizations are celebrating the breed and raising awareness about the FACTS vs. the MYTHS regarding this wonderful breed all month long.

I celebrate it every day of my life.

You guys have met Carmen before.  But I want to use her as an example throughout this post and, frankly, I just like posting pictures of my baby.

Despite plenty of websites debunking myths about pitbulls (or what people assume are pitbull breeds) and explaining the importance of the responsibility of the dog owner and ending Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL), there are still others who make a life's work out of trying to label the breed as "dangerous."

You guys...let me veer off track for a second and say that one of my BIGGEST pet peeves in any situation is to take the actions of one and then label a group because of it. 

Listen closely, kids.

*ahem*

YOU CAN'T SAY "ALL" IF ONE PROVES OTHERWISE.

 There are so many hot-button issues (especially as we approach the 2012 Presidential election) circulating the interwebs and social media where we need to remember and apply this.

All Republicans aren't conservative, closed-minded haters.

All Democrats aren't liberal wing-nuts who have no morals.

All Christians aren't judgmental and unloving.

All Athiests aren't cross-burning, occult fanatics who worship Satan.

All pitbulls aren't dangerous, vicious dogs who will bite the faces off of children.

I understand that there are plenty of examples to support the above samples, if you look closely enough.  HOWEVER. If you can prove that even one is different, then you can't say "all."  Just...stop it. Okay?

Some celebrities such as Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer), Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) and Wil Wheaton (OMG meet Marlowe!) use their tremendous influence encourage animal rights and adopting/rescuing dogs from shelters (all breeds!), and I just know it makes a huge difference.

There's also the story of how a shelter in California took in and rehabilitated many of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's dog-fighting campaign, and many of those "aggressive, vicious" dogs are now in happy homes...some even (gasp!) with children! 

Luckily, the dogs are forgiving. When someone loves them, they don't remember how badly they were treated.

Don't believe me?  Go read London's story.  We could all learn a lesson from these animals. 

Yesterday, I read on Twitter that Kelly Ripa made an off-handed remark about pitbulls in an interview with Christopher Walken.  No, she didn't go off on a tirade about the breed.  Yet, it was still detrimental to the work that pitbull advocates are trying to do to educate people.

Kelly Ripa has major influence on the American public, and therefore she has a responsibility to retract her statement.  Her comments could encourage the myth about pits, and have major consequences, including but not limited to even fewer rescues/adoptions of this breed in shelters all across the country.

There's a petition on Change.org to get Kelly to not only apologize publicly, but to spend some time in a pitbull rescue facility to see how the dogs really are. I'm signing it.

You know...I don't publicly go off on a passionate tangent on "issues" very often.  Most people take care of that (and then some) for me on Facebook, Twitter, etc.  I won't get on my electronic soap box about healthcare. I won't publicly denounce Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.

You may say I have misplaced priorities. But I just can't keep quiet about pitbull ignorance.

Animals can't defend themselves when people spread slander.  We have to give them a voice.  We have to educate ourselves and make sure that no more dogs are shot just because a cop thought they were dangerous.

Or put down just because they look like they are a pitbull.

Look, I understand a natural fear, because of the stories and the media and the slander, or even just because they can be large dogs.  A large dog even coming at you to lick your face can be scary.

I'm afraid of most cats.  Because some little bastard (or bastards) bit me or scratched me when I tried to pet it.  But that doesn't mean all cats are assholes. 

If you ever want to see just how wrong the hype is about pitbulls, just look at London.  Go visit a shelter and see one. 

They are strong.  They have a lot of energy.  They want nothing more than to please their masters.  Irresponsible owners are the reason the dogs get a bad rap.

Or come visit Carmen!  She may lick your feet (she's a weirdo like that) but if you scratch her chest and play tuggy-rope with her, she will be your best friend for life.