Sunday, June 14, 2009

She Who Won't Be Running Anytime Soon...

This past Thursday morning, my beloved and I dropped our dainty flower (66 lbs. of love) off at the vet for a duathlon of surgeries. The first, a fairly standard spay job. The second, something called a "gastropexy," in which a part of her stomach would be attached to something stationary--usually the abdominal wall.*

Two surgeries in one sitting mean a couple of things. Here they are, by the numbers:
1: Giant cone for Copley.
2: weeks she'll be wearing the cone.
9: inches, the length of her incision.
18: hours a day she is currently sleeping (possibly more).
17: times she howls, barks, and/or whimpers when forced into her crate with the giant cone on.
6: times a day she falls asleep snuggled up to her people, whether it be with a paw or head on the lap, or foot, of those who keep her safe and comfort her.



And lastly:
2: weeks she won't be doing any running, jumping, playing, or otherwise cavorting with her canine buddies down the street.

A bummer for such a long-legged sprinter.

*Note: the -pexy is not an aesthetic surgery--it's designed to prevent bloat, an ailment common in bigger dogs with a shape like Copley's--a shape that's indicative of a "free-floating"stomach. Since the stomach isn't attached to anything, if the dog is too active after eating or drinking, it can get twisted, and flip. It's a painful, painful, thing--and often kills the dog in the end, even if the dog can make it to the vet for emergency surgery. See Marley & Me for further reference.

1 comment:

Jill said...

Wow, that incision is something else! I hope she's doing okay.