Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Misadventures of Holly

Holly loves hearing her dad talk about cheeseburgers!

Last Thursday Holly and Mr. Johnson were playing a little game of ball toss while waiting for me to get home from work.  Holly's pretty aggressive when it comes to chasing after her ball and on this particular afternoon, Holly took a really bad spill on the concrete driveway.  Mr. Johnson phoned me in a panic to tell me about this accident and he thought Holly had broken one of her hind legs because she couldn't walk.  I got home and was able to determine that her leg wasn't broken, but it did look like her hip was dislocated.  After a couple phone calls to pet hospitals to find out who could see her, I broke many speed limits racing back in to Rochester with our poor doggeh and her heartbroken dad in the back seat.

In her fall, Holly suffered a number of other injuries including some serious "road rash" on the inside of her hind leg.....

and a really bad abrasion on her elbow that required a couple of staples (ick!)

She was in a lot of pain at the pet hospital, so the doctor gave her an IV (the little shaved spot on her front leg is almost grown over again).

Fortunately, x-rays revealed no broken bones or dislocated hip, but Holly had to stay in the hospital overnight so the vet could monitor her condition.  It turned out that when Holly fell so hard from her fast run, she ruptured a disc in her back.  For anyone who's ever had a ruptured disc, you probably can remember how painful that was and how your doctor probably recommended bed rest for a couple weeks.  Holly's a pretty active girl, but she is trying to follow the doctor's orders as much as possible! 
   

Holly also came home with some presciption meds to help her feel better (no co-pay on pet meds though!)  For 2 weeks she's taking Rimadyl (an NSAID) and Tramadol (for pain).  She loves the Greenies Pill Pockets and so do I. (I wish I had know about these years ago when I was shoving pills down Sophie's throat every day!)

Holly's doing much better now.  Her back legs are getting stronger and she's enjoying all the special attention we're lavishing upon her during her recuperation (including licking off the supper plates).  We're looking forward to her full return to health and regular activities again -- especially those daily walks that we've had to discontinue until her injury has healed.

8 comments:

Kelly said...

....aaahhhh...poor puppy!! Glad she's on the mend! She's so sweet and cute!

Mama Pea said...

Omigosh, how do you manage to keep a dog like that "quiet" for her healing period? So glad to hear she's going to be fine. I'll bet her poor, traumatized dad is going to be very hesitant about playing ball with her now. (Poor guy!)

Taos Sunflower said...

Gosh darn it. Poor Holly. Glad she's doing better. Please give her a little kiss on the top of her head for me. PS Those pill pockets ROCK. We like the bigger ones that they make for capsules, you can get more in them if you're giving multiple meds (Rim and Tram are household staples). You're right...so much nicer than trying to hide pills in cheese or peanut butter.

KGMom said...

Oh, please make sure to give us updates on her healing progress.

Mollie said...

Whoa. She really took some hits! Not news to you, but can she chase balls in the grass instead? She's probably been able to be quiet because of the Tramadol. Kind of sedates them. My doggeh was just on it for when she punctured her cornea. Y'ow! Three weeks of wearing a cone and limited activity. But Holly will get better with all your lovin'!! Glad to see you back on your blog, Ruthie! Pets and kisses on the head to Holly.

RuthieJ said...

Thanks Kelly.

Mama Pea, as she's feeling better it's getting harder to keep her from running & jumping -- esp. when she sees squirrels in the backyard! We will be much more careful with her ball chasing games once she gets the go-ahead for regular activities again.

Thanks Martie. She's doing so much better in only a week and loving all the extra attention and treats (aka pill pockets!)

Hi Donna, I can tell Holly's feeling better -- she's able to go into the "sit" position with much less difficulty after only a week. She sees the vet next Friday for a check-up and staple removal. I'll post an update then...

Hi Mollie, yes, balls tossed only on the grass from now on! I'm glad she didn't have to wear a cone -- she really spent a lot of time licking that big scrape on the inside of her leg, but that's mostly healed up now and she's not licking it much anymore. I thought the staples in her elbow would be more bothersome.... I'm glad the meds calm her down a little bit, since resting is her best recovery.

Mollie said...

Meant to tell you that my doggeh is on to me with Pill Pockets! No matter how small the pill. So while they worked once, these doggehs get wise. We use cheese spread now when she needs pill, until that backfires! ha ha. I was looking at Holly's pictures again and was reminded of how little kids can get so banged up playing! Hope she's feeling better!

RuthieJ said...

Thanks Mollie -- Holly still loves them because she's such a treat fiend! But hopefully she won't have to take pills much longer and won't have a chance to figure it out! She's feeling much better & the reason I know that is she rolled onto her back yesterday -- the first time she's done that since her accident! :-) Keeping my fingers crossed she gets a good report from the vet next Friday.....