Chasing Charley

The past few days have been blissfully uneventful!  Charley is happily lounging on the dining room floor as I type this — taking a break from his preferred spot on the couch, as of late.

I change his bandage daily – it’s a little seepy, but nothing alarming.  I noticed today that there’s a little gaping in the top layers of his skin, but the layers beneath seem to have come together well.  It looks like Wednesday or Thursday this week we’ll be getting our stitches out!  I hope that’s a pain-free process….  but I’m a little nervous to ask.

Charley had been taking 100 mg Tramadol, every 8 hours, round the clock.  I’m backing off slightly on that — trying to just let him tell me when he needs more.  Now we’re at about 100 mg every 12 hours.  This is easier to do on the weekends, when I’m around him more.  During the week I leave him for 4-5 hours at a time when I go to work — and I worry about him being in pain or something while I’m gone.  So maybe I’ll switch him to 50 mg every 6 hours or so for a bit just to keep him comfortable.

The other small challenge at our house is food!  Charley will NOT touch regular dry dog food anymore!  He was at about 3-4 cups of dried food every day before the accident.  Now I’m lucky if I can get him to eat 1 can of dog food (NOT the chopped kind — has to be big chunks of meat, preferably chicken) every day.  Then I’m supplementing with some table food — often rice and chicken.  Today he ate 10 ounces of canned chicken and a big bowl of brown rice — so hopefully his appetite is returning somewhat.  I’m just hoping we get back to more of the regular dog food someday….

Any suggestions are welcome!  I have tried hiding the wet food under the dry food — he manages to nuzzle all around it.  And I’ve mixed it all up w/ a spoon — then he seems to just avoid the whole bowl until I serve him something else.

Oooh – I was going to share another tip!  We change bandages daily, at the recommendation of our vet.  Did you know that you can get Vet Wrap at Tractor Supply Co. for HALF the cost that you can get it from a PetCo or Pet Supplies Plus type place??  And our vet has us using a super large maxi pad instead of gauze/non-stick pads.  He says they’re sterile & they have worked great.  Plus they’re CHEAP, too!  Just have to pass along some bargains when I find them….  😉

1.    Ginger 10.24.10 @ 6:34 pm      
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   That is a good recommendation on the maxi pad. Would have never thought of that. As for the food issue, all I can tell you is that Ginger went through a phase where she wouldn’t touch her regular food too. We just kinda gave her what she wanted and over time backed off on the people food and rice and gave her regular dog food in its place. Now, after over six months, she is back to just regular dog food. I’d say try a few things and see what Charley likes. Glad to hear he is feeling better.

   Ginger and her pack

2.    jdsmom 10.24.10 @ 8:07 pm      
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   Glad you are feeling better Charley and sounds like you are healing nicely. Keep enjoying that couch!

   Spirit JD’s mom

3.    Carmen (Catie's Mom) 10.24.10 @ 8:23 pm      
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   Uneventful is blissful indeed.

   I’m glad Charley is feeling so much better. What a relief for you and the rest of the household.

   I don’t have any advice for you about the dog food dilemma. Except for some off-days post-surgery and post-chemo treatments, Catie continued to eat her kibble with typical gusto. Sometimes I mix their food with a dollop of plain yogurt (both Catie and Riley love yogurt).

   Again, very happy Charley is on the mend!

4.    etgayle 10.25.10 @ 9:41 am      
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   great tips!!! food wise, gayle has never met a bowl of kibble she didn’t like…(she takes after me…). we do offer dehydrated food (honest kitchen’s thrive) as a ‘treat’ to get the pills down…maybe you could blend some of that in.. she and jane also LOVE cottage cheese…a little mixed in might help like catie’s yogurt…

   charon & gayle

5.    etgayle 10.25.10 @ 9:42 am      
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   of course we ‘rehydrate’ the dehydrated food….;)
   charon

6.    jerry 10.26.10 @ 5:46 pm      
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   Great tip about the vet wrap!

   Charlie, it’s good to see you’re making such progress, we knew you could do it.

   As for the eating, well, Charlie’s trying to tell you something….real foods taste so much better! A little home cooking on top of his kibble would probably make a huge difference in his appetite. I know it seems like a pain at first, but if you make a big batch, it can last you up to a month when you freeze it. See our Nutrition Blog for tips and ideas!