Good news - Skype’s recent injury is healing well. The vets optimism that it was a muscular problem and not something arthritic or nerve related seems well founded - after 3 days of kennel rest and anti-inflammatory drugs he’s already feeling much better. Last night he was even able to (slowly) crawl up in to bed with me again!
I spoke with the vet and she confirmed that this was a good sign but urged me to continue to keep him very calm and on the anti-inflammatory drugs for the remainder of the course to prevent re-injury. As much as he’s bored to tears and getting frustrated I’m just glad it’s something he will be over soon as opposed to a life time of pain and aggravation.
Poor Skype is on kennel rest (very low-key, no running, no playing, no stairs) for a week thanks to a sacral canal(?) injury on his back. It’s most likely a minor muscle injury at the junction of his spine and rear hips. He got diagnosed yesterday at the vet after a few days of pain when walking up stairs. It’s actually gotten so bad that he can’t get up on my bed or the couch because angling his rear legs up is too painful.
The good news is that if the vet is correct he will be much better in a week or so. The bad news is that this kind of injury can be a very early sign of canine arthritis - certainly something I hope is not true. I don’t need to see poor Skype endure pain like my grandmother did through much of her life.
The last two weeks have been interesting and full of change. First off today is my last day working for MSCOM. I’m leaving after two years with the team as a Project Manager to go join the business organization which owns the Volume Licensing Service Center to pursue a career in Product Management. Moving from the implementation to the requirements side of the house is a good move for me and really has me excited about the opportunity to effect change and really challenge the space I’m in to continue to innovate.
Next off I met David, one of the sweetest men on the planet. I’ve spent practically the entire last week and a half with him and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s one of those intense whirlwind relationships that seems to go at a million miles an hour - fun stuff while it lasts and heres hoping that it will last a very long time!
Finally Skype got to meet David’s roommates 12 week old pit bull puppy Porter. The two of them have been beating up on each other every other day or so and having a blast at it. David is a really active guy and thanks to his influence Skype’s activity level has roughly doubled. He seems happier for it and I hope to keep him active like this as long as he can keep up.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
I just got home from quite the whirlwind weekend. It all started when Skype split one of his nails open to the wick Thursday night which necessitated a trip to the vet and a little anesthesia on Friday. After putting Skype under (pic below) the vet cut off the nail above where it broke and got him all bandaged up.
With a little help from the veterinary technician we poured the still woozy Skype into the back seat of my car and drove down to Walla Walla where the rest of the family awaited. It was good to see them - it’s been a while since all 5 of us (mom, dad, my sister, and her husband) had been together.
Between his paw, the stress of being away from home, and the slight humiliation of having to wear a bootie Skype has been very high maintenance all weekend. Due to that and the fact that I have a ton of stuff to do at work and really should do some work tomorrow I came home today rather than on Christmas day.
The pass was kind of dicey on the way home but thanks to my A6’s Quattro 4WD we made it back safe and sound. Now I’m kicking back on the couch relaxing a little so as to be ready for being productive tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The goodness of raw meat has graced my household today! I got a number of tubes of raw ground meat bits from a butcher and am slowly switching Skype over to a partially raw food diet. No surprise that he loves eating meat twice a day and I think he’s going to get along fabulously with the new raw diet.
Not to force Skype to be the only raw foodist in the house I’ve been doing my part and eating a fair amount of sushi of late. I did Wasabi Bistro on Saturday for Scott’s birthday party (Happy Birthday Scott!), and Hana tonight with Ken. Some would call Sushi twice in 3 days excessive - I call it just right.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Yesterday was another long day at the Vet getting Skype’s tooth socket checked out. The past couple of days the socket has been getting red and swelled and the vet agreed that it was infected. He’s on antibiotics again in the hopes that it will finish healing properly. If the antibiotics don’t help it’s likely there is a tooth fragment or bone spur in there and some surgery will likely be required.
Funny (and sad) that Skype is so much like me in this respect. Our bad teeth will be our undoing someday!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Skype has unfortunately joined his father in the wonderful wide world of adult dental woes. Recently Ken and I were playing with Skype and threw a ball which he lunged to catch - face first into one of my condo’s walls. He hit the wall hard enough with his nose to break the wall, and unfortunately himself as well. One of his tiny front (adult) teeth got knocked loose and it knocked him for a loop for a bit. The next day he seemed fine other than the tooth being a little loose, and today it fell out completely.
Funny timing given that I had a tooth extracted just last month, and two root canals today - it’s almost like a bonding experience. Luckily for Skype he seems pretty much unaware of his plight and is back to his normal self. This has been a particularly emotional parenting moment for me given how many problems I have with my own teeth - something I can really identify with, and love on him for.
Now if I could just condition myself to forget about my own dental problems I would be set. Ignorance is bliss!