**Update to this post at the bottom.
I have gotten several emails asking about Ruby so I thought I would give you an update.
To be honest, I am not sure how she is doing. Slow, I guess would be the best answer. She can’t get on the couch (her current favorite spot) by herself and gets embarrassed to “ask me to put her up there” so sometimes she just goes and lays in her kennel a bit. This picture was taken at one of those times. Even though the picture doesn’t look like it, she was actually loving the attention Kalissa was giving her. I think the kennel is her safe house.
The pain meds make her “not like herself”. She doesn’t have the spark in her eye. She doesn’t do her typical mannerisms. She’s really “dopey”. We have however gotten in a rhythm and I am able to get her to take her meds.
Near her incision it is kind of hard and Hubby doesn’t like that. Being it’s Friday and a vet won’t be around tomorrow, Hubby asked if I would take her back to the vet just to make sure everything is okay. We have an appointment in a couple hours.
Last night at 2 am she woke me. I took her outside and she did her business. I took her back upstairs and she couldn’t settle down so I carried her back downstairs and slept on the couch with her. She loves human contact more than even now that she is sick which is okay with me.
All in all I really think Ruby is doing okay. She is MUCH-MUCH-MUCH slower on recovery compared to when she was spayed. I’ll do an update to this post later today after we get back from the vet.
Thank you all for being so concerned about her.
**Ruby went to the vet. More staples were put along the incision. We adjusted her pain meds and took a new x-ray. Everything looked pretty good. The little shelter puppy that was there getting spayed looked pretty good too!!
Oh, I hope Ruby is feeling better soon and has her puppy energy back real soon.
Thank You for the update. And as I sit here, my puppy (2 years old, 80lb german shepherd ) is trying to get in my lap to see what I’m doing. Oh My !!! How we love our furry friends…
Thanks Jo for keeping us posted. Quilters are a caring, loving and generous breed of women, aren’t we? We have the same type kennels for our 4 Shih Tzu, and they like having a blanket or cover over 3 sides of their kennel kind of like a “hidey hole”. Yesterday I went to the Big Lots and got them doggie beds and right now, two of them are on the cold floor sleeping. Go figure.
I’ve been thinking about Ruby and you guys so much! Hope the hardness of the incision isn’t a big deal. You’ll feel better knowing! Glad you had some cuddle time with her last night. Hope you see some improvement real soon. Thanks so much for the updates! Kinda feel like she belongs to all of us! We all worry for her!
Glad to know Ruby is okay. When our cat had surgery all he wanted to do was sleep and I kept waking him up and trying to make him eat. In hindsight I should have just let him sleep but I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to eat if I waited too long. You may not want to know this but I will mention that he lost a little of his personality after the surgery. Before he was still very much a kitten and had this little half hop that he would do with his hindquarters when he was running down the hallway and afterwards we never saw that again. I truly don’t know if he just grew out of it at that point or the surgery took it out of him but it is something you might want to be prepared for. I think all you can do with Ruby is wait and see but I do think that holding and cuddling her is probably the best thing you can do for her right now. I hope all goes well at the vets today. Please keep us posted.
Glad Ruby is doing ok. They are part of family, we hurt when they hurt.
Get well soon Ruby.
Been wondering about Ruby. Don’t incisions get hard as they are healing? Kind of “ropey” feeling, as I recall. Hopefully, you’ll see improvement each day.
I hope everything is okay–maybe it is just some scar tissue starting there? It breaks my heart when they aren’t themselves. We had to give one of our cats meds for awhile-she was our “Hoppy” kitty because she doesn’t just walk anywhere she bounces and bounds! The meds totally changed her personality. I cried each night when we gave them to her-it was a fight that required both of us. Luckily, we finally weened her off of them and she returned to her normal happy, bouncy, got to help mom with all of her crafts-self! Hope Ruby is there soon too!
Bless her, she has had major surgery she is going to be feeling pretty rotten. If she was a human she would have probably only got out of bed for the first time today. gentle fuss on its way to her from the uk xx
Thank you for updating about Ruby. I hope that her “spark” comes back once the meds are done.
Hope everything goes well with the vet today.
Thanks for sharing the update on Ruby. I don’t have any pets, so I consider Ruby part of my family. Let’s hope all is well with her recovery.
I so hope is goes well with the Vet—–pain killers don’t agree with me either…..Lucky for Ruby that animals heal so much quicker….
Please keep us updated on Ruby – I’m worried about her, too.
Thanks for the Ruby update! I am glad that she is getting such good care. It is so hard when a furry friend is sick!
Ah, poor Ruby. The intussusception surgery (what I think she had from your description – when part of her large intestine telescopes in on itself) is more invasive than a spay with a wider incision especially if the vet had to resect the bowel instead on simply sliding it apart. So Ruby will take longer to recover. Dear little dog, I know you are keeping her free from intestinal parasites, one of the many causes, but with a beagle, keeping foreign bodies out of her intestinal tract can be challenging. Prayers she will bounce back. The pain meds can be sedating and antibiotics can make her a bit queasy, so this is normal. If you have any of the styrofoam packing “blocks” from computer boxes or appliance boxes, you can glue a couple together (of duct tape) to make a lightweight set of stair steps for her to climb onto the couch, providing she can climb. I wish I lived closer; I’d give you mine.
Ah, poor Ruby. The intussusception surgery (what I think she had from your description – when part of her intestine telescopes in on itself) is more invasive than a spay with a wider incision especially if the vet had to resect the bowel instead on simply sliding it apart. So Ruby will take longer to recover. Dear little dog, I know you are keeping her free from intestinal parasites, one of the many causes, but with a beagle, keeping foreign bodies out of her intestinal tract can be challenging. Prayers she will bounce back. The pain meds can be sedating and antibiotics can make her a bit queasy, so this is normal. If you have any of the styrofoam packing “blocks” from computer boxes or appliance boxes, you can glue a couple together (of duct tape) to make a lightweight set of stair steps for her to climb onto the couch, providing she can climb. I wish I lived closer; I’d give you mine.