Slip sliding

Tuesday, August 21

Milo went to the vet for his follow up appointment from the last dental surgery to repair the hole up into his sinus cavity.

Not the greatest news, but not awful either.

The stitches have held - which is very good - but the area which was stitched is still very swollen and red.

 

So.... two more weeks of antibiotics and soft food and then back to the vet for another check.

Milo was happy to see his friends and happy that he didn't have to stay for more surgery!

dog days

Saturday, August 18

This has been a summer of recovery for Milo.  It seems like he's had so many challenges and every time it appears that we might be really on the mend, he faces another obstacle.  

Milo's healing from the last dental surgery has been slow.  He began rubbing his face/muzzle after the pain meds were done probably because with any healing it becomes itchy.  The vet recommended that we put him on Benedryl, so he's had some morning and night. Also, I've kept him with me 24/7 to watch him so he doesn't scratch.  He likes this - a lot!!

We are due to go back to the vet this week to check out his mouth stitches.  From what I see it looks good, but I have not done a lot of probing or bothering in that area.

I don't like....

thunder, fireworks and gunshots.    They are scary.

I could tell something wasn't right when Milo began walking beside me as I was on the riding lawnmower.  He was asking me to help him get away from the noise of a neighbor who is apparently firing a rifle at a target.  Milo does NOT like this new hobby.

So... with storms it seems that it is the noise of the thunder rather than the barometric pressure change.

Other sudden noises don't seem to startle him.  However, when the other dogs are in trouble - which occurs a fair bit as Sabrina and Leo have soooo much prey drive - he doesn't care for that.  Even if it is not shouting, but the whisper commands Milo knows that someone is in Troubleeeee!

Healing at home

Saturday, August 11

Milo has been doing remarkably well in his healing process.  He was so restless when we arrived home from the vet but finally settled down and had a fairly restful night.  However, I was so worried about him rubbing his muzzle with either his paws or up against something that I was hyper vigilant about every little movement or shift so I was a wreck.

I stayed with him on Thursday as his muzzle was so swollen and he was obviously very uncomfortable.  He finally had ceased drooling blood but is still doing a bit of drooling.    I've been feeding him soft food lest he injure himself on hard kibble as he has a tendency to eat with a desperation - understandably given his former situation.   Since he is on two meds which require food - antibiotics and pain meds - I've been administering them separately to be easier on his tummy.  So far, so good.

He has been very good about not bothering his muzzle for which I'm grateful as we've not had to use the cone.  He has been pretty sleepy so I'm trying to let him rest as much as possible, but he has been extremely clingy so it is difficult to get on with all the chores around here.

Overall, Milo is doing much better than I thought he would when I picked him up on Wednesday.  Good boy!   Back to the vet in about 10 days to see how well he is actually doing.

We went to the store yesterday to get more soft food - am trying Sojos- and he met the staff who immediately fell in love.  His haircut almost always sparks conversation, especially since he is looking more collie-like.

dental drama

Wednesday, August 8

************WARNING!  Very graphic image!***********

Milo went in to the vet to have his canine tooth area hole closed up today.  It was a full on surgical procedure rather than the "stitch" for which I had prepared myself for.  Due to the size of the hole, tissue had to be stretched from both the gum line above the hole as well as from the roof of his mouth to cover the hole and "meet" and fold over - so there are more like 14-17 stitches to make that happen and a great deal of pulling of flesh which means more discomfort for the poor guy.

Although Milo was cheerful when we arrived at the vet's office and happy to go off with his friends this morning, apparently the memory of his recent surgery with his teeth getting pulled were with him.  I was told later that after I left and he was brought back to the kennel area, he began putting on the brakes and trying to get back to me.  :(   I'm glad I didn't know this before I left the vet's office this morning or I would have felt terrible and more concerned for him.

When I picked him up tonight he again was extremely drugged up on morphine and wearing an enormous cone to prevent him from rubbing his face with his paw which, apparently, he began attempting as soon as he began waking from the anesthesia.  If he rips out these stitches, he will have a permanent hole there as there is no more flesh to work with.  A permanent hole up to his sinus could pose lots of issues for him in the future.

He was drooling blood and had resisted sleep after surgery even after being given a big dose of morphine for pain and discomfort.  As I was standing in the lobby talking with the vet staff Milo nearly nodded off leaning against my leg.   Probably because I had them remove the giant cone since we own two cones at the house and he was grateful for the reprieve of the dreaded "doggie lampshade".

Going out of the building he nearly fell over trying to pee and barely missed smacking into the corner of the building.  After we got Milo loaded into his crate in the van, he slumped against the side of the crate and refused to relax at first - still fighting the pain meds.  By the time we got home about 40 minutes later he had relaxed enough to lie down.

We've had a very quiet evening with him sleeping - finally - as he was a bit nervous acting when we got into the house.  The side of his muzzle where he had the surgery is very swollen, but the blood drooling has abated.   I've been offering ice chips with salmon juice and he's had one small meal and will have another before bedtime.  Hoping he has a very quiet and restful night.

Can't believe all the health trauma this guy has had to endure!  Poor kid.  Please send positive energy for a successful outcome in this latest challenge for Milo.  Thank you.

Below is a photo from the vet of Milo's procedure.  It is very graphic.  It is of his upper jaw and the stitches are around the flap of skin covering the hole to the sinus and the breathing tube is still in place.

Host no more!

Sunday, August 5

Milo had delivered a beautiful sample of poo before we arrived at the vet the other day and since it has been a couple of months since he was treated for hookworm, it was time to re-check.  Good looking poo with NO PARASITES!  Good job, Milo!

Today we went to a newly opened dog park to check it out and the dogs gave it 4 paws up.   Milo actually played with Leo!  Actually, because Leo found some rough housing pals Milo got to gang up on him with others.  

Back to the vet on Wednesday for stitches in the sinus fistula hole in his gumline.  Hoping that the antibiotics are doing their job with the infection.  He loves the daily doses of yogurt to go along with antibiotics to keep his good bacteria flourishing.

summer bummer

Thursday, August 2

Postings have been scarce due to illness (mine), schedule (mine), another herding trial for Sabrina and Leo, and computer issues (mine).

Following Milo's dental surgery, it seemed as though he was doing well.  He's been eating and has seemed alert and happy.  The swelling went down on his muzzle and he's been seeking out chew sticks (which I gently removed as he has a number of stitches in his mouth).    I guess we sometimes forget how stoic those collies can be!

Yesterday Leo started sniffing at Milo's mouth.  I opened up each side of his mouth to examine the canine area where the stitches are.  The right side was nice and pink.  The left side was white and had a slight odor. I e-mailed the vet (as it was about 7 pm when we began this exploration) to inquire as to whether this might be normal.   Milo's last day of antibiotics was today and I suspected infection since the white are was on the side which was abscessed under the canine.

I brought Milo to work with me today because I had a feeling that we were going to wind up at the vet.  Ultimately I was able to take photos today and send them to the vet.  He called to ask me to poke at the white area to see what the consistency was like.  Suffice to say that we ended up going to the vet at the end of the day.

Dr. Ryan Speltz probed the suspect canine tooth area with a Q tip and began digging out food and pus-like ooze.  Yuck!  He assured me that because the nerve was gone that Milo was not in pain, but Milo was not terribly interested in cooperating in the procedure none the less.

The area is infected and called a sinus fistula.  This means a different stronger antibiotic for 10 days and Milo will need to have the area - the hole - stitched, but not until we get rid of the infection.

Here are the photos:

Right canine socket.  Nice and pink!

Left canine socket - area below the thumb is the problem site.

Canine socket following the probe to clear the area of food and pus.