Holy medicine!

As you can see, Dixie is on a variety of medications. We even have a "Dixie" medicine cabinet in our house now. I wanted to share with ya'll Dixie's medicine regiment we go through twice a day. One of the pain meds and two of the supplements are chewable. The rest go down with a little chicken!


After laying this all out, I said to Adam, "It's like Dixie is a cancer patient!" And then I remembered she is.

Once monthly:
Interceptor - heartworm medication

Once daily:
glucosamine, chronjointin, & MSM - joints
fish oil - skin & coat

Twice daily:
Cepha - antibiotic
Tramadol - pain medication
Rimadyl - anti inflammatory & pain medication
multivitamin - general health
tri-biotic gel - ear infection

Dixie seems to be doing well with her pain, so I think we may cut down on the Tramadol to once a day. It's hard to say because it's only a 12-hour pill. Maybe we should just keep up with it until she gets her stitches out next Tuesday. She needs to finish the Cepha to ward off infection. The Rimadyl she will take on "sore days" from here on out. And of course, we'll keep up with the vitamins and supplements.

Dixie showing off her mobility skills.

Adam's better at this video thing.

I think Dixie is feeling pretty good today. We took a walk down to the end of the block (4 houses down!) and back. She wanted to go further, but I didn't have a leash with me. Those bunnies – I just know she'll go after one if she sees one. Last thing I want to see is a major face plant!


Dixie's back!

Dixie's been laying on her left side where her leg used to be. I think that's a good sign. It is the most bruised today though. It's weird. The top part of the incision doesn't have bruising; all the bruising is on the bottom. I guess gravity is the cause. It's redish-purple. I think it will be gone by next week. I'm only giving her a Tramadol and Rimadyl in the AM and PM now. No point in giving her more drugs than she needs. She's also still taking her Cepha antibiotic and will finish that whole bottle in a couple weeks.

Dixie's incision.

I ordered some medicines from 1-800-PetMeds yesterday. No shipping, no tax and $5 coupon code! Sweet. I ordered a big bottle of Super Joint Enhancer Chewable Tablets and Super VitaChews (both on sale!). As soon as they show up, Dixie will start taking those too. They are chewable—no more shoving my finger down her throat! Except for her fish oil pills, but wrap it up with a little lunch meat or bread, and it goes down like… like lunch meat or bread. Ha.

We are hoping to get back into our house today. Although it's not off to a very good start—the A/C guy forgot to set his alarm and was 2 hours late this morning… *sigh*

Preparation

For the past week, Dixie, Adam and I have been preparing for the surgery.

Dixie had a chest xray and they didn't see any cancer. So we are pretty sure it hasn't spread.

I've been researching canine amputations. My favorite site is Tripawds.com. I'm also reading Without Regret by Suan Neal.

We bought Dixie a Ruff Wear Palisades Pack with the Web Master harness and she doesn't mind wearing it at all. I'm looking forward to helping her get up and down stairs, in and out of the car with it. (A shout-out to Travel Hounds for the pack and the sample food and treats. You just acquired a new loyal customer!)


I also bought her a new Elizabethan collar. Dixie would always run into walls and furniture with her traditional plastic one. She'd also almost take your legs out with it when greeting you at the door! I think the Comfy Cone will be a better solution. I bought it at a cute little shop called Noble Beasts in Phoenix.


We have some towels in case Dixie drains again, like her elbow did. We also have some bath mats and non-skid things to put under towels so she doesn't slide around on the wood and tile.

We have some yummy treats to use as encouragement as needed.

Now we just have to find some vitamins and glucosamine, etc to start her on. This dog is going to get star treatment from now on!