She is definitely putting a little weight on her bad leg when she is standing still. I can feel the pressure from the leg when she stands in my lap. She keeps her toe pointed straight, so it's like she's up on tippy toes. I *hope* that's not a problem and she bends her toes normally in time. She managed to use her bad leg to scratch her left ear from around the side of the inflatable E-collar, so she has flexibility in her hip joint.

Is she on any pain meds now? While pain meds keep her comfortable, I suppose in masking the pain she may be a little more brave in using the leg.

Just my guess. When Tiki limped it was probably due to being painful when she put weight on the leg, as she didn't have pain meds.

You are a great Dad to Bella.

Bella is on Metacam. I have Acepromazine as a backup if needed, but I want to avoid using it if possible because it is a hard-core sedative. Since Bella seems to be a littler perkier and more cheerful each day, I think her pain and discomfort are subsiding. I'm sure the wound site itches because she kept wanting to lick it when I had the E-collar off her. She seems perfectly content running around with her inflatable E-collar on--maybe it is comforting to her in some way. Thanks for the vote of confidence in my fathering skills! I'm tired from the worry and sleep I've lost over her, but I think things are turning the corner.

Sounds like she's doing great.

Don't make me put the cone of shame on you, Bella!!!
 

The little scamp has learned to reach around the side of her inflatable E-collar and lick her incision! I have a few options: (1) watch her more closely, (2) inflate her E-collar to the max in the hopes that she can't reach around it as easily, or (3) the dreaded cone of shame. I really want to avoid the cone of shame because I know it would make her (and me) miserable. She's resting quietly in her crate right now. The next time I take her out, I'll put more air in her inflatable collar. It's fairly firm now, but could be fuller. I haven't added any air since I got it for her yesterday.

Since I last wrote, she's occasionally using her leg to walk/hop on. She's also interested in her toys and nylabone.

I tried inflating Bella's E-collar while she was wearing it, and as soon as I started blowing into the valve, the E-collar was in my hand and Bella was 10 feet away, LOL! Inflating the E-collar seems to help a little in keeping Bella from licking her wound, but she's still trying. If this doesn't work, it's the cone of shame for her.

I went upstairs and told my partner to watch Bella while I was fetching hydrogen peroxide to clear her incision, and as I pulled the hydrogen peroxide out of the medicine cabinet, there was Bella standing next to me. I shouted down to Walter, "How did Bella get up here?" and he replied, "She climbed the stairs." ARRGGGGHHHH!!! She's such a scamp! She didn't injure herself at all climbing the stairs, but ARRGGGGHHH!!!!! anyways. I asked Walter how she got away from him, and he said that he turned his back on her for a second and she was gone.

Okay, while I was writing this, she was able to turn and lick her incision with the fully inflated E-collar! I took it off and put the hard plastic E-collar back on her. She's not as miserable with it as she was during her first days because she has more energy. I hand fed her a quarter cup of water using a tablespoon, and now she's back in her crate. What a day!

Bella had a good night and she's a little dynamo this morning. It looks like she will be wearing the hard plastic E-collar for the duration. She's eating okay, but not drinking as much as I'd like to see her drink. I might take her E-collar off this evening for a little while and see if she will drink from her bowl then. I hate holding tablespoons of water up to her for her to drink--she spills half when I do that--but I'll do it if she needs it for proper hydration.

You could try to mix a little chicken broth with water and see if she will lap that up.

Excellent idea! Thanks for the suggestion! I will either have to make my own broth, or check labeling of the commercial product VERY CAREFULLY because they sometimes put onions in the commercial broth, and onions are highly toxic. <--See, I've learned a lot from Yorkietalk already! :)

I've been doing some reading about chicken broth, and besides the worries about onions, sodium is another consideration. I'm going to the grocery store this afternoon, so I'll buy a chicken and boil it with carrots and parsley, but no onions or salt. I'll refrigerate it, and it will be just for Bella!

Yes the store stuff is junk. I probably would just cook down necks and backs with carrots and celery. The general rule of thumb is 1 lb of bones to 1 quart of water for a nice bone broth. Strain the entire mixture and cool the broth in an ice bath. Skim out the fat (it should harden and float to the top) before giving it to her. You can freeze it in an ice cube tray and add one to her meals or whatever later. Best to get organic local bones but either way this is so nutritious for them. I have to make broth all the time for Teddy who is a rare sterile struvite stone former. But all the dogs love it.

I think I'll use a whole chicken, because Walter wants to make chicken salad with the leftover meat. I did think about removing the fat. I was thinking about using a gravy separator, but chilling the broth and removing the fat as a solid might be easier and more thorough. How long do you boil the chicken? Most recipes I've found say 4 hours...

How much should I dilute the broth if I want to get Bella to drink her water? Should I use 1/4 cup of broth to 3/4 cup of water, or is that too strong or too dilute?

Lol. I'm with Walter on wanting chicken salad. For a whole chicken, 90 mins is all you need. I like to take the chicken apart before I make soup. I flip the bird over and cut the back out using kitchen shears. Then I remove the legs and split the breasts. It makes shredding it later easier later. I personally would not eat any meat or veggies cooked for 4 hours because all the nutrients are in the stock at that point so I always go about an hour and a half when I plan to eat the meat.

Yes solid fat is better to skim off.

Your dilution sounds good. You'll have all the fat off so it will be fine. I give it to teddy diluted about 50/50 and he loves it.

If you want to make better chicken salad, you could roast the chicken first then use the carcass for a bone broth for Bella after. If you do that, you'll need to boil down the bones and skin for longer (3-4 hr).

Thanks for the tips! I was planning to break down the chicken first before boiling it. Walter knows the trick about cutting out the back with the shears. Since I'm lazy (and Bella needs her water sooner than later), I'll go for the hour and a half boiling technique instead of roasting the chicken first and then boiling the skin and bones for 3-4 hours. Walter is a chicken salad whiz and will be able to jazz the bland chicken up with appropriate spices, seasoned salt, onions, peppers, celery, and mayonnaise.

That's awesome. Now I want some chicken salad. Good luck with Bella. I haven't had a dog turn down chicken broth yet so let's hope this works for her too. She's lucky you're so attentive to all her needs.