Bringing Fletch Home

Well, we got to bring Fletch home yesterday. The drainage was all normal and he was walking a little better. Sam and I had a consultation with a vet tech before we took him home. They armed us with Rimadyl (anti-imflammatory), a half tablet to be taken every 12 hours with food; Tramadol (pain killer), 1 tablet to be taken every 8 hours; Cephalexin (antibiotic), 1 tablet to be taken every 8 hours until they're gone; Acepromazine (tranquilizer), 1/2 tablet to be taken up to 3 times a day to help him mellow out and rest, UNLESS he's already taken a Tramadol, in which case, we can only give him a 1/4 tablet; and aminocaproic acid (to help with clotting), 1 mL to be given every 8 hours for the next 5 days.

So we have our work cut out for us. Luckily, with the long, rainy weekend ahead, we'll be able to stay on top of this.

Last night, Sam and I decided it would be best to sleep downstairs with Fletch. He's been feeling very attention deprived and he takes comfort knowing we're close. So we gathered all three of his massive dog beds together, grabbed pillows and comforters and made an entire spread in the living room floor. Fletch is still getting used to only having the one leg in front, so he's taken a few nosedives when he loses his balance, so we're definitely glad we had all the soft blankets and pillows around so he doesn't hurt himself.

I ended up sleeping on a dog bed last night...they're surprisingly comfortable! However, it was not a perfect restful night. We tranquilized Fletch so that he could sleep easily and be less restless. That worked out really well at first. Around 2:30AM, Fletch bolted awake and started to whine. I was able to get him to lay down again, but he was not still. Every couple of seconds he would adjust his head or flop into another position or rub his wet nose up my cheek. So for the next two hours, I laid awake, just scratching his neck, which was the only thing that kept him calm. That's when Sam woke up. I told him it was his turn, which he was okay with, but I was finally able to get another hour or so of sleep before we had to get up for work.

Today has been much of the same as last night. Fletch is still pretty restless and wanting attention. We're working on keeping him laying down and resting, but he'd rather be on his feet and following us all over the house, which has made things a little frustrating, but we know it's just a few more days of this and he'll start feeling a lot better. The only concerns we've had today is that his urine is a little brown. I called the vet who talked with the surgeon and they think that since he's eating and drinking, it's probably just his system still flushing out and breaking down all the extra blood from the extensive bruising. If it starts to get better by tomorrow, we'll leave it. If it gets worse or stays the same, we'll take him back to make sure his blood levels are okay.

I think that's all for now. I'll try to update again tomorrow or the next day!