The Poop Files

Actually, that was going to be the title of my post 2 weeks ago, but I never got around to it and am just now catching up.  It was, indeed, a week revolving around poop.  Maggie had diarrhea and vomiting for several days and we never did figure out why.  Things seem normal now, and I’m guessing either a change in her diet or…poop!  Poop File #1 – Suddenly Maggie is disgustingly interested in eating any variety of poop she can find in anyone’s yard.  Any ideas on this?   Missing something in her new healthier diet (I switched to a better brand of light/senior dry food that she just plain won’t eat, and grain-free canned food)?  Or just trying to gross me out?  I have a hard time “dragging” her away from things when on walks now, even with her harness I don’t want to pull her off balance.

Poop File #2 – Maggie figured out how to scrape at the ground with her back paws after going potty.  I always thought this was hilarious and looked like a cat in a litter box, but she’s always done it.  It took 5 weeks to figure this out with one front leg to balance on.  I’m counting it as a success!

Poop File #3 – Another success, and a doozie… Maggie can once again scoot her butt across the carpet/grass.  Go Maggie!!  She really has to work at it, which cracks me up, but she looks so proud of herself, which also cracks me up.

Poop File #4, and another ridiculous side-effect of life post-amp – we never make it all the way around a block and past a city dumpster on walks, so I end up coming home with a poop bag on every walk.  Since I’m usually preoccupied with getting Maggie back into the house and checking to see what my kiddo was up to in the house by himself for 10 minutes 10 times a day (gaining responsibility, I guess), I don’t run the poop bag all the way out to the dumpster behind our house, so we end up with a little pile of poop bags behind our house.  CLASSY!!

Poop File #5 – actually more of a helpful tip: if you find yourself returning from a jaunt in the park with a poop bag in hand and no garbage can nearby (of course I used to just run Maggie over to a farther-away garbage can, but now I know she’d tire out)…dreading the thought/smell of bringing it in the car with you – clip it under the rear windshield wiper until you get home to throw it away.  If nothing else, nobody will tailgate you on the drive home!  [Full disclosure: I didn’t actually throw it away; it’s in the poop bag pile in the back yard with the others. I swear I’m not really that lazy, but sometimes there are just too dang many other things to do.]

Alright, enough potty talk.  Maggie is doing GREAT.  She runs and jumps (I hold my breath).  She lays around and looks happy.  She doesn’t tire out as quickly.  She infuriates me by refusing to take her Denamarin (for liver) no.matter.what.we.try.  We finally got chewables from our vet (at twice the cost, of course) and she even turned up her nose at those…this morning I crushed them and mixed in with some food and the medicine actually entered her body, amen.

I have one question for others here – did your pup return to rolling on his/her back, and if so, how long post-amp? Maggie used to just chill like this a lot, and hasn’t rolled onto her back at all since surgery.  Not sure if she can’t hoist her way around or thinks she wouldn’t be able to get upright again, or what.  She does lay flat on her stomach with the incision area partially under her, so I don’t think there’s any residual pain at the site, but she has not laid actually on the incision side or on her back at all.

Finally, on a really good note, I noticed something a couple weeks ago that is a great reassurance about our decision to amputate.  Over the last ?? several months or more before we knew anything was wrong with her leg, Maggie had taken to laying down with a big, deep, loud SIGH.  I thought this was an old age thing, since I knew she had a little arthritis, and you just get used to your dog’s noises after a while so I didn’t think too much of it.  Well after the craziness of the first month post-amp, I started to realize that I wasn’t hearing this loud sigh anymore when she would flop down.  So I started listening for it, and nope, it’s not there.  This must have been a sign of pain or discomfort LONG before any limping or other signs.  Even though she tires out more now, she doesn’t seem as WEARY as she did before.  Cancer or not, we’ve given her a new lease on life for now.

I know I owe some pictures, but my computer is being a POOP and won’t allow me to download photos from my phone right now.  Soon.

Take care all you happy hoppers!!

Cindy and Maggie