Tuesday, August 18, 2009

pray for Gracie...she's having surgery today

Well, today is the day I've been dreading. Gracie goes back to the vet so that they can spay her, dock her tail, remove her dew claws and, hopefully, microchip her. It's alot but I'd rather we do it all at once so that she only has to be put 'under' one time. We might not be able to microchip her tomorrow, it depends on whether we can get the chip to the vet's office by the time they start surgery. (Long story and the details are not exciting so I will omit them.)
I don't know if you remember, but when we initially discussed tail and dew claws with Dr. Carroll he didn't want to do the dew claws. David feels strongly that they need to be removed. Gracie broke off a nail this week, although it wasn't a dew claw. I attribute this to the fact that her nails are somewhat brittle and thin due to her malnourishment. David feels that she is more prone to catching a nail on something because she can't see where she is stepping. I'm fine with either. I just hate to see her in any pain!
Some of you have commented that you love her natural tail and hope that she gets to keep it. The reason we are docking her tail is for her safety. It is really long and, again, due to her blindness she can't keep her tail from getting caught in something or hurt. I totally agree with this. That tail is strong, too! She's been knocking stuff over and 'hitting' us with it. :o)

Anyway, David will be dropping her off on his way to work at about 8am. I believe Dr. Carroll starts his surgeries at 10am. Not sure of how they order them, though. I hate to think of her in a kennel in a strange place without us! She is not timid, so I know she will be fine but I will still worry about her. The staff will be so excited to see how well she is doing, though! They haven't seen her in a month. I'll be sending her favorite blankie (which, incidently, Miley pulled out from under her again last night!) so that she feels somewhat comfortable. I do worry about how we are going to keep her from messing with the stitches in her tail and tummy. I can't see putting an E-Collar on her with her blindness. It will completely undermine all the mapping she has done in our house and confuse her, I think. The vet said we would just see how she does following the surgery. She may not even touch the stitches. That would be awesome!! The vet told us she would be ready to go at 3pm unless there are complications...God Forbid!!!! Guess who will be there at the stroke of 3!

Please pray for Baby Gracie today. She will be alone in a strange place with little, if any, sight. Pray that her surgery goes well and that she has a speedy recovery.
I will let you know when I hear something!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gracie is in the white light all day today. She will be protected and provided for, all will come through with flying colors. i love her and haven't even met her.Keep up the wonderful job of nurturing her. She's beautiful. Melissa from Lafayette

Cami said...

She'll be fine - we all will be thinking of her today!!

Jason said...

When we had our little one spayed, we did what was suggested and that was to put a small t-shirt on her, then tie off the bottom snuggly so it covers the spayed area. It worked fairly well. We used one of those sport type stretchy shirts, so it breathed better. She looked pretty funny for a while, but it was better than the alternative.

Debra Crandell said...

Hi Kelly - well you know I will be thinking and praying for Gracie all day today as well. I hate having to leave our babies at the vet knowing they are having surgery and will be in a strange place. I wish wish wish she didn't have to have any of it :(. I like the t-shirt idea from Jason. With Luke, I kept a close eye on him and anytime he started to itch or lick I told him no and after about a day of that, he knew not to touch or lick so we didn't have to use the e-collar. I COMPLETELY agree with you that it will undo a lot of what you have done not to mention causing her a significant amount of unecessary stress! PLEASE let us know when you get a chance after you pick her up how she is doing. Big hugs and Sloppy doggy kisses from us!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi
How wonderful of you to adopt precious Gracie. I'm a Schnauzer woman myself but my brother and sisterinlaw are active in the Weimie rescue.

Anyway, there is a new collar that you can get that isn't the traditional one - it looks like the brace you wear when you have a whiplash and the dogs can't bend their neck enough to get to their stitches. I just got one and it's great! I'm sorry but can't remember the place I got it from but I started with Handicapped Pets 'cos I was looking for some kind of brace for my OTHER Schnauzer was is a rescue geriatric and crippled with arthritis. I know this is kind of late but maybe you and your vet can rig together something similar or even get something from the drugstore, like a stiff kind of ace bandage or something.

Good luck!

Faye de Gruiter

Faye