State of my dog

[Aleu]

Saturday I had to rush my dog to the hospital due to a herniated disc. Basically a slipped disc. It's rendered him unable to move his back legs and he had surgery done Sunday. He just came home today. He's been recovering well, but he has had some trouble peeing on his own. The vet was able to express his bladder and has shown us how to use a catheter on him. Still, I can feel his frustration. He can't move his hind legs and this all happened so suddenly. He's confined for the next two weeks either in my room or in his crate and well... He's been whining. I've been trying to avoid having a panic attack about his condition despite the vets assuring me he'll be able to walk again as well as having promising signs. His whining has been starting to trigger my anxiety. It's not his fault, at all. He doesn't know and me being anxious is likely making him anxious too. He hasn't shown a lot of signs of pain and has been showing some reaction in his left leg too.

We went to the vet yesterday, whom showed us an easier way to express his bladder. Mom and I will try it tonight. We also now have mild sedatives if he gets too anxious. He's not used to being caged up and he can't walk. Both vets seem to think it's simple frustration. I've worked myself into a frenzy this morning and haven't eaten anything all day. I'm slowly working up the confidence to make myself feel better. It's kind of working I guess? I've been able to drink and hold down water, though my mother doesn't want me to really eat anything until later. My dog has been quiet since we came home from the vet today. The hospital has mentioned they'd be happy to help if we have anymore trouble, free of charge. We swapped the back half of his Help'em Up harness for a sling. The harness was pushing against his bladder causing him to leak. The sling pushes more up on his pelvis instead. Seems to be working. We do have catheter supplies if we need to use it.

The only thing we can do now is keep him resting. They say it's okay to get him up and walking for a bit. It helps his front legs build up strength. We should see some gradual improvement, but he won't be able to pee on his own for about a week. It'll come back when his legs start to come back.

I've just been a mess. I wasn't as bad when he was at the vet because he was in the care of professionals. I'm so terrified I'll do something wrong, but I'm not alone. My mother has been pretty good about helping me with things and my brother is more then happy to help. My work schedule isn't too bad. Mostly mid afternoon to evening shifts. So expressing him in the morning shouldn't be a problem. I guess I have a problem with patience when it comes to this. I'll be fine and I hope he will be too. The vets have reassured me I'm doing everything right. Keep him in his crate, get him all his medications, express me in the morning and evening, and give him attention when he needs it.

Anyways. I have eaten a small bit since then, but I suppose I just wanted a place to get this off my chest and it seemed a bit too big to add to the rant thread. I've been trying to keep myself distracted by watching live streams, writing, sometimes drawing and hopefully playing some games with friends. Especially when I finally get my boy to sleep.

[Wain]

Poor guy . It's so hard because they don't understand why anything is happening.

If he continues to be really anxious and isn't sleeping then the vet may have to give him some sedatives. Just to calm him while he heals. It can help with them getting enough rest and also not inadvertently hurting themselves more. Hopefully he won't need anything though. I hope he heals quickly.

[Aleu]

Thank you, Wain. He does sleep durning the night, but it's some times during the day when he gets restless. I can't blame him since he's bored, but my brother is home in the evening so he tends to go out into the living room with everyone for a couple of hours. The sedative we give him lasts about 12 hours or so. I do lay down with him when I can. I will admit my stress tolerance is getting low due to lack of sleep and not eating much. It was real messy this morning with expressing him. He might be able to push a little bit out on his own.

In the mean time, I'm happy I don't have long hours this week. I already had to miss today due to still feeling sick.