First morning home update
Well, things are rapidly returning to normal here. Bob didn't get much sleep last night because he camped out with Mei-Mei on the floor in his office and she kept pushing him off the cushions. This is the bed of cushions roughly the size of a double bed that Miss Thing didn't want anything to do with yesterday. Apparently when Bob is trying to sleep on them, she wants to be right smack in the middle and wants Bob to be on the cold hard floor. It's not really surprising, though. That's the Empress.
Neither of us did more than nap on and off all night, so there will be siestas today.
Melody still looks like riotous hell, but she's acting more herself this morning. When I walked into the office, she picked up her head and looked at me. Then she gestured at me like she does when she wants me to keep rubbing her belly, a gesture which I would have thought would hurt with all her bruising. But clearly this gesture needed to happen because she did it until I got in line and started rubbing. She's also been getting up and down without as much trouble. She's clearly figured it out. It's still painful to look at her though. She's so beat up.
I sat and had my yogurt with her, hoping she'd get interested in the smell (she's loves yogurt). When I was done, I gave her the cup. At first, she licked a couple times almost automatically. Then she stopped. Then I repositioned it in front of her nose and she cleaned the cup. So we figured that whet her appetite and maybe she'd have some chicken. I hand-fed her two pieces. But when I gave her the bowl, she took a third and then spit it out, picked up a fourth and spit that out too. I tried to hand-feed her again, but she laid down. Well, not bad for her first solid food since Wednesday evening! Annie, the vet assistant, suggested we try some broth, and we know where we can get good organic chicken stock. So we're going to put it in a water bowl and see if she "accidentally" drinks it like she's been drinking her water. I'm not too concerned because she is a picky eater at the best of times. But she's taking some serious drugs and having something in her stomach would be better.
Taking her meds this morning, however, was a disaster. I'm normally really good about getting the pills into their throats and closing their mouths before they know what happened. But the Evil Empress was on her best guard this morning. I must have picked up slimy pills six times and popped them back into her gob! Yuck! I only hope enough got in her mouth to help. But I think I got at least most of them. And her tongue definitely absorbed a lot.
In about a half-hour, she's going to get dopey again. Tramadol is an opiate and it knocks her for a loop. But she's only on it for two more days.
All in all, she's getting around gingerly and she's fussing much less than Preston did (either that or we're much less worried because of Preston's ordeal). Matter of fact, Preston is fussing right now about laying down as if something new is bothering him. Not allowed to have two patients at the same time! :/ Now that Mellie's at least showing an interest in food, my anxiety is pretty much gone.
Had cocktails yesterday evening with our vet, Tom (Dr. House -- really), and his wife, Jessica. They were at the Blue Water Terrace which is maybe 100 ft up the hill behind our house. Jessica posted to Facebook that we should come up for a glass of wine, so we got Mellie settled and walked up. I love this island. We saw everyone there! One of the old yacht club guys and Uncle Llew my birthday buddy and Jessie and Marne from Castaways. It was a regular All Home Week. Tom and Jessica are great people. Ah, life on St. Croix.
Neither of us did more than nap on and off all night, so there will be siestas today.
Melody still looks like riotous hell, but she's acting more herself this morning. When I walked into the office, she picked up her head and looked at me. Then she gestured at me like she does when she wants me to keep rubbing her belly, a gesture which I would have thought would hurt with all her bruising. But clearly this gesture needed to happen because she did it until I got in line and started rubbing. She's also been getting up and down without as much trouble. She's clearly figured it out. It's still painful to look at her though. She's so beat up.
I sat and had my yogurt with her, hoping she'd get interested in the smell (she's loves yogurt). When I was done, I gave her the cup. At first, she licked a couple times almost automatically. Then she stopped. Then I repositioned it in front of her nose and she cleaned the cup. So we figured that whet her appetite and maybe she'd have some chicken. I hand-fed her two pieces. But when I gave her the bowl, she took a third and then spit it out, picked up a fourth and spit that out too. I tried to hand-feed her again, but she laid down. Well, not bad for her first solid food since Wednesday evening! Annie, the vet assistant, suggested we try some broth, and we know where we can get good organic chicken stock. So we're going to put it in a water bowl and see if she "accidentally" drinks it like she's been drinking her water. I'm not too concerned because she is a picky eater at the best of times. But she's taking some serious drugs and having something in her stomach would be better.
Taking her meds this morning, however, was a disaster. I'm normally really good about getting the pills into their throats and closing their mouths before they know what happened. But the Evil Empress was on her best guard this morning. I must have picked up slimy pills six times and popped them back into her gob! Yuck! I only hope enough got in her mouth to help. But I think I got at least most of them. And her tongue definitely absorbed a lot.
In about a half-hour, she's going to get dopey again. Tramadol is an opiate and it knocks her for a loop. But she's only on it for two more days.
All in all, she's getting around gingerly and she's fussing much less than Preston did (either that or we're much less worried because of Preston's ordeal). Matter of fact, Preston is fussing right now about laying down as if something new is bothering him. Not allowed to have two patients at the same time! :/ Now that Mellie's at least showing an interest in food, my anxiety is pretty much gone.
Had cocktails yesterday evening with our vet, Tom (Dr. House -- really), and his wife, Jessica. They were at the Blue Water Terrace which is maybe 100 ft up the hill behind our house. Jessica posted to Facebook that we should come up for a glass of wine, so we got Mellie settled and walked up. I love this island. We saw everyone there! One of the old yacht club guys and Uncle Llew my birthday buddy and Jessie and Marne from Castaways. It was a regular All Home Week. Tom and Jessica are great people. Ah, life on St. Croix.