Adventures with the Yeti

 

 

 

we wanted her to live forever – we would have done anything to see her be happy for as long as possible.  Two weeks shy of her fifth birthday and three weeks shy of her 6month ampu-versary, she let us know she was tired.  We listened.  The only regret we have is that we don’t get to have more adventures with her.

 

 

 

 

Could she look any fluffier?

One of our resting places

We are past the one month mark from Yeti’s surgery and every day is a gift. She has already passed the two month mark since diagnosis too! Each day Yeti gets a little stronger, we figure out a little more, and things are feeling good.  Man, those first two weeks were SO hard and  I am thankful for the ease of forgetting now that things have improved.  We have so many good supporters and idea offerers and capable vets (in our family and in our town) that we are trying to figure out what works for our dog, who can be willful, lazy, adventurous, athletic, and sensitive sometimes all at once… Here are some things that we are doing  with the sheepdog that I thought I would share… She is still on Gabapentin as her only pain medication and we are slowly weening her off of this as it is kind of intense on the system and shouldn’t be quit cold turkey – glad I had done some reading on that one before making our own decision because it sounds like effects of withdrawal can be pretty awful.  Because she has been acting so perky (the colder weather definitely has something to do with it) the vet encouraged us to try a slow taper off the med but to keep pain meds around in case she has a down day.  She is also taking some chinese herbs called Wei Chi Booster in addition to the kelp powder, turmeric, and fish oil supplements she started taking at diagnosis in August. Easy cheese and/or peanut butter have been pill vessels of choice for the beast; otherwise she snubs our offers…   We also started taking her to our vet 1x or 2x a week for underwater treadmill sessions to help her figure out a more efficient gait and to build some muscles.  We have noticed that she can walk farther between rests and seems more stable while on the move.  She can run for a bit too, which gives us as much of a rush as it must give her.  We are not talking about “going for a run” which the Yeti has long considered unwarranted torture – why go so fast when there is so much to observe?  We’re talking a 15 yard run to see what the neighbor cat is doing – short but amazing nonetheless. Here’s to all of the other tripawds and their people who are healing, sleeping, dreaming, transitioning, and preparing for another day of play. After all, it is Saint Jerry’s Day and we owe a lot to him and his people for pioneering this tripawd journey online for others to learn from and grow.

 

 

Yeti is finally sleeping.  We had a rough few days as we tried to figure out the appropriate pain-relieving dosage for the sheep-beast. She is on Tramadol and Gabapentin in addition to an antibiotic and Novox for anti-inflammatory purposes. In our search we learned from the vet that dogs typically do not display panting or restlessness if over-medicated; usually this would just happen if under-medicated.  Well, turns out the Yeti is unique.  SHe would be up hourly and could not seem to get comfortable as she would keep her head up and avoid laying down.  Poor sheepdog.  We cut her dosage and she is now resting like a champ.  She seems so much more comfortable with less medication on board and it has been such a relief.  She had just been taken over by the chemicals to get any relief from them.  We are glad to have figured that out…

These first few days have been hard as we try to figure out what to have her do on her own, when to help, and when to say no.  She definitely is stubborn (as other sheepdog owners will tell you about the breed) so we have been confronting some of her opposition with grace; like when she wanted to hang out in the lilacs instead of somewhere easier for checking on her…

 

As for the hopping, she seems to be getting the hang of it. She definitely gets tired quickly and needs to rest.  If we take it slow now, we hope that she builds up strength well enough to play in the snow when the flurries fly.  The current heat in Bozeman leads me to think longingly about winter, and I am sure that the yeti would appreciate a bit cooler weather as well.  Even with her haircut, she much prefers laying on snow than grass. As we sign off on this post, yeti and I are sending good thoughts to the other tripawds who are at various stages of recuperation.  Take care.

 

whew. yeti is sleeping now. we have had her home since 1pm today and we have done well so far. she actually wanted to stand during dinner! i can tell from the other stories I have read, our biggest issue may be keeping her calm to avoid the seroma buildup. Feeling thankful for the positive thoughts and especially for the great care she received at our vet’s office. We live in Bozeman, which can seem like the wilderness when we have bears walk through town. Fortunately too, people like to visit this beautiful place, which means that we are lucky to have a traveling surgical oncologist from Seattle in town once a month to perform surgeries… And he works out of our vet’s office. And he had a spot open this month – only ten days after diagnosis. This all happened so fast – Yeti started limping mid-july on what we had thought was a sprain to x-rays august 8th, followed by diagnosis, heart break, and now a new trajectory. we are staying strong and figuring it out with lots of help. i appreciate reading through all of the posts that people have written and I hope to get the hang of being a blogger – new to me…

a shot of the yeti eating her dinner tonight…

yeti’s preferred sleep spot as a quadpod will likely be the same when we let her back on the furniture.  She will have to be off the meds first because she is an unpredictable stumblebeast right now in terms of getting around.

 

Hello from Montana.  Our sweet sheep dog, Yeti, will be having surgery tomorrow to become a tripawd due to a recent diagnosis of bone cancer in her right front paw.  She is a tall beast with a strong spirit.  Weighing 75 pounds and with enough fur to look like she carries 120, we are hopeful that she will get a hang of the three-legged hop so that she can continue to impress everyone with her muppet-like ways.  Wish us luck!  This site has been helpful in preparing us rationally and emotionally for the journey ahead.  Here is a picture of the beast…

 

We are also feeling hopeful that Yeti’s favorite season is just ahead.  The girl loves winter!