Whisper the OneEyed Tripawd

Mom & Grammy & Auntie J dragged me out to see the wonderful Dr Stelfox, yet again. We were a little late because Klamur & Kri decided to do an unscheduled run around the neighbourhood and Grammy had to chase them down like the crazy lady the neighbours know and love (she is expecting a $100 (per dog) ticket in the mail for dogs running around off leash, hopefully it will be just a second warning)…  Then on the drive to Dr Stelfox’s office Grammy was carrying on about coronaries and sneaky little $@#^$#@ that have the audacity to dart past her when the front door is opened. Fun ride!

Dr Stelfox did not call me Brutus this time (she is a really fast learner).

She said, and I may be paraphrasing a little here ” Whisper old man, you are looking much better than you were last week.” (I must be getting better with age). My front paws are not as seal-like as they were before and I seem to be stronger and more confident on my front legs but my back end is still pretty much the same.

I have to admit that she is quite nice but I do think that all these exercises she is giving me to do is a bit overkill, I mean I am not going to be running a marathon any time soon.  (Grammy says I am a whiner and that it really is not a lot of exercises, and everyone darn well knows I ain’t running any marathons, cause I wouldn’t even do that when I had 4 good legs, cuz I am not that motivated…..  Such harsh words Grammy to your beautiful Weeberooni!)

On the plus side I get treats for doing stuff that really is not that hard, the vet has these spectacular liver treats, and there is a treat smorgasbord in the laundry room. Grammy said if I can open the laundry room door I am welcome to have as many as I can eat before she catches me, but until then I have to work for them. I think it is a total double standard, I have NEVER seen Grammy performing for the treats that she gets!
                                                            

She just helps herself whenever she wants!

Oh, I almost forget to answer the question about my harness. The harness that I have is a Get A Grip harness, unfortunately, it just does not support my pelvis enough, and Grammy cannot leave it on me because the buckles on the front always end up digging into my shoulders, so that is why mom is looking at getting me a different one, although right now they are sold out of the one that I need. Dr Stelfox said it will also help steer me cause it has a handle in the front too, and right now if the light is not bright enough I crash into everything.

Grammy is not working tomorrow because she gets the day off for remembrance day. Grammy says remembrance day is a day to remember something she never knew, and to show honour & respect for those who sacrificed to make that possible.

Well that is all for today, I will keep you posted on my future visits to Dr Stelfox!

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Today I went to rehab for the first time. Dr Stelfox was super nice. Even though the lady at the front desk put the wrong name on my chart and the doctor called me Brutus a couple of times until Grammy and Auntie J noticed and corrected her. The vet felt bad, and double checked to make sure all the other information on my chart was right, which it was.

She asked my Mom, Grammy & Auntie J a lot of questions about me and everything that has been going on since my amputation while she poked and prodded and squeezed me …. It was kind of annoying but she gave me liver treats so all is forgiven. She also asked about the funny way my front paws are positioned most of the time and wondered how long I had been doing that for.  

She compared it to a seal!       HOW RUDE! (but they are kind of cute too)

I would have been offended but she gave me more liver treats. So again all is forgiven. Then she shined a little light in my eye and then watched as Grammy walked with me back and forth a little bit.

At the end of the assessment this is what she said

I am gorgeous

My joints are moving really great and any arthritis is insignificant, which is great for an old puppy like me.

She thinks I had a mini stroke after the surgery which is probably when my progress stopped

I have a cataract in my eye that is very established and my pupils don’t respond to light so she is pretty sure that I really don’t see very much out of it at all. It is almost impossible for me to see in the dark so there needs to be really good lighting when I am up and about (I am not a good candidate for cataract surgery so she doesn’t recommend it)

Get yoga mats or other runners that can be easily washed. I keep peeing on the ones we have so Grammy has to get something that is easily cleaned because the ones we have are outside half of the time cause Grammy has to hose them down.

She showed my family Passive and Active ROM stuff to do with me to rebuild muscles. Lots of the stuff my mom can do with me, which makes mom happy. She can’t support me or help me get around the house or out to the backyard without hurting herself because she has rheumatoid arthritis.

Auntie J went over massages just to make sure she is doing it right. Auntie J is the family masseuse for the people in the house too, she has magical fingers. Grammy’s massages are OK but Auntie J’s are like heaven.

I got some cream for my calloused elbows on my front legs and some for the raw & tender spots on my back leg.

She recommended a different harness for me as the one that mom just got for me is not working so well, which kind of frustrated mom because she just spent almost $200.00 Canadian on the one I have. However when Grammy went to the website they were sold out of Medium Size Help Em Up Harnesses, and after she had just spent all that time trying to figure out where my penis was positioned so she could order the right hip lift for the harness. Apparently it’s in between where the two separate diagrams depicted that it should be so she had to look a long time and muttered to herself a lot while she tried to figure out which would be best.

The main goal is to get me to be able to get myself outside to go and pee. Grammy is all for that and figures that anything more than that is just gravy.

And I am so fantastic that she wants to see me again next week, and to her credit I left with all the body parts that I went in with.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! … (Is it freakishly ironic that on my first Halloween my mom dressed me as a pirate with a patch over my eye?)

Whisper the One Eyed..ish Tripawd

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It’s me Whisper! just wanted to let you know that I am feeling great! I am back to my old self (minus the walking) but everything else is pretty much the same

This has been a super busy month! First Grammy started into her second half of her century and we got cake and watched Avengers for her birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMY!

Last weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving and what an awesome weekend it was! FOOD! I love food!

On Saturday & Sunday Grammy did lots of cleaning and stuff and I scuttled around the house after her. (Scuttling is a combination of dragging my butt around and little hops) I still can’t walk well on three legs by myself and Grammy can’t help me when she is running around and cleaning. I like to hang around her when she is home on the weekends, sometimes we collide and Grammy calls me Jesus. sometimes she says other stuff but I like that one the best (sometimes Grammy has a potty mouth)

On Monday Grammy got up and started cooking and cooked a whole bunch of stuff while I stayed in my favourite place …. which is wherever Grammy is when she is cooking. Grammy had to keep reminding me where I am allowed to be when she is working in her kitchen, which is not as close to the food as I feel I should be. I kept trying to remind her of reasons she should change the rules for me but she was  not convinced. (We have very different opinions on some things)

The best part of Thanksgiving is when Grampy cuts the turkey cuz  when Grammy is not looking he always tosses all the skin and odd shaped bits that do not go into the serving dish to us puppies.

Thanksgiving is an awesome holiday! I am thankful for FOOD and my mom, and  my whole fun family.

Grammy takes me for walks with the harness because the vet says I have to walk with my back leg properly straightened out. Apparently I am not using it properly when I scuttle around the house and my muscles are disappearing.

Grammy also made an appointment for me for Rehab, that sounds like work.  … “They tried to make me go to rehab But I said, “no, no, no” ….  Well I tried to say no, but again we disagree. Fortunately it is not until the end of the month so I have a little more time to chill. Right Grammy? right?

This is me on one of our walks. Grammy kind of lets me go where I want because it is much easier than trying to get me to go in the right direction. Grammy says I can be a very crochety, & stubborn old dog. Sometimes I go too far and then Uncle S or Aunty J have to come and hang out with me so Grammy can get the car to take me back home.

HAPPY FALL everyone! (and just to clarify I mean the season)

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Today was a pretty warm day so when grammy came home she put out our pool and filled it with water! Spectacular I love dropping my toys in on hot days and then fishing them out again. But today I realized something was a little different when grammy started bringing buckets of hot water and dumping them in the pool to warm up the water.

AHHHHHH BATH DAY!!!!!

Klamur started the process by mocking grammy by running back and forth through the pool. But Grammy ignored him because I was first.

Mom and grammy got me into the pool, and Grammy sat down right beside me and started shampooing and scrubbing and talking in that sweet soothing voice “Oh look at you my handsome puppy, this is so much easier than it used to be, cause you can’t jump out of the pool without help, I don’t have to chase you around the yard like a crazy lady everytime you escape.” so mean but yet her voice was strangely soothing. Anyways after I was done she dried me a little with a towel put me on a blanket in the yard to dry out. Then it was Kuri’s turn she hates baths and just has a grumpy old look on her face the whole time, but she can’t get away from Grammy. Then it was Klamur’s turn and he was running around and Grammy just held up a leash and Klammy thought “WALK” and ran towards Grammy and she neatly slid the leash that she had made into a loop right over his head and said “Bathtime” Klamur went to the pool, cause he knew Grammy won this round. My Grammy is pretty smart! While Kuri and Klamur were having their baths I slowly made my way over to the pool cause that is where the action was, and I got totally soaked again when Klamur dodged the rinse bucket. Grammy called me a goofball. I decided that this was at least better than a shower with the garden hose.

After our baths were all done Grammy gave us each a bone for being such super good dogs, and it’s also the only way to get us to stay in one place in the sun while we dry out. I think if she had a wash line to hang us on she would. and Grammy had her treat so she could sit in the lawn chair and dry out because she was just as wet as all of us, all the way up to her neck!I thought I would share some pictures of me and the other dogs enjoying our treats.

Maybe it was worth it after all.

This is Klamur, he is my Uncle S’s dog, so that makes him my cousin.

This is Kuri (pronounced like cry) she is my annoying, whiny, bossy little sister.

and this was Grammy’s treat to enjoy while she was drying out in the sun.

Well once again it is lights out.   Goodnight

Whisper the one eyed, still kind of damp, tripawd wonderdog

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