At this time because of Dolce's heart murmur getting worse, surgery cannot take place. Luckily, Dr. Adams said that the wire that is holding together the still-not-healed right side of Dolce's jaw is made of stainless steal and should be fine staying in there for a long period of time and should not come out on it's own. So we are giving Dolce's jaw more time to heal and hopefully we can get his heart condition to calm down a bit.
In other news, I mentioned to Dr. Adams that Dolce consumes large amounts of water very often, much more often than our other dogs. Because of the constant need for water and the fact that Dolce's blood work from January showed elevated numbers in his kidneys we had new blood work done today. On Tuesday we will get the results back and see what exactly is going on with Dolce. Once the blood work is back we will hopefully be scheduling a dental for Dolce. I'm not sure if I'm more excited or more worried about the dental being done...but I do know that I trust Dr. Adams and feel like Dolce is safe in his hands.
Here's a little funny conversation Brett and I had with Dr. Adams today:
Sierra: I constantly feel worried that Dolce is going to drop dead.
Dr. Adams: Well that's the trouble with heart disease, it often does happen that way.
Sierra: So I was right to call Brett at the gym today and tell him to come home immediately because Dolce was looking at me weird?!?
Brett: She worries about everything.
Dr. Adams: Well no, but you should be prepared that it is a possibility eventually.
Sierra: I knew he was on the verge of death!
Dr. Adams: You would know if he was dying...
Sierra: (to Brett) See! I told you!
In all seriousness, I do constantly worry about Dolce and fear that I will lose him. I worry about having to live a without him in it and when it will happen..because I'm not ready yet...I'm not sure I'll ever be ready. If I had it my way he would not do anything that could potentially hurt him. Of course then he would not be living the happy life he should be living...so I never stop him from playing and running..but I do draw the line at running up the steps to the front door. I want to do everything I possibly can to keep him healthy and to feel safe and most importantly loved. (Just as I am typing this part Dolce gets up and lays down right next to me...gosh I just love him so much.) I try to remind myself that although I don't know how much time Dolce will be with me, at least I had him in my life...easier said than done. I guess at the end of every day the saying, "who rescued who?" proves to be true for me.
Sierra, this is just a thought of something you might want to try. It certainly can't hurt and could possibly help. Bone broth (homemade) is really good for restoring minerals and nutrients to the body whether it's for humans or animals. It could help heal Dolce's jaw. I make chicken bone broth for myself and my dogs and it's really easy. Just put some chicken backs, necks, legs, feet (feet are good because they provide a lot of natural gelatin) in a big stew pot. Organic chicken is best but regular chicken is ok. You can add veggies if you want (carrots, celery, garlic, onion, whatever) Fill it up with water. Add 2 T of apple cider vinegar (this helps the bones release their nutrients) A little sea salt, pepper and bring it to a boil. Then turn down the heat and let it simmer for several hours partially covered. It just gets better the longer it simmers. Strain off the broth and refrigerate. The fat will congeal on the top and you can take that off. The broth will be relatively clear and probably congealed and gelatinous. Warm it up a little and give Dolce the broth in her food or just in a bowl. Most dogs will just lap it up. You can add bits of the chicken or veggies if she likes that. This is also great for people too. Very nourishing and healing. You know, there was a reason our grandma's always told us to eat chicken soup.... they knew it was "good for what ails you". :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestion Barb! I definitely want to try this out and offer it to all of my pups.
ReplyDelete