It’s been a challenging week. Klaus had surgery on Thursday to remove a large cyst on his back paw. Of course, it started to grow and get angry looking in November when Otto began to fail.
After losing Otto on December 9th, it was excruciating being in the same examination room where my poor sweet boy died. Klaus was even sitting in the exact spot where it happened.
We sucked it up and moved past it keeping our emotions to ourselves, not wanting to let Klaus feel like something was weird or bad happening.
The surgery could have gone either way, difficult or smooth; luckily for us and our vet, Dr. Beau, it was easier than he thought. He was happy with how the cyst came out/off, and he could close the wound tightly.
The wound didn’t have to be bandaged, which was terrific for us since Klaus doesn’t like anyone but Sam to tend to those issues. He growls at us when we try to manage him when necessary.
We don’t think he would bite us, but like my father said, “Any animal with teeth can bite you.” It has happened to people, so it makes me leary.
When they brought Klaus out when we picked him up, he looked pathetic, out of it, and mad. He was wearing a soft cone to protect the wound from licking. A soft cone was the only kind that fit his huge neck.
Bulldogs are notorious for getting many infections that are hard to get rid of, so he must wear the cone all the time for ten days. Ugh!
Thursday night was rough because he was drugged, uncomfortable, and confused by the cone. We felt horrible, to begin with, then he would turn his head away when we tried to talk to him and wouldn’t look at us.
Friday morning was a completely different thing. He woke up not groggy and didn’t act like he hated us or was mad. He even started wagging his nub again. Yay!
He quickly figured out how to drink and eat wearing the cone and had no difficulty walking. The wound looks good and doesn’t seem to bother him.
We have been taking turns sleeping downstairs since he has needed to go out more frequently since he is on prednisone. He usually comes upstairs and wakes Marty up to go out.
As the day went on, Klaus had no regard for the cone. He is a bull in a china shop knocking into things, bulldozing his way through the house, and bouncing off things he can’t see without his peripheral vision.
He slept great last night, only getting up once, and is back to his old self, making it tricky to keep him quiet and not want to go out and play ball. No Ball for two weeks, Dr. Beau said. Oh boy.
Klaus is the biggest whiner and crybaby as it is following Marty around constantly and stares at him to go out and play. The next ten days will be challenging in that respect.
After talking to other bulldog owners, we found out that they are not only one of the most expensive dogs to have since they have a lot of medical issues, but they are crybabies and want to play all the time.
I had a sleepover with Klausie downstairs last night and stayed home from the market today to keep an eye on him and let him out.
Thank goodness everything went well, and he is on the mend and feeling better. We are keeping our fingers crossed the wound heals without any infection.
I didn’t realize until Otto became sick in November how hard it is to be a dog’s steward and how much we love them and have to make the right decisions for them, not us. ♥️♥️
Glad to hear Klaus is feeling better (knock on wood). I’m always amazed our dogs don’t fight the cone when we have to put one on. Gussie where’s a plastic one, but just goes about his business – which includes a lot of sniffing along the ground searching for food. With the cone on he looks and sounds like a vacuum cleaner!
Wise words you said: we have to make the right decisions for them, not us