Healing

Constant monitoring

Day 3

I have spent the best part of the last three or four days by Nobu's side, making sure he doesn't lick the stitches. The most trying time was the first night after he came home from surgery, when I was checking every time he woke, moving places round the room with him and up at the first sound of licking. On the day after surgery and the third day he was furiously itchy as the stubble grew out, and I let him lick all around the belly area and the top of his penis, cupping my hand over the scrotum and the stitches to make sure he didn't lick there. He seems to get the message that he's not supposed to lick much, and in spite of generally enjoying licking himself all over, he's being quite good about not licking those areas. Inbetweentimes I have kept him busy with short walks, and chewy things like horse tendons, kangaroo tailbone, shark spine, and other treats to take his mind off things. As far as I can see things are healing up nicely, and he is on another two days of strong antibiotics. We're taking him to Koyama-sensei to have the stitches out around the second or third of April. 

Koyama sensei did lend me a cone, but when I tried the Elizabethan collar on Nobu the second day, after letting him sniff it, he bumped into furniture and door sills and had a panic attack, trying to run and then freezing up- it must have triggered some trauma from his previous dwelling (I hate to call it home since they abandoned him), and he was so upset he wouldn't come inside after I took it off, but fled to the garden and sat cowering on the porch tiles for an hour before building up the courage to come back inside with gentle coaxing and prime treats. As a result I gave up, and decided to use the constant supervision and healing hand treatment. I am lucky to have the time to be able to do this, and Tosh is being generally supportive of the process. Right now I feel pretty zonked, but relieved things are healing up so well- so far so good. Now to get the darlings their breakfast.

Day Five