Ava Recovering From Being Spayed

I picked Ava up yesterday and arrived home a little after 5pm. The hounds and dog were thrilled to see her as they surrounded her sniffing her face in the garage before climbing a few short steps into the house. I was going to have to come up with a plan to keep them away, to let her rest and at the same time following the instructions of nothing more than 10 days of walking leashed.

The leash issue was solved quickly as I leave the leash on her collar at all times. Last night we went to sleep separating the bloodhound, basset hound and english bulldog ... letting them sleep where they wanted but not in the bedroom, with a door that would be closed. By 1:11am ... that had changed to the other three assuming their normal sleeping spots, door closed in the bedroom.

Walter was beside himself last night after he saw Ava back at the house. I guess he could tell from her odor where she had been. By this morning he was back to being his old self and things were fine.

Instead of using the crate she seemed fine by herself on her dog bed in the bedroom, she wasn't going to run or trot in there so when I think she needs quality quiet time, she is in there alone and is sleeping every time I check in on her. Good quality rest.

With the computer room door closed I let her walk where she wanted. It wasn't long before she was sleeping this morning. But the goal today was to find a way for her to start eating, which would be the half of tab of anti-inflammatory and pain killer all in one with food. By 12 noon she had not eaten anything, not even the peanut butter baked treats that were left at the door.

But I had a new plan for that.

The normal morning routine had not really changed. When she stood up I knew she wanted to go outside or to get a drink of water. I took the leash and would let her go where she wanted and lead the walk but no faster than a walk. She tried trotting a few times but that was stopped immediately.

She along with Henry and Watson laid on the patio this morning enjoying the cool 65° air, while I stood there with leash in hand looking at the utility pole and the vertical hanging internet cable to the ground, just on the other side of the fence.

Without me asking or leaning down to take a peek, she lifted her leg to show me her skin that was closed with glue. There are stitches of course inside but no need to take her back to have them removed. After a night home, it looked great. It was clean, no signs of drainage or redness.

She might look fine but I could feel the pain she was in. She wasn't her normal high energy. She did not walk slowly but she wasn't dragging me to the door by running either. LOL, I just noticed her tongue was out in this picture ... you will see the half tab of meds up by her foot and the few sprinkles of food on the floor. She wasn't falling for that idea either.

Around 1pm I woke all the hounds and dogs up. Fed them lunch with a plan for Ava's meds. I added the medication with chunks of ground chuck mixed in pasta sauce. She couldn't miss that pain medicine with that combination. She didn't either. She not only ate that first but the rest of her food. 

Like always after her lunch or breakfast she heads outside to relieve herself and she has done that on a regular basis since returning home.

The following photos show how we spent most of our afternoon in cooler temps than the past week.

You can barely see Walter enjoying the hot sun just inside the patio door glass on the right.

I put the loop of the leash under my chair leg.

It was a really good day today. It went much smoother than I thought it might. She was eating regular by late afternoon. The man from the gas company was here to paint on the law where the gas line was. Opposite side of the house from where Spectrum will bury my new Internet line from the pole to my house. The temps are 81° with a cool breeze with the windows open through out the house.

Normal weather is back here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana and that is a great thing to see.