Ravenous Rocky

My new VA Tech friend, Paul, called a short time ago with today's Rocky Report.

He's blinking, which doesn't sound like much, but it indicates that hopefully the facial nerve survived the surgery undamaged. He was drinking water and he ate much like he always does, like a rottweiler, so he must be feeling pretty normal.

Unfortunately, this dog's "normal" has included an intolerable level of pain. I expect Rocky is feeling better than normal then, since he's getting a good amount of drugs to help with the pain.

They are culturing the infection from his ear to determine what was in there and how best to treat it. They will also examine the removed ear canal for any signs of abnormal cells.

Paul tells me that Rocky is being true to his nature as a sweet, non-aggressive dog. They are able to work on him without using a muzzle. In spite of his pain, all he does is let out a yelp when they touch a tender spot. I know that our local vet had the same experience with him. They were able to replace staples in his face without anesthesia and without a muzzle. There's not a lot of dogs that would tolerate that.

I guess the whole world has been focused on Haiti, and rightly so, but it's a problem too big for me to deal with and I really haven't paid it much attention. While I certainly think that our country needs to do all it can to help, all I can do personally is focus on problems closer to home, and Rocky tops my list right now.

These pictures are from Rocky's early days with us. He's very strongly food-motivated.