Della the Indomitable

There were a few points yesterday evening that I was wishing I had taken Della someplace that would have kept her overnight because they would have kept her sedated and handled the pain better. I was glad we had some supplemental pain meds on hand because she definitely needed them and it's the only reason any of us got even a little sleep last night. 

It was hard to tell how much her stress and vocalization was due to pain vs. frustration and fighting the urge to sleep because of the need to stay alert and in control. I often experience that myself, exhausted and needing sleep, but unable to relax and let myself actually fall asleep. I'm probably projecting, I know, but it wasn't a nice easy post-spay evening where the dog just sleeps it off peacefully and awakes feeling better in the morning. But she was somewhat better Sunday morning, and she has gotten better gradually over the course of the day on Sunday. The confusion is gone and she seems much more like herself again. She's not fighting the cone so much anymore and she's not fighting me whenever I try to move her.

Last night she ate the small servings of canned food laced with pills when we offered them. Della has never turned down a meal and I think if she ever does it's a definite sign of a major problem. She ate her regular food for breakfast and was happy to have it. The second time we took her out she drank a good amount of water, and the next time she drank more and urinated for the first time. The first walk around the yard she wasn't interested in going far and she had her tail tucked, but the next time she started out with a wagging tail. I'll be sleeping beside her in my office for several days anyway. She's managing pretty well with the cone finally. 

The first night was rough but Della is going to bounce back quickly and then she's going to make life very difficult for us trying to keep her quiet while the healing takes place. She's coming back. She is, after all, Della the indomitable, Ally of Serena, Guardian of the manse, Midnight slayer of rabbits, Mother of the dozen Danes, and our farm dog. 

I was happy and relieved to see her drinking water this afternoon.

Della likes having Serena nearby and Serena is pretty content to lay about

much of the time, more so than Della is actually.

The dogwood is both the state flower and the state tree of Virginia, 

and deservedly so.