Depressed & Anxious Dog in Pain... What to do?

[ZombieTiger]

Thank you for the updates, keep them coming! Great to hear he is doing better!

(The "stupid vet" (agreed) sounds atrocious! Is there someplace you can report him when all this is over, like a veterinary association or similar, so that someone with authority might be able to check him out? I know that kind of thing takes a lot of energy, but please consider if you can.)

 

[BellaGooch]

Thank you for the updates, keep them coming! Great to hear he is doing better!

(The "stupid vet" (agreed) sounds atrocious! Is there someplace you can report him when all this is over, like a veterinary association or similar, so that someone with authority might be able to check him out? I know that kind of thing takes a lot of energy, but please consider if you can.)

At the risk of sounding like a jerk, he hasn't heard the last of us.
Not that he is technically obliged to, but he has not once called to check in on Fisher, or even to ask us about anything regarding taking the stitches out. (which he was supposed to have done this week.) He was a good doctor for general checkups, but he's clearly not suited to do anything major (surgery, for example). His Yelp reviews seem to agree- They are for the most part great, but the bad ones are people who have gotten big surgery on their pets- I read a particularly horrific story about how rude, cold, and unsympathetic he was towards a dog he was putting down and her owner that makes my blood boil just thinking about it. I'll not go into detail about how roughly he treated this dog, though.
That being said, we want to finish the whole process with all of Fisher's surgeries before doing anything, however.
P.S. Thak you for your support It means a lot

 

[BellaGooch]

Hello!
We took his cone off today () as the vet advised. They took out most of his stitches (minus one small area), and he got a bath, so he is nice and fluffy and clean and soft now.
The only thing is that while he had his cone on, his ears were itching him like crazy, so when we took the cone off, he scratched and scratched both of his ears until the bled profusely. We obviously did what we could and tried to stop him, but he has blood in/on both ears.
He isn't crying like he's in pain or anything, so I guess that's good. we'll just keep an eye on his scratching for now.
His personality is back, and he is happy, clean, and energetic again. As labs tend to do, he loves attention, so he's been stealing socks and shoes and anything he can find in order to get attention Not complaining; I'm too thankful that he's back to normal.
Thanks for your support and kindness! Love to you all

P.S. Forgot to mention- he is slightly licking his stitches.

 

[Furballsmom]

he's been stealing socks and shoes and anything he can find in order to get attention

It's the absolute best thing in the world when they are feeling good enough to be bad, or crazy, or goofy again

 

[BellaGooch]

It's the absolute best thing in the world when they are feeling good enough to be bad, or crazy, or goofy again

Yes indeed. As I wrote this, he came up to me and is waiting for me to notice his sock

 

[Furballsmom]

I love dogs lol

 

[neely]

All's well that ends well. So glad Fisher got his cone off and is acting like a playful pup. I hope you will be able to follow through with some type of ramification for the objectionable vet.

 

[BellaGooch]

I hope you will be able to follow through with some type of ramification for the objectionable vet.

As do I!
Again, thanks so much for your support

 

[BellaGooch]

Ugh... Just when I thought we were in the clear, he starts acting up again.

He has a bit of a wound on his ear from him scratching it so vigorously yesterday.

But, more importantly, and he's once again anxious... Tail between his legs, not interested in treats or us, and sleeping/laying down all day long.

Any advice? Help? Words of wisdom?

Almost a month later, and we're still having side effects from this stupid surgery. So sick of this.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh baby boy

I have nothing directly helpful for you, just thoughts and prayers for him

 

[neely]

Any advice? Help? Words of wisdom? Almost a month later, and we're still having side effects from this stupid surgery. So sick of this.

My morning coffee hasn't kicked in yet so pardon me if you already mentioned this - can you get Fisher an appointment with a Veterinary Internal Medical Specialist? I think it's really important that he see a specialist and this type of specialty vet would be a good place to start. Poor Fisher, he's been through so much.

 

[BellaGooch]

My morning coffee hasn't kicked in yet so pardon me if you already mentioned this - can you get Fisher an appointment with a Veterinary Internal Medical Specialist? I think it's really important that he see a specialist and this type of specialty vet would be a good place to start. Poor Fisher, he's been through so much.

We will definitely consider it! We're most likely (almost positively, if not for sure) going to get him in for a scan so that we can see what's going on inside of him, what that lump was that the doctor threw out, et cetera.
A good friend of ours who is a nurse mentioned that it might be the sedative/pain pills trying to get out of his system. I suppose that would make sense.
He has wagged his tail about 3 times in the past two days. Hopefully, this number grows immensely.
Thank you again for your advice and support; It means a lot

P.S. No, I hadn't yet mentioned it lol

 

[BellaGooch]

Fisher went to the vet again tonight.
They gave him a new cone so that he can't scratch his ear, gave him new antibiotics, shaved his ear, AND gave him a new cone. Poor baby.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hang in there Fisher honey!!

 

[neely]

Fisher went to the vet again tonight.

Fingers crossed this will be his last vet visit for a long time. Please keep us posed and take care of yourself too.

 

[BellaGooch]

Fingers crossed this will be his last vet visit for a long time. Please keep us posed and take care of yourself too.

Thank you, I will

 

[BellaGooch]

Hello everyone! Quick update:
It's been almost a week since his ear flared up and he started getting depressed again.
He's getting better personality wise- wagging his tail, playing, etc. thank goodness! So good to have him back.
On top of his ear is still infected and is now scabbing over. The vet gave us a spray that we've been using on him twice a day that will hopefully cease the infection. His cone is still on so that he can't scratch it.
although his infection is still bad, I'm so grateful that we have his personality back.

 

[Furballsmom]

Goodness, hang in there!!

 

[neely]

He's getting better personality wise- wagging his tail, playing, etc. thank goodness! So good to have him back.

I know this has been a roller coaster for Fisher and you but it sounds like his recovery is moving in the right direction. Thanks for the update, it's always nice to hear good news.

 

[BellaGooch]

I was able to get a couple of pictures of his ear scab/wound/infection. I'm so sorry that they're blurry... He was pretty excited and didn't want his picture taken lol.

I don't know if you can tell but it's pretty dry and cracky. It's quite sensitive and doesn't like anything touching it.

And here's one of just him for good measure: