Bubby's 2-Week Check-up

Bubby had his 2-week check-up today and it went really well.  He is still having trouble with his back legs - especially on surfaces with no traction.  Since his back legs are still weak, his legs slide out from underneath him when he walks on slippery surfaces and he could potentially re-injure himself when that happens, so we need to make sure we keep him on the carpet for another couple weeks until his back heals completely.  Since it is virtually impossible to keep him in the small space we had set up for him after his surgery because he cries and whines non-stop, we have made our family room into a giant cage.  We blocked one side with our loveseat and the gate is long enough to block off the other opening and it's working pretty good so far.

The vet did say that Bubby was doing better than average.  He said some dogs still aren't able to walk when they come in for their two week check-up, so we are incredibly fortunate.  We have to start weaning him off of his pain medicine over the next few days and we have to start his "hydrotherapy" - which means we have to fill up our bathtub and let him swim.  The vet also suggested bringing him in to their facility for physical therapy - they have an underwater treadmill and even acupuncture (which seems a little much to me) - but hopefully some swimming in the bathtub will be enough.

Now that he is doing better, the toughest part is going to be all of the lifestyle changes that we have to enforce.  He is not allowed on any furniture anymore, he's not allowed to go up or down steps and he can't do any rough-housing with Phil.  Every time I pick him up to go outside or go to bed at night, I just thank my lucky stars that he's not a big dog - I really don't know what I would do.  Greg would probably be able to carry him, but he is gone all day, so I would have been in trouble.

We are going to get Phil back tomorrow and I can't wait.  The doctor said to give it a try, but if they were rough-housing at all, we should give it a couple more weeks.  I miss my Phillie so much, but Bubby is my top priority right now, so we'll have to see how it goes.

Overall, it was a great check-up and we are so happy with his recovery so far.  Hopefully, he will make a full recovery, but even if he stayed exactly the way he is right now, we would be completely thrilled.  It could have been a million times worse!