One Tough Bitch

Warning: this post contains a picture of my puppy's incision. It's not too graphic but may be a little much for some.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of my wonderful readers. You are all the best. No joke. Your comments, emails, and tweets over the past week have helped me tremendously to get through the Coco fiasco. It touches me just how amazing bloggers are. I felt a little foolish gushing about my doggy drama since there are many people out there going through severe medical problems, various dilemmas, and countless troublesome events. In the scheme of things I know a puppy may sound trivial to some. But she's my baby and I adore my pup!

To recap, Coco eats everything and became really sick. Surgery reveled that random other junk (carpet, weeds, wood, etc.) got clogged in her tummy but the bra she ate was the worst. She's not even five months old yet, what's she doing playing with bras? This little girl is trying to grow up far to fast ;) But in all seriousness, her intestines ruptured and the contents were leaking inside her. The vet cleaned her out, removed nearly a foot of intestines, cut into five different areas to remove pieces of bra, and sewed her up with 10 stitches.

Left of picture is the bottom of her abdomen and the top is on the right. When they cut back in to fix her, I am assuming they'll use the few small inches of space below this scar. Talk about battle wounds!

The first two days were the most cautious because there was a chance that the stitches inside her belly would bust back open. All things considered, she's doing very well. My parents are keeping her for a few weeks so my mom can watch her during recovery and ensure she's gets the four small meals that she requires daily. If she eats too fast and consumes too much problems may arise.

The little fatty (a basset hound and pit mix) was steadily gaining 2 lbs. a week before surgery and was up to 22 lbs. at 4 1/2 months. INot sure what she weighs now, but I can't imagine it's more than 15 lbs. You can see about every bone in her skinny body. When you combine that with the cone around her neck she'll have to wear for about 10 more days, she's a pitiful looking creature. But pitifully cute ;)

Coco in her glory days...about a month ago

The hardest part (now that surgery is over AND aside from the hefty bill) is the fact that she wants to play SO badly. She's young and wants to run and jump. We can't let her do much of anything due to the stitches. The crating process has started and she's not a fan. We really should have crated her more, sooner. But hopefully she takes to it soon.

Again, I am amazed at the outpouring of love from all of you. I promise to start visiting all of your blogs more regularly soon, and for my posts to be more upbeat!