Jake the Wonder Dog Had Surgery!

[ZX9RCAM]

Just now seeing this Roger.
Sorry to hear about Jake, but glad everything seems to be clearing up.
Dog's are wonderful.

 

[zincwarrior]

Jake will be 7 on April 6 and he weighs 9.5 pounds. He's little, but he is totally unaware of that. The boy has the heart of a lion! He has a short stubby tail that he carries straight up. The boy knows that he's cool and has a very high self esteem. He does have a stubborn streak and sometimes he tries to be as bull headed as I am. He won't win that match!

He has passed the stomach issues. At this point, I gotta watch the boy so he doesn't eat anything hard or crisp. I had every stitch of carpet pulled out of my house and replaced it with ceramic tile from wall to wall. There isn't a single crumb on the floor anywhere around here. If I eat chips or something and drop anything, he will surely find it. Gotta be careful.

Thanks everyone, for your positive thoughts!

Flash

Very happy for you. Its ok to lose a few teeth. Both our wiener dogs lost teeth for different reasons. It just adds to their character.

 

[Davetex]

Glad Jake is doing fine.

 

[karlac]

Small dogs must have some kind of dental hygiene help. Chew bones help, crunchy dog food may also keep the teeth clean, but brushing regularly is necessary, too. Who would have thought?

Thanks everyone!

And thank you for bringing it up!
Your story provided the impetus to do something about it.
Just got back from PetCo with finger brushes and dog toothpaste.
Vet mentioned to me two weeks ago that it would be a good idea.

Girding up for battle with the 10 pound pit bull (in her mind) as we speak ... ultimate goal is for her to outlive me.

 

[ROGER4314]

I told Bonnie about starting this thread and she reminded me about something that Dr. Mel told us. When dogs get infections like Jake had, some stuff put out by the infection gets into the blood and attaches itself onto the heart valves. Eventually, the heart becomes less efficient, the dog gets more & more lethargic and eventually dies.

I wish that I could remember the details, but it turned me into a believer!

Jake gets better every day and he's so affectionate! He sits beside me when I'm in the house. He's not demanding or needy. He simply wants to be close. Pretty regularly, he comes over to lick my hand! I'm certain that he is free of that terrible pain and understands that the intervention of Bonnie and I and the good folks with Dr. Mel were the direct cause of his relief. He gets it!

Flash

 

[40Arpent]

Flash, I just stumbled across this thread. I know that JTWD means the world to you, so I am VERY happy to hear that he is doing better!!

P.S. I've had two $5,000.00 vet bills and many more that were well over $1,000.00. $400 was indeed well worth it for Jake's health!!

P.S.S. I can't believe you sold your Harley! Do you plan to ever replace it?

 

[TxBigfoot]

Glad Jake is doing better. My little dog had the same operation this month. The side of her face swelled up and she looked horrible. Also a trooper, she never whined. We rushed her to the vet for an emergency visit and scheduled the surgery. We paid almost $400 also, but she only had 1 tooth that needed to be pulled.

 

[orbitup]

Glad to hear he is doing better. Sometimes you don't realize how attached you are to a dog until something goes wrong.

 

[karlac]

Flash, I just stumbled across this thread. I know that JTWD means the world to you, so I am VERY happy to hear that he is doing better!!

P.S. I've had two $5,000.00 vet bills and many more that were well over $1,000.00. $400 was indeed well worth it for Jake's health!

Being another who will spare no expense when it comes down to that, have had the pup covered with pet insurance since picking her up at the breeders in 2010.

Has paid off three times in that period.
One time turning a $3k+ vet bill into well under $1k.
"Pet's Best", but there are other good ones that might be less expensive.
Stuck with them because of how they came through each time.

 

[ROGER4314]

Jake has periods of fatigue but he also has spurts of playful puppy behavior. Boy, is that great to see him running and playing!

Flash

 

[308nato]

Just saw this also and glad to hear your little buddy is doing better.
I know how hard it can be because of all the little ones we have had over the years.
Will put Jake on my prayer list.

 

[ROGER4314]

I know this is repetitious but Jake, as he heals from his surgery, has been very close and affectionate. The boy always liked to get up on my chest, lick my face then curl up and snooze in my arms, but now, he's getting pretty pushy about it. He'll keep nuzzling my hand until I pick him up for our Daddy/Doggie bonding!

Another noticeable change is the reduction of eye buggers. I washed his face almost every day and the deposits in the corner were pretty thick. There is much less of that and I think that he had been crying from the pain in his jaw. I'll fight off the feelings of guilt that he was hurt so badly. I figured out what to do eventually and that's the best I could do.

Flash

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Don't beat yourself up, you're not a mind reader.
He knows that you are doing your best.

But I totally understand.

 

[outdare]

Flash, Glad your puppy is doing better. My mom would make her own dog food . She'd buy the cheap ground beef and cook some rice and the ground beef and mix it together. She would add veggies from time to time to round out his diet. She'd make enough for about a week at a time. That dog lived a long and happy 16yrs.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[ROGER4314]

Food for Jake has been a problem, recently. I won't give him anything that is hard or crunchy until he heals up. I gave him the last of his antibiotics today but his gums are still red and sore.

I bought the best doggie food after Bonnie and I researched it and he loves the canned food. Unfortunately, he's gaining weight on that food. I bought a digital scale and we weigh him almost every day. He can gain a pound of body weight amazingly fast. That's 10% of his body weight so we watch him pretty closely.

We took a fairly long walk in the city park and he loved it. He probably would have walked some more, but I figured it was enough for the first time out.

The length of his recuperation tells a lot about how sick the little guy was. There's no doubt that he was ready to check out.

Summed up..........big improvements!

Tonight, he was absolutely driven to be close and followed me all over the house. He seldom stays by the shower when I'm in it, but he did tonight. Jake loves his Daddy!

Flash

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Glad to hear it Roger.

 

[karlac]

Glad to hear Jake's doing better.
419 miles away from my little one and missing her.

 

[308nato]

Hey it's good to hear that Jake is doing so much better.

 

[Hoji]

Dogs see us as pet monkeys. Jake is telling you that you are a good monkey.

I strive to be as good of a monkey as my dogs think I am.

 

[ROGER4314]

I never thought of it that way but that's probably right!

Jake weighed 9.8 pounds yesterday but he has a Lion's heart. There's no doubt that he would fight to protect his home or Bonnie & I. Think about that....... everything in the world is trying to kill a small dog. He's the target of any larger animal and a bite size treat for predators. Still, he'd throw himself into the fight to protect his home or family. That's pretty impressive!

Bonnie is going to spend the day with us and I pump Jake up to get him excited about her visit. He's happy.

Flash