Friday Vet Visit

Caine's vet visit went well today. He had his incision site cleaned (Q Tips work wonders!) and showed all the veterinarians how he eats his meatballs. He's got it down now, and finishes his meals in record times.

He did drink some water at the vet from a pitcher. We are going to keep giving him 250mL of water twice a day today and tomorrow, and then monitor the rest of his water intake. His food is 78% water, so that is about 2/3 of what he needs daily. We are so happy that his food has all of that water for him. He only needs 3 more cups a day to be right on target for water intake. That also explains why he's not as thirsty as he used to be. He used to eat dry food which has very little water. Plus, he has been a lot less active.

Dr. King said that once we monitor his water intake and know exactly how much he drinks on his own, we can cut back on the tube watering to 250mL. This is how we are going to wean him off of the tube completely. We just need to make sure he is receiving adequate water to help him heal and just maintain his body. Once he's been drinking enough water (only 3 cups!) for about a week, the feeding tube will be removed!

Caine is right on schedule with other dogs that this has happened to. It has been only 2 weeks and he has come so far! We are so proud.

Caine also gained 2 pounds. His last visit he weighed 63 and now he weighs 65. He's gaining again which is awesome. Once we get him back up to 74 lbs we'll be right on target.

We've been having to think about treats for Caine and treats for our other dogs. We thought that the best treats would be the chicken broth ice cubes, because they are safe for Caine. We can't have him munching on something that could potentially hurt him, and now the other dogs are just going to have to sacrifice.

I'm hoping to record some video on my camera of Caine eating a few meatballs so everyone can see how he does it. He's a champ!

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated both time and money. I have friends coming by today to help roll meatballs. Many people have been so generous!

I have had some people tell me about a meatball maker. I am going to look into that, but we can't have Caine's meatballs too large. I'm just worried that the machine will make people sized meatballs, and we usually cut them up. Caine's meatballs are about the size of a nickel.

I met a dog last night, Dude, who was actually shot by a police officer. He was shot through the nose and the bullet exited through the sides of his mouth, shattering numerous teeth. He is doing well (he was a stray, but is not aggressive whatsoever) and that happened well over a year ago. I'm starting to realize how resilient and adaptable dogs are, and how they just live in the now. We should all gather some inspiration from our canine companions.