Feeding Tube is Out!

This afternoon we received a call from Dr. King. He said that Caine is really getting enough water from his food for maintenance. Caine is getting all of the water he needs from the canned food, except for just 2 fluid ounces. He said that we can come now and get the tube out! I was so happy! My face just lit up. We hopped in the car and were at the vet about 7 minutes later. Once we walked in, he was weighed, and he he now weighs 66 pounds! Gained one more pound. Dr. King gave him a pain killer that would take effect in about 10 minutes, and we definitely saw when it started working. Caine became glassy eyed and just sat there.

I elected to leave the exam room when Dr. King removed the tube, but Mom and Ryan stayed inside. They both said it took a lot of force to remove the tube, which had a piece of foam on the inside. You first cut the tube to deflate the foam piece, but then it still has to squeeze through the tiny incision hole. Caine did jump a bit when that happened, but Dr. King didn't want to give him to much pain medication. Mom said that it didn't leak too much when the veterinarian pulled it out, which is good. In the experience she had, stomach contents have splattered all around!

After Dr. King pulled the tube out, Ryan called me back into the room to sit with him while his bandage was placed. The incision did not look that bad. It was a lot smaller than we anticipated, maybe between the size of a pea and a marble. It seemed to start healing immediately, to the point where you could almost see it closing. The body is an amazing thing.

We go back tomorrow for the doctor to check the bandage (that we might take off tonight if it really bothers him) and then he'll go next week for a urine test to make sure he has enough water in his system.

Take a look at his pictures at the vet. In one he is giving Dr. King kisses, and that was before he took the tube out. After he took the tube out, Caine didn't want to have anything to do with him! Caine is now asleep on the couch.


I want to say thank you to Leslie Cruz and the Early Act Club of Brookwood School District 167. Her club of middle and junior high school students rolled 36 cans of canned food into meatballs after school yesterday! Thank you so much! It is very appreciated. They even agreed to do it again. I guess the students had a fun time playing with the dog food!

Thank you again for your generous donations. Caine is doing well and the donations of money, shirts, and love are helping. We are hoping to hear from the shredder company very soon, but I guess we'll see.

Watch Caine Eat Meatballs!

Caine is doing very well. He is still not drinking a whole lot on his own, so we've decided, with the advice of Dr. Mann, a veterinarian at the University of Missouri, to let him get a little thirsty. Dr. Mann said, "I honestly believe that Caine will learn to drink if you just provide a bowl of water for him to learn." Sounds great!

This means that we are not going to do anything for him, other than have access to water. No more tube waterings, no more syringes in the mouth, no more pitchers into bowls waiting below. We've been babying Caine, and that will not help him drink any faster. He likes the attention that we are giving him and he's milking us! Just like he hammed up the camera for the SouthTown, he is sure milking his injury for all it's worth.

Dr. Mann of the University of Missouri suggested that if we are worried about his weight that we can weigh him daily and go from there. There are also blood tests that Dr. King can do to make sure Caine has all of the water and nutrients he requires.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Caine, including Dr. Greg at the Georgia Aquarium, our veterinarian Dr. King, and Dr. Mann at the University of Missouri. I am also continuing to receive donations towards Caine, which are really helping.

Please check out the video we took this evening of Caine eating his meatballs. The video is rather dark, so we hope to take one during a morning feeding.

Making Meatballs

Caine's meatball making crew...as he sleeps.

Thank you Linda and Krista getting a week's worth of meatballs ready for Caine!

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.

Silver Bowls

Caine has been doing well. He has, obviously, mastered the meatballs. We stopped giving him water through the tube though. We want him to start drinking on his own. He is! We pour water from a pitcher into a bowl below and he will put his lips up to the pitcher and you can see him swallow.

When he came inside after a jog in the backyard, he went straight to his old silver bowl that was on the ground and tried to drink. My mom quickly got the pitcher and just started pouring water into that bowl, and he drank some. We are hoping that once the elevated 2 bowl feeder comes that he will like that bowl.

We are hoping to get that adjustable feeder soon. I also ordered tooth wipes to keep his teeth clean. He will not be able to use his tongue or dry food to keep them clean.

He has an appointment tomorrow with Dr. King. We are hoping that he is starting to gain weight again. Last Monday he weighed 63.8lbs, and he should weigh about 74.

We are hoping to have a dog park party when the weather is better to raise donations for Caine and awareness. He can romp around the dog park and meet some new dogs.

Thanks again to everyone who has donated on his behalf. He is progressing wonderfully, and we are hoping to have this feeding tube out sooner rather than later.

Keep reading!

Bunny Bottle

Today we went on a field trip to Farm and Fleet to buy an oversized hamster bottle (called a Bunny Bottle!) for Caine. We want him to have as many options as possible when it comes to drinking. He did put his face under the waterfall and gulped a couple of times. After he ate, we forced him over there again but he didn't want any water. We are going to try his routine before the accident. He would get up, then eat breakfast first. He'd then go outside and come in and go straight to the water bowl. Tomorrow we're going to try that and see how it goes. Maybe he'll remember his old routine and go to the water bowl himself.

Caine also tried chicken broth ice cubes this afternoon. He liked them! He had two before he lost interest and I pushed him towards the water fountain. We want him to get used to the feeling of liquid going down his throat in addition to the meatballs. When he was outside earlier, he and Roxie had a large icicle that they were both holding on to. Caine chewed on it a bit but lost interest when something else caught his attention.

Caine also has an article at PeoplePets.com: http://www.peoplepets.com/news/pets-in-the-news/dog-doing-amazingly-well-after-losing-tongue-in-paper-shredder/1

It's amazing how many hits you get if you type in Caine and paper shredder. I'm so happy that there are many sources that have picked up his story to help spread the word. That is all we ask for.

One of my students from last year has started a fund raiser. I want to say a special thank you to Izzy and her friends for thinking of Caine. Hopefully you can help us roll meatballs for him! It's so nice to think of everyone who has Caine in their thoughts but they've never met him, including my students right now. He is such a sweetheart, he'd win anyone over.

We figure there are around 30 meatballs in each can, and he gets 4 cans a day (a little more than 4 while he's healing). That's 120 meatballs a day! We are constantly rolling meatballs to make sure that Caine has enough for the next day.

Thank you to everyone who has donated on Caine's behalf. I know most of you, but some of you are complete strangers to Caine and yet your heart has gone out to him. I have people from all over the country who have read about Caine and donated, or even just told everyone they know his story. Thank you so much!

Water Drinking Woes

We are still trying to get Caine to drink water. He has his food down, but he is not interested in the fountain. Dr. King suggested we freeze chicken broth into ice cubes and give him those as a treat. We also tried filling a bowl with water and putting some dry kibble into it. He didn't go for that either. So far he has taken to the syringe though the mouth. If he has to do that for the rest of his life, that is fine by me...so long as he doesn't need the feeding tube.

We are also going to go to Farm and Fleet to get a water bottle that livestock use. We are hoping that the large bottle will entice him and be enough for such a big dog. PetSmart just has hamster bottles..and that is WAY too small for him.

Caine is also going to have an article on peoplepets.com in the next couple of days. I love that reporters are taking to Caine's story to help get the word out.

A special thank you goes out to everyone who has donated towards Caine's Cause. Many people have been so generous and I am so happy that Caine is reaching hearts. He is a very special (and lucky) guy.