More photos posted. She's given us a scare...

[link|http://picasaweb.google.com/IWeTheyAnotherScott|Picasa Web].

The latest ones were taken this morning. A couple of Mocking birds live nearby and hassle her in the mornings... :-)

My wife, J, had to run an errand and was a little late, so Sophie and I drove without her to Sophie's 4th obedience training class early this afternoon. She was more distracted than usual during the class, so I should have paid more attention during the drive back...

She rides in the back of my wagon and I have ahold of her leash and keep an eye on her while the windows are mostly down (they won't go all the way down in the back doors). Sophie has stood up on the door sills a few times, but we've always tried to catch her early and yell "Off!" and pull her down to let her know that's not allowed.

I think this is the first time I've driven with her without J being in the car too. J followed me home in her car after the class.

Well, on the way home I turned a corner after a light and she was up on the sill again and didn't respond when I yelled "Off!" and pulled her down, and before I knew it... She jumped out. It happened so fast. There was a thump against the car, and then a yelp and I stopped as quick as I could. I jumped out and she was standing up, spinning around on her hind legs, howling pitifully. She calmed down and nothing seemed to be obviously broken and she wasn't bleeding terribly, so we carefully picked her up and put her in the wagon and drove to the local animal hospital.

Sophie was obviously uncomfortable and in pain, but she was walking around even though I was trying to get her to lie still.

The triage found a deep abrasion (down to a tendon) on her left front leg, and her left lip was skinned a bit, but that was the only thing they found while we were there. The estimate for her surgery and so forth was about $1500.

She just had surgery and the vet just called and said some of her [link|http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=392&topcategory=|flexor tendons] were damaged, so she'll be "a little lame" until that heals up. We can pick her up at 8:00 tonight.

She'll be on pain killers and antibiotics for a couple of weeks, have a bandaged leg and an [link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_collar|Elizabethan Collar] and somehow we'll have to keep her from walking and bouncing around on it until it heals up. She's normally gets at least 1.5 hours of walks and play in the yard every day, and she bounces like Tigger when she's hunting, so it's going to be a challenge. We'll probably have to keep her in her crate most of the time. :-(

The bandage has to be fairly tight to encourage healing of the tendons, but if it's too tight her foot will swell up. So that may be a trial and error process...

Of course, it could have been much worse (the traffic was heavy at the time), but I'm kicking myself because it happened at all. A week or two ago she has squeezed out a tiny opening at the door when someone was leaving and ran down the street, so she can get out through tiny openings when she's determined, but this was entirely preventable.

She's a tough little girl, but she shouldn't have to go through things like this. :-(

I'll try to update the Picasa page with progress pictures when I get a chance.

Cheers,
Scott.

Bummer all around.. sorry you have to go through all this trauma so early-on, too.
Having just corrected her, I couldn't remotely have anticipated the next events, either.

Methinks cats grok physics just a whole lot better than our canine buddies :-/
Still, sometimes it's a tossup: as, comparing those photos of frisbee catching VS the cat dances (permutations all-around the apogee of their in-flight CG.)

May her recovery prove surprising.. (say, somewhat feline-like?) Ex:
When I brought Sierra home after an\ufffdsthesia for a cyst removal (and teeth cleaning - while 'out') - she went right for the food dish. I never noticed her seeming in pain from the multiple staples across a shaved rectangle .. (fortunately -I guess- cats aren't vain: she looked ridiculous!) and she didn't need the cat tranqs supplied, from day 1. Nary a whinge. As the surgeon runs a clean opertory - she needed no 'preventive' antibiotics and he had the good sense not to recommend such, either - I'm sticking with That vet. Natch I watched for any sign of infection/fever etc.

('Course, Science demanded - under waste-not; want-not rulez, too! - that I sample these 1 mg. tranqs, said to be a current fav of the plugged-in blas\ufffd modrin frat folk. I can report that: a couple of these, per quite-a-few more kg of body weight, in which to dilute them - provide a simulacrum of the Good Stuff.) ;^>

May Sophie do as well! -

Luck,

I.

Post #284,512 by Another Scott 5/12/07 5:41:05 PM Reply	More photos posted. She's given us a scare... [link\|http://picasaweb.google.com/IWeTheyAnotherScott\|Picasa Web]. The latest ones were taken this morning. A couple of Mocking birds live nearby and hassle her in the mornings... :-) My wife, J, had to run an errand and was a little late, so Sophie and I drove without her to Sophie's 4th obedience training class early this afternoon. She was more distracted than usual during the class, so I should have paid more attention during the drive back... She rides in the back of my wagon and I have ahold of her leash and keep an eye on her while the windows are mostly down (they won't go all the way down in the back doors). Sophie has stood up on the door sills a few times, but we've always tried to catch her early and yell "Off!" and pull her down to let her know that's not allowed. I think this is the first time I've driven with her without J being in the car too. J followed me home in her car after the class. Well, on the way home I turned a corner after a light and she was up on the sill again and didn't respond when I yelled "Off!" and pulled her down, and before I knew it... She jumped out. It happened so fast. There was a thump against the car, and then a yelp and I stopped as quick as I could. I jumped out and she was standing up, spinning around on her hind legs, howling pitifully. She calmed down and nothing seemed to be obviously broken and she wasn't bleeding terribly, so we carefully picked her up and put her in the wagon and drove to the local animal hospital. Sophie was obviously uncomfortable and in pain, but she was walking around even though I was trying to get her to lie still. The triage found a deep abrasion (down to a tendon) on her left front leg, and her left lip was skinned a bit, but that was the only thing they found while we were there. The estimate for her surgery and so forth was about $1500. She just had surgery and the vet just called and said some of her [link\|http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=392&topcategory=\|flexor tendons] were damaged, so she'll be "a little lame" until that heals up. We can pick her up at 8:00 tonight. She'll be on pain killers and antibiotics for a couple of weeks, have a bandaged leg and an [link\|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_collar\|Elizabethan Collar] and somehow we'll have to keep her from walking and bouncing around on it until it heals up. She's normally gets at least 1.5 hours of walks and play in the yard every day, and she bounces like Tigger when she's hunting, so it's going to be a challenge. We'll probably have to keep her in her crate most of the time. :-( The bandage has to be fairly tight to encourage healing of the tendons, but if it's too tight her foot will swell up. So that may be a trial and error process... Of course, it could have been much worse (the traffic was heavy at the time), but I'm kicking myself because it happened at all. A week or two ago she has squeezed out a tiny opening at the door when someone was leaving and ran down the street, so she can get out through tiny openings when she's determined, but this was entirely preventable. She's a tough little girl, but she shouldn't have to go through things like this. :-( I'll try to update the Picasa page with progress pictures when I get a chance. Cheers, Scott.
Post #284,588 by Ashton 5/14/07 6:01:39 AM Reply	Tabby-colored candle lighted - Bummer all around.. sorry you have to go through all this trauma so early-on, too. Having just corrected her, I couldn't remotely have anticipated the next events, either. Methinks cats grok physics just a whole lot better than our canine buddies :-/ Still, sometimes it's a tossup: as, comparing those photos of frisbee catching VS the cat dances (permutations all-around the apogee of their in-flight CG.) May her recovery prove surprising.. (say, somewhat feline-like?) Ex: When I brought Sierra home after an\ufffdsthesia for a cyst removal (and teeth cleaning - while 'out') - she went right for the food dish. I never noticed her seeming in pain from the multiple staples across a shaved rectangle .. (fortunately -I guess- cats aren't vain: she looked ridiculous!) and she didn't need the cat tranqs supplied, from day 1. Nary a whinge. As the surgeon runs a clean opertory - she needed no 'preventive' antibiotics and he had the good sense not to recommend such, either - I'm sticking with That vet. Natch I watched for any sign of infection/fever etc. ('Course, Science demanded - under waste-not; want-not rulez, too! - that I sample these 1 mg. tranqs, said to be a current fav of the plugged-in blas\ufffd modrin frat folk. I can report that: a couple of these, per quite-a-few more kg of body weight, in which to dilute them - provide a simulacrum of the Good Stuff.) ;^> May Sophie do as well! - Luck, I.
Post #284,591 by Lily 5/14/07 6:44:10 AM Reply	Oh man. That's not good. I hope she mends fast. Good energy sent your way!

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