Pupdate: First Full Day Home

Now that Jack has been in the familiar comfortable environs of home, I had hoped he would start to perk up. It seems that, perhaps due to his age, his recovery response is a bit slow. He doesn't want to move much, he's lethargic, and when the pain medication wears off he's one sad bundle of shivers. He's on three pills: one for pain (up to 4 times per day), an antibiotic (once a day), and a steroid for his back, whose course had been interrupted due to the surgery. Going cold turkey on a steroid halfway through the course is never a good thing, so I'm concerned about that. Right now, after a 3-day absence, they want him back on it twice a day for two days, and then we begin (again) the weaning process (once a day for 5 days, then every other day until finished). I hope and pray I keep all these little pills straight!

This morning presented with an entirely new -- and completely unexpected -- problem: Jack won't eat. It's a scenario that simply does not exist:

Jack + Beagle = food

So this new equation (Jack + Beagle = no food) simply does not compute. On the one hand, I can't blame him -- if I was ripped up and drugged up, I would not have the slightest interest in food either. However, these important little pills require the consumption of food, and a good amount of it, or else we'll have an entirely different -- and very serious -- problem on our hands. A shredded stomach is not what we want to deal with.

We slathered his pills in peanut butter, a sure-fire way of ingestion. Jack never, ever turns down peanut butter. But today? A quick sniff and a turn of the head. Sorry, not interested. We hated to do it, but we had no choice but to resort to force feeding. After about 10 minutes we finally got it into his mouth (boy, was he mad). Half of the problem was solved -- pills are now in. But what about the food?

I called the vet -- "you have to get him to eat ... anything," she said. I did notice that he had no qualms about gobbling up a few Honey-Nut Cheerios that Grace had dropped ... what about that? "Fine," said the nurse. "If he wants an entire bowlful of Cheerios, let him. He needs food in his stomach right away." Sure enough, as I was on hold waiting to talk to the surgical technician, Jack slowly but steadily ate the bowl of cereal that I offered to him. Well, it's a start. My errand today: stock up on chicken baby food and mix it with rice for his meals. If he turns up his nose at that we're in serious trouble.

Oh, dear boy, how we hate to see you suffer like this ... But we were assured that he should turn the corner in a couple of days. They just can't come soon enough.