Snip and Tuck

Nero turned 7 months a couple of days ago and today he went for his much debated snip and tuck aka neutering operation. While we had decided earlier on that we would go in for the operation (based on the glowing pictures painted by the vet and well wishers - neutering=healthier dog happier dog happier family etc. etc.), when the recommended 6 months arrived, immense emotional debates raged through us. The vet assured us it was a short procedure, less than an hour. We bring him in, and in less than an hour he is castrated (ouch!!) under general anaesthesia and could even walk back home, maybe a little tipsy. It was best for the dog and around 6 months was the best time to do it. Financially, it wasnt too much of a stretch either, just a one time Rs 2500, considering we spend at least Rs 1000/month on him on bones, toys and stuff anyway.

Practically, it was all cut and dried (pun unintended). Emotionally, we were wrecks! The tearing emotional struggle! The responsibility for making such a big decision with such final consequences that would stay with us for the rest of all our lives! We knew that we had made the decision, but God, it was so difficult to actually act on it! We second guessed and third guessed our decision, looked up wiki and google, spoke to people, read articles. The internet even had entire surgeries online, in full pictorial detail. Umm...too much information!!
Almost all third party sources were 'for' the operation. But the biggest 'for' for us as it turned out, was as the hubby put it..since he isn't going to get any, why torture him with the urge! The biggest 'against' of course was our baby would no longer be intact. It was an operation for heaven's sake, not a natural progression as nature intended it. We had faith in the vet that the operation would be quick, largely painless and safe. But it was so final. Did we really want to erase a whole aspect of our baby? Was it fair to him? Would it really benefit him in the long run? And what about having pups? Even if we thought we didnt want his pups, would we always feel this way? What if we wanted to change our mind? After all dogs, sadly, have notoriously short lifespans with respect to humans. Would we not like to keep the association of the genes alive? But then again, he's not a pure breed, so breeding him would just be wishful thinking anyway. Wouldnt it?

In the midst of all these doubts, self recriminations, raging internal debates and an underlying current of the sadness of finality, we met the vet to fix a date. The first date was fixed for 12th dec. However, a new snag appeared. Pets have an Elizabethan Collar, a funnel like device tied around their necks, to prevent them from licking and reopening their wounds in case of operations and other deeps cuts or wounds. This collar was not available in Nero's size anywhere! We spoke with our usual Pet shop owner but he not only declined having any, he went so far as to tell us that it had not been available for the last 6 months and there was only 1 distributor in these parts who imported it. We asked him to check with him but to no avail. Only a smaller size was available, but it wouldn't cover his snout and thus prevent him from licking and messing up the dressing, the stitches and possibly his recovery.

Surely we could not have an operation without the collar. Knowing our baby, he would surely do exactly what he's not supposed to. How could we go ahead? Maybe he was destined not to be neutered!

We got back to the vet with the sad news. The vet said he would try something and bring him in at 12:30pm on Sunday and lets see. The path of destiny just did a u-turn.
So at 12:30pm on a winter Sunday morning we landed up at the vet place. He didnt have a collar either but said he would tell us how to convert a plastic dustbin into a collar (as people used to do for ages and ages before this new fangled collar arrived) and we would go ahead. The moment had arrived and I wasnt sure how we reached there so fast!

Things started to fall into place far to quickly. Nero was injected a preanaesthetic, and we were sent off for a 10 min walk. In a lapse of communication, we had not realised he was not supposed to eat before the operation and he had had his breakfast at 8am in the morning. However, post that he had been for 2 walks, had evacuated both his bowel (once) and his bladder (a few times) so we hoped it would all be ok. Back after 10 mins, he was on the table and a bit of hair snipped off his right forelimb elbow. And then the anaesthetic got injected in. Before we knew it, our baby was relaxing in our arms. I was holding his face, his dear little face...his pupils had dilated to almost the full size of his eyes. His breath was calming down and his pupils were so large I didnt know if he could focus on my face. I could barely focus on his through a misty veil of tears that just materialised from nowhere as I looked into my baby's eyes. He was ready for the operation and we were supposed to come back in 30-45 minutes. Frankly, I was in a bit of a daze, leaving him on the operation table, with no clear thought except that the faster we leave, the faster we can get him back. As I came out of the clinic, my biggest regret was not having a single damn tissue on me. The rest I didnt want to think about.

We spent the time in a nearby supermarket, shopping for general household stuff. Back to the clinic, as we entered, they had finished. Our baby was awake! He even wagged his tail a bit on seeing me. Surely its not possible for a heart to explode from too much emotion, but mine was doing a highly credible attempt. The doc then started speaking of making dustbins to collars and post operative medicines (antibiotics and anti-inflammatory), helping focus on the situation and preventing a full emotional meltdown. He was awake but groggy. He managed to get up on his own and walk a bit. We carried him down the stairs into the car park and put him into the car. Then we decided, what the heck, lets try again looking for that damn collar.

We went to 5 different shops looking for the collar, and parallely though about various alternatives, plastic dustbin, plastic buckets, cardboards, lampshades, plastic electrical wire holders (my mom's suggestion), moulded plastic stationary folders (my hubby's idea). Finally we decided to buy a couple of the real stuff, albeit in the smaller size. After all if we were indeed to cut, paste, tape and otherwise modify materials, why not do it with the real stuff!!
So we went back to our pet shop, got 3 collars at size 3 and finally went back home. Nero managed to walk a bit and walked from the lift back to the door at our floor. Once in we settled him onto his mattress covered him with his blanket and after a bit of shuffling around he went to sleep.

We've hovered around him since then with oodles of love and cuddles. Making a place for him on the bed with a thick sheet when he wanted to come up, covering him with his blanket as he slept on the ground. I even held up his bowl to make him take a few sips, his mouth was soo dry! Once he had slept a while, he kept whining and trying to reach his stitches. So we tried to make him walk around a little using his favourite biscuits. He wouldnt walk much, sitting down after a couple of steps and refusing to move. With a combination of biscuits of lots of encouragment, we made him walk up and down his normal fetch route - dining room to drawing room, and then took him out to the balcony to see if he wanted to pee. Did he ever! He went reluctantly, but once there peed a river! Later, he hungrily ate a bowl of liquidy khichdi (rice and pulses cooked together into a watery consistence) and is now sleeping again, having somehow manouvered his bulky collar under the low bed.

Now that the operation is through, all I'm focussed on is ensuring he recovers as fast as possible and that he's as comfortable as he can be. I have no regrets on the operation. Maybe someday I'll look back to today with different eyes. Maybe never. But for now, my baby is well, is home and healthy, and thats enough for me for now.

Nero's first winter

Its been a while since my last post. In the meantime, Nero has turned 6 months old, moved from puppyhood to doggy teenagerdom, torn a bean bag, made a girlfriend (Sujjain - female black lab 3.5 months old at a neighbouring high rise) and got his first winter jacket. Life is never dull!

Nero - tall enough to investigate the top shelves

Nero - in his brand new jacket, being sidetracket by biscuits and bones so that he does not chew or pull off his jacket.

Nero goes to School...

...or rather the school comes to Nero. Our baby is now 4.5 months old and has got his own personal trainer! October 4 was the day Nero started school. He is starting on basic commands. He already knows Sit, Down and Come...the key is he has to do it on command, NOT only when he feels like it! Currently, his trainer comes on alternate days and he is on basic obedience training for 4 months. And its needed!! He's growing so big, he already reaches my shoulders when he jumps!

So far he's had 2 classes with his trainer. The trainers are a brother duo - Gopal & Mohan. Gopal, the elder one, who started the first day told us Nero is quite an energetic dog, more than most labs (well he is a mix!). As if we needed further reinforcement of that!!!!!!

Growing Up

Its been more than a month since my last posts, and I have a LOT of catching up with Nero's antics to do! So without further ado, here's what kiddo's been upto..

Firstly, he nicely recovered from his ticks and fever. Got a couple of no-shampoo baths with tick powder rubbed into his fur after his bath. Makes him look mangy till it settles down, but hey! its for his own good :) Luckily, havent seen any recurrence of sickness yet.

This last week of September, he also had his last set of vaccinations and is now a fully armed doggy! 14kgs at 4 months and growing well! His monthly deworming tablets continue for now along with his daily vitamin and calcium tonics. He also got the okay for shampoo baths! Hubby couldn't resist that for long.

Armed with a special moisturising shampoo (that will clean him but not dry his skin), man and dog lathered up a fine Sunday morning culminating in a glowing dog and a satisfied man. Nero was tied at the corner of one of our verandahs to dry in the sun, then well brushed. Then, horrors of horrors, yours truly insisted that glowy dog be made mangy with tick powder!! Both man and dog turned petulant eyes to me, but I stood firm! He can look ugly but he will NOT be parasited!! His hair's grown longer so after a while, the powder settled in well enough and he looked nice and sleek again.

The first shampoo bath...a clean dog...almost brand spanking new...well doesn't he deserve something new? Well of course!! Nero has outgrown his old plain red collar and leash, so he got a spanking new set! Red of course...with small puppies and bones and doggy stuff drawn on it!! A stronger leash as well...now when he pulls on his walks...you follow!!

Another sign of growing up (old??)...Nero lost his first tooth on 28th Sep! We went into shock! We didnt expect his baby teeth to fall out so soon (6 months was what we were assuming). That evening I saw his lower left canine (fang) bleeding...I just thought it was from a too vigorous game of tug-o-war. A few minutes later...it wasn't there!! Just a gaping hole in its place! Looked red and raw too...so I got some dettol out and cotton padded it onto the gap as best as I could. Nero insisted on putting his tongue in the way...and didnt like the taste of dettol at all! We hunted for the tooth everywhere but it was nowhere to be found. Still we didnt think much about it. The next day, his other fang went horizontal...and then in a few minutes (despite NOT playing tug-o-war) it was gone! without trace! We checked with the Vet and he said it was normal...they start falling from about now and by 6 months he should get his full set of adult teeth. Whew! But he does have trouble keeping small food morsels in his mouth...aww Nero...many a slip between the mouth and the lip?

And that brings me to today...when our normally quiet and falling asleep in car dog decided to get car sick! Well partly it was our fault, we fed him before taking him out in the car. We were going to mum's for lunch, so decided to pack dog and maid along. Both of them were to eat first and we would be going out with mum for lunch. All was according to plan, when we decided to take a slightly different (and shorter) route. The route was a bit windy with twists and turns...poor Nero's full stomach wasnt up to it. Despite our usual precaution of making him sit on a towel and spreading that towel all over the back seat...he did puke...all over the towel, the seat, his leash and the strap of his bag. At least he turned away from the maid! And then we realised that uncharacteristically, and complacently...we had neglected to bring a bottle of water along. Luckily we had old newspapers. So we pulled over, cleaned the best we could, and Nero spent the rest of the trip on my lap in the front passenger seat. At my mum's, a hose pipe and clothes brush was put into action to get the worst out of the car and other stuff. The car is still a bit stinky, the other stuff is soaking overnight in soapy water for a good washing tomorrow! Doggy is back to normal, had a whale of a time peeing in mum's garden, smelling new smells and getting a fuss made off. He was as good as gold on the way back and slept most of the way. We took a longer, straighter route home and fed him after reaching home. We can take a hint Nero! Incidentally, and in a slightly ewwy way, discovered he swallows some of his food and his biscuits whole!! Chew silly dog, Chew!!!

Sick Puppy

Our baby puppy is sick :(

We've been taking him on long walks, so the first sign was when he flatly started refusing to go beyond a certain distance. That happened a couple of days. Then yesterday his appetite went down. His jumps had a lesser spring in them. Today, he hardly ate his breakfast. His nose was dry and ears hot. He'd also been eating dirt a couple of days and had been passing black stools. So, we planned to watch him for the day, talk to the vet and maybe take him along in the evening.

Then midmorning, we (my maid and I) noticed..ticks on him! The first one was a flat grey-greenish bloated bug lying on the floor beside his den. We sqashed it on a newspaper to see if it was full of blood. It was! So we took him out to the balcony to look for ticks. Immediately, I could see a small red spidery one attached on his face, on the left side just below the ear. But taking it out was an impossible task. Nero would NOT sit still. We tempted him with biscuits. He ate all of them in a jumpy manner and just too fast that we could even get a hold on that tick. Trying to brush him was an exercise in futility as he just wanted to keep biting and chewing it...and the hand that held it. My maid and I tried to hold him down, but he just would not subside. We figured he might be finally feeling hungry. So we got him a bowl full of curd to eat. While he ate the bowl, we had just enough time to take out that tick and another one in his left ear. I even saw a bit of ear wax I wanted to clean out but the food bowl was already empty.

I was feeling really upset both at Nero and for him. Covered in scratches and bites, with a feverish, tick-ridden dog which was generally lethargic, but hyperactive if you touched him. Plus, my husband was in a training program, so couldnt even drop stuff and come back home early. It was time to call in the big guns. I phoned the vet and he suggested I bring him in. Before we went, we soaked his bed stuff in boiling water and put the lot into the washing machine.

Then, off we went to the vet. The vet too said he seemed warm, though his temperature came out normal. Nero had his first brush with rectal thermometer. He was a little fidgety, but with 3 people around him, 2 strangers, he was easily subdued. I asked about dirt eating and was told that dogs WILL eat what they're not supposed to...dirt, grass, insects, drain water. We just have to keep dissuading them! A deworming tablet went into the bag along with the prescription for crocin, for the fever. What about the ticks? Well, said the vet, thats going to happen too. Do you have a tick powder and shampoo? No, I said, since we dont really give him shampoo baths yet, just water baths a couple of times till now. A tick powder went into the shopping cart, along with instruction on how to use it. (Wet a towel/sponge and wet his fur. Then with your hand, brush his fur in the opposite to hair growth direction and put the powder. The wetness should make it sticky). Lastly, about his appetite. Well, he can now graduate to chapatis and curd. Plus, another tonic went into the bag! Umm...ok..what about his current tonics - Calcium and Vitamins? Those are ok, said he, except increase the calcium to thrice a day! And the walks? Well, he said, he should continue his walks..maybe not too long while he's not well but definitely go on walks!

With those intructions (and medicines), we made ready to leave. The vet's assistant thought Nero looked taller but thinner. The Vet said he looked thinner because he was growing taller. So we weighed him. Our baby is now 11 kgs!!

So back home, gave him the deworming tablet immediately. He wolfed it down with a biscuit. Will give his first crocin, appetite tonic and calcium with new diet of chapatis and curd for lunch. Tried cleaning his ears with a wet cotton ball, but kept trying to eat the cotton, and bite my hand...sigh! Will wait for hubby to come home to do the tick powder procedure and try and sneak in some ear cleaning then too. Wonder if I can get some bite proof armor somewhere!

Leaf Shredder and Plant Denuder

We brought 15 plant pots from my mum on our visit a couple of days back in an effort to green up our flat. Nero had already eaten two of them, behind our backs, despite best efforts to keep him in sight all the time! A trail of shredded leaves and an angelic looking Nero sitting quiety in either his crate or one of his favorite corners is a dead (plant) giveaway. Sadly, we've still not been able to catch him in the act, so he remains unpunished!

Neeeroo......!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its a big big world...

August 11 was a big day for Nero. He got the first of his last shots (the rabies shot) and has got the vet go ahead for going out for walks!! The vet also announced he is no longer over-weight but just right! Nero is now down to 3 meals a day - morning, noon and night. He is up to 2 walks a day, morning and evening,with the odd afternoon walk thrown in if its not too hot. He has overcome his initial reluctance to leave the comfortable sanctuary of the flat and now eagerly runs out for his walks.

August 14, Nero turned 3 months old. To celebrate, he had his beloved boiled egg in his dalia dinner plus lots and lots of attention :)

August 15, the Indian Independence Day, Nero went for his first house visit. We visited my mum's place where Nero was as good as gold. Mom has a garden so Nero had a good time exploring...on leash though. Everyone took turns in walking him out and around a bit and he did his first poop outside the house! He has a fondness for doing his stuff in the middle of the road though. Needs to learn to move to the grass! He got a bit of boiled egg leftovers for dinner again! Two days in a row!! This pup has it made!!!