UPDATE: How do you prepare a dog for a major operation if you can’t explain what’s going to happen & why? 💔
My original posts can be found [here](https://reddit.com/r/AlaskanMalamute/s/gmLwOIHyWt) & [here] (https://reddit.com/r/DogAdvice/s/MgcRD1Rx3p).
Yesterday morning we dropped our darling girl off at the vets for her big operation & she was brought home via animal ambulance later that afternoon; we had a *very* long night, with lots of pacing & squeaking, & it took her **16 hours** to finally settle long enough for us all to get some sleep!
She spent many of the sleepless 16 hours glaring at us, in true malamute style but this evening she is much more like her usual self, apart from some occasional squeaks of outrage/pain & she’s not letting us near her back end, which is totally fair 😂
The photo attached is from about an hour before she properly fell asleep when I thought I’d *finally* got her into bed but she got back up again two minutes later 🙄🤦ðŸ»â€â™€ï¸
After all your fantastic recommendations & advice we ordered her a bodysuit & we 100% made the right decision — although we have no idea how the vet is going to check her incision on Friday 😂 She went into “hospital†with a packed lunch, her favourite stuffie & some treats, & she came home having refused to eat & apparently paid no attention to her stuffie 🤦ðŸ»â€â™€ï¸
Our vet told us that the lump they removed was mostly fluid so they’re hopeful it was “just†a cyst but the results could take up to 10 days to come back… if the lump was more than a cyst then we’re not certain what we’ll choose to do next. Our girl isn’t young & we’ll have to think about what’s best for her quality of life if the possibility of more treatment comes up. But for now we are thankful that she’s still her brilliant self & that her behaviour doesn’t seem to have changed at all — we were very worried the procedure would age her but she’s already trying to jump around (which is going to put one or both of us in hospital for a heart attack if she keeps at it!!). The vet also checked her teeth, ears, paws & skin & said that she is in great condition for her age.
I want to thank you call from the bottom of our hearts for your kind words, reassurances, advice & stories; I’ve read every comment & appreciate every single one. We know we have a few week of healing to go but we feel like we’re at least *out of the woods* at this point.
Love to you all ♥ï¸