I just wanted to give you all an update on Gracie! Thanks for all the support and love you’ve been sending her!

As I mentioned before I already had a vet appointment on Friday (the day after her surgery) with Noah (for his “man” check-up…that’s another story).  I had two wire crates in the car (one for Noah, and one for the girl that was in season who was along to “help” Noah) and a small plastic crate to bring Gracie home in.

Our appointment finished up, the bill was paid, instructions and medications gone over for Gracie (they did remove her right eye) and I had the other two dogs loaded.  I got Gracie and decided to put her in the wire crate instead of the plastic one since it was bigger and she was wearing the “cone of shame”. So I put the other girl in the smaller crate and loaded Gracie.

It was obvious almost immediately that that wasn’t going to work. She was almost “frantic” when I put her in and starting sticking her nose through the bars of the crate which got her eye (or I should say, surgery site) up against the wire bars. The last thing we needed was her messing that area up before we left the office.

So I awkwardly, pulled her out of the crate and with my other arm got the other dog out of the small crate, then switched them. The small crate is small and with the plastic cone on, it was really cramped. She immediately started pawing at the cone and ripped it off her head. (This is not starting out well, is it?).

So I quickly opened the door, grabbed her and the cone and headed back inside. I sat down to redo the cone and tie the gauze holding it on much tighter as I loudly proclaimed to the receptionist, “I’m going to need some tranquilizers!” (Maybe I should’ve taken them instead of giving them to Gracie! 😛 )

Back to the truck we went with the cone tightly tied around her neck (and something to mellow her out) and back into the small crate. It was time to head home as quickly as we could and get her settled in there and more comfortable.

Thankfully, as I drove she settled down. And since she’s gotten home she has gotten better each day. I think it was the cone that she was trying to get away from or get off that was making her almost frantic.  She is learning to walk around without banging into everything. In fact, she’s running around the yard on her potty breaks and settles down nicely in her crate or a nearby bed when she comes back into the house. I think the cone was more of an adjustment then the missing eye.

She is being good and taking her medications twice a day. And the swelling and bruising that was so evident post-surgery are receding.

Potty break after we got home. You can see how swollen and bruised the area is.

Two days later it looks much better already.

Gracie is definitely on the mend and doing well!