Goofy's road to recovery

When we got home from the camp out we quickly unloaded the camping gear, took Mason's friend home and took Goofy to the animal hospital. After assessing Goofy's injuries the Vet had an $800+ list of recommended treatment for Goofy that included suturing, medicating and x-raying him. After speaking to the vet in detail we decided to opt out of the x-ray (partly because it was an additional $300) but also because the vet explained that the x-ray would only indicate any small fractures Goofy might have acquired during the attack. Small fractures in the vertebrae would only be treated with limited movement and nothing else. Since we had to keep him on restricted activity anyways we decided to not do the x-ray and see how he does after his wounds heal.  

 At about 5:45pm they took Goofy back to start his surgery and finished at 7:10pm. When we brought Goofy home Saturday evening he was very lethargic and shaking. Poor little dog had been through a lot. He didn't move very much and blood was dripping from his drain. (The drain was to prevent infection and minimize swelling.) Anytime he laid down you could tell he was uncomfortable. I woke up a few times in the middle of the night and went to check on Goofy. A couple times I could tell he was awake just laying there with his head up. With his wounds located all around his neck I'm sure he had a hard time finding a comfortable position to lay his head down. Poor Goofy. For the next 2 days he didn't eat much (I feel like his crunchy food was probably a little painful for him to chew.) He slept A LOT and moved very gingerly. I was mostly worried that his fun personality would change because of this horrific incident. Goofy has always been very sweet and excited to meet new people and dogs. For those first few days he wouldn't come out to be with the family and hardly drank a thing. I noticed every time we brought him out around the family he would start shaking heavily whenever April was anywhere near him. I totally understand how he felt, he was injured and she was a potential threat. 


Monday morning when it was time to take the kids to school I was pleasantly surprised when Goofy walked out of Callie's bedroom (aka his hiding place in the corner) I could tell he wanted to come with. He still wasn't wagging his tail or anything but this made me really happy. Goofy has always loved going for car rides and coming anywhere we go. On the drive home he slowly hoped off the back seat to the floor (only about an 8in drop or so) and yelped in pain. Ouch!

The entire 1st week after his attack he would start to shake his head but stopped immediately, more than likely because pain was shooting down his neck.

We gave Goofy antibiotics via syringe in the mouth for the week following and hid pain meds in cheese or meat to give to him as needed. These first few days were very difficult for us all. The whole family was obviously shaken by the whole experience and I needed to stay close to home to monitor Goofy. In an effort to minimize scratching I made Goofy a make-shift scratch-guard. He HATED it. LOL


On Tuesday (3 days post surgery) I took him in to get his drain removed. Poor dog was so sad his tail was tucked down between his legs and he was shaking violently. He obviously recognized the place. He was really good for me and the assistant but just scared and shaking the whole time we waited in that waiting room.

Wednesday evening I almost took him back to the pet hospital. I had just told Mason that we needed to go (he had scouts that night) and as I walked into our family room I could see Goofy behaving/walking/hoping in a very peculiar manner. His right front leg was straight as a board and sticking out away from his body about 45 degrees. He hobbled towards me (probably because he heard me say the magic word "go"). He "hobbled-bounced" for about 5 steps and it freaked me out. He almost looked as if he was seizing or had lost control of that right front leg. I don't know if he hopped down from something or it just randomly happened but it terrified me all the same. Almost as if he was seizing. Thankfully he hasn't appeared to have had any other similar behavior. He does spend a little more than normal time licking his right front leg so I hope that leg wasn't injured. He appears to be walking normal for now.

Goofy is slowly returning to his normal habits and routine. I'm hopeful he will revert back to being our perfect mellow sweet Goofy. I guess time will tell, I really just hope that Goofy isn't so traumatized from this that he has PTSD or a personality change or anything. His scabs are starting to flake in some areas, I'm surprised at the amount of scabs popping up everywhere along his neck. I have an appointment with a regular vet office to have Goofy checked out and evaluated after the sutures come out tomorrow.