Hobbles

Chance's swelling started to go down, but he was still limping a little bit. The decision was made to bring him back to Townsend vet hospital for some x-rays and further testing.

Turns out that he did not break his leg, however walking on it unprotected (which what was originally recommended) causes tendon damage and weakness in his leg. For his leg to heal correctly they needed to cast it. Once they got his left front leg into a cast they noticed that he kept whacking his right front leg with it, so they put a small cast on his right front leg to prevent any damage... he now hobbles about the house.

On the plus side ... he ain't running away any time soon :)

He has surprising mobility, he is able to get up and down the stairs with little difficulty, and even jumped up on the couch after eating this morning.

I have an appointment after work to go to the shelter and get some of his test results back. A more aggressive plan of attack is in order. We found out that he lost another pound as well ...

We are also going to start something new with him tonight. We are setting up his very own apartment in the house. We are cordoning off the back hallway, bathroom and office for Chance only. That way he can have a constant supply of food out without the horses trying to eat it all on him. It will also contain his accidents to one area of the house. I don't really want to keep them separated, but there is no way we can leave food for him out the way it is now. We're going to try it when we go to work and maybe at night as well, once we are home we will be letting him back up with the rest of the pack.

Oh, and of course the first thing we did when he got home last nigh was sign his casts :)

Maybe I'll grab a pic tonight.

A step backwards ...

Chance had a little accident this weekend. He was sleeping on the couch with his coat on and he managed to wiggle his body through the neck opening and got stuck. He flipped out and started rocking back and forth try to get out. Liz tried to cut the coat off but he was squirming around too much.

We managed to hold him down for long enough to get it cut off of him, but he managed to fall off the couch before we could free him. He twisted his front paw pretty bad and was a little unsteady walking.

Well it only got worse. He started lifting up the paw when he was standing still and eventually couldn't put any pressure on it. The swelling was so bad that at first we couldn't tell if it was a sprain or a break.

Liz took him to Townsend vet hospital yesterday for a consult. Turns out that it was a sprain, however he does have severe arthritis :(

On top of that he has LOST 4 lbs ... down to 49. ugh

On the plus side we got some medication for his arthritis, antibiotics to help any swelling and some more rx food to hopefully pack on some weight.

He is eating a good amount of food, he just isn't gaining any weight ...

Clothing Defiance

As we all know, it is starting to get chilly outside. Chance is especially affected since he has no body fat to keep him warm (something the other two don't have to worry about...) and he comes in shivering.

Liz decided to get one of the polar fleece liners we use during the winter, and put it on Chance before he went out last night. He was still a little chilly when he went to bed so she decided to leave the coat on to keep him warm.

Maybe it was the color (baby blue) or he just didn't like the style, but he made his distaste very apparent this morning.

I came down to clean up any messes and I found his coat at the bottom of the stairs ... covered in pee.

I think we need to find a better coat for him :)

Fall Update

After getting through a rough few days, it appears Chance has turned a corner and is starting to eat more.

Just after Dean had surgery Chance started getting sick again (it never ends). This time everything would go right through him and we would have a lot of messes to clean up each morning. We spoke with Dr. O'Neil and she suggested a strict diet and some meds to help harden everything up.

We picked up our prescription food for him and a bunch of meds from our local vet. After being on so much medication after his surgeries, we decided to try just the food first, holding off giving any meds unless he really needed them.

Within two days he was starting to feel better and eat more. Now he is eating almost 3 cans with at least 10 handfuls of dry a day. The weight is slowly starting to pack on, I can see it near his ribs and in his chest.

He still loves the attention. Liz or I can't walk through the living room without him coming over and nudging us for some loving.

I don't think I mentioned it in my previous post but we have added another 4 legged friend to our collection, another adopted guinea pig. Liz named this one Peanut (get it ... Peanut ... Budda ) The two of them squack up a storm in the morning :)

I am going to need an ark pretty soon