How Conchita became Juniper - adventures in fostering

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I do wonder if she has the ability to think back and compare to the life she has now. My sensible head thinks not, but I like to imagine she does. She does have a look of complete bliss when she's sleeping. She's started dreaming more recently, snoring away and with her paws twitching. I like to think she's dreaming of all the new sights and sounds she's experiencing for the first time in years. This morning, she and J caught up with me and the Labs on the homeward leg of our walk. We ambled through the forest, which is somewhere we've not been with her before. She took it all in her (wonky) stride, following along closely, but stopping to smell the news as she went. I never imagined she'd be off lead on walks like this so soon; I thought her years of captivity would have her bolting to the hills, but no, when she's with us (OK, me - since she ran from J to follow my scent when he walked out the gate with her!), she's happy as Larry.

I can understand why people say "they must be grateful", but I'm not sure dogs are capable of that. Certainly she's happy and content now, though, and that's what matters - and what makes me grateful. So many people have made this possible and I can't thank them enough.

 

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Well, we've heard back from the vets in Barcelona. It's not a massive surprise. They gave us three options:

1. Continue long-term with the medication she's on.
They have been an enormous help, no doubt, but I don't consider this an option because i) it's really not a good idea to be on NSAIDs long-term and ii) as much as they help with the "regular" pain, the elbow does still fully dislocate sometimes, which is obviusly xcruciating, even with pain meds.

2. Fuse the joint.
The vets don't like this option, and neither do I. It will remove the pain, but will make her less mobile than she currently is, and continue to negatively impact on the rest of her joints. So, that's a no.

3. Amputation.
All along, I've thought this the most likely option, and the osteo vet thinks it will give the best outcome.

Of course, it's only right that Mum has a voice in this, too, and so I've given her secret option number 4: Conchita comes directly to the UK for a second opinion and treatment there. I think my sister is putting some pressure on, believing she should push for a referral to Noel Fitzpatrick. Who knows, he may be able to do an elbow replacement. Or, he may just agree that amputation is for the best, too.

So, I'll wait and see what they come back with.

I watched an episode of the Supervet last night with an amputee Lab - he did amazingly on three legs. Such a difference to hobbling about on four. It's what I am hoping for for little Conchita

 

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My mum is very concerned that Conchita won't be able to jump in and out of her car once she's an amputee. I'm convinced that won't be an issue; she doesn't jump in at the moment, because we only put her in for going to the vet. I could train her, but I'm not prepared to do that pre-surgery because of the potential for dislocation. I think the surgery will only make her more mobile, and she can jump onto kitchen worktops as it is

Still, because Mum is getting herself stressed about it (which is good, in that it shows she's thinking about these things), I've suggested to her that she simply takes Conchita on as a foster on a trial basis so she doesn't feel obligated to take her if she's not a fit. Just getting her into a foster home in the UK will be amazing for her, and it makes sense that she shouldn't feel she has to keep her if it's not right. I'm sure it'll be OK once they've spent some time together, but I can also understand the panic of "what have I agreed to?" with sight-unseen like this.

I'm going to get her booked in for surgery ASAP and we'll go from there.

 

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Here's a little video I've made of her time with us to date. I hope you enjoy it

 

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She is just so lovely. I don't have any qualms about handing her over, strangely (yet!!), but I'm really happy I'll be able to visit her whenever I want

She is booked in for surgery on Thursday. It's a bit more expensive than I was hoping, but I'd rather she was operated on at this big well-appointed hospital rather than the local surgery, which would undoubtedly be much cheaper.

It'll be scary leaving her there, but it's something that has to be done and, once recovery is over, she'll be so much better for it. I think Thursday will be a day of keeping myself busy!

 

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We had a lovely walk this evening. I've been thinking that she'll have to do some lead walks when she's in the UK and that's something that will be completely alien to her, so we'll have to practice. She tends to run ahead a few paces, then run back, or lag behind and catch up, so I started encouraging her to walk at my side. Early days and she's a touch jumpy being in that position, so we'll take it slowly. We did about 20m of it, that was enough. In other news, though, throughout the rest of the walk, I worked on bits and bobs with the Labs and Conchita chose to stay with J. Their bond is really strengthening, which is lovely to watch.

 

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In light of the unexpected cost of her surgery, I've increased the target on my GoFundMe campaign. I do feel that the extra cost of surgery in the hospital in Barcelona over having it done at our local vet surgery is justified; they have the best trained orthopaedics team and the best equipment, so she'll be getting the best care possible, no question.

The outstanding costs, assuming no complications, are just in taking her back to the UK, which is expensive. From here, it will cost around one thousand euros if I take her myself. I could certainly have her shipped far cheaper, but I really think that would be so scary for her, and I have no doubt that the best option is to drive her myself, so I can have a few days' handover to help her settle in to her new life. I've included the link to the campaign in my signature so if anyone would like to contribute to her onwards journey, it's there. If there is anything left over, we will put it towards helping the other dogs in the shelter, of course.

In other news, Dad has been brought into the loop and he's happy with everything. It's still being talked about in terms of fostering at this stage, but he said "Yes, but it won't be just a foster, will it?"

There was a bitter-sweet moment last night when J was giving her a cuddle and I heard him say to her, "If we didn't have to go to Andorra, you'd stay with us forever.". Bless him, even though she's been quite wary of him, he's so fond of her. I think he might shed a tear when she leaves (but won't let us see, because he's a real man).

 

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Conchita is going through what I can only describe as an adolescent phase! She's fully settled in now and is gaining in confidence, meaning she's happy to start investigating more. She's not been back up on the work tops again, but has made moves to do so a couple of times, which I've distracted her from. She's also tried breaking through the baby gate a couple of times. Mischief girl. Yesterday on our evening walk she was right behind me in the woods just before I popped out onto a wider trail. She didn't appear, so I waited, assuming she had a smell and would catch us up, then I heard her barking on the other side of the trail! She must have sneaked out of the woods behind my back as I was looking at where I thought she'd appear, and go off after a scent. I didn't know if the bark was an "I'm lost" bark, so I called, but she didn't appear. I wasn't worried, I knew she'll come back and there were no dangers about, but this was very new behaviour. After a couple of minutes, I saw her happy face pop up above the thick grass, so I called. The face disappeared (it's very long grass) and I assumed she was on the way back. But no, obviously just checking to see I was still there while she went back to her smell. A minute or so later, she came bouncing back, happy as Larry. I think that the barking was from flushing a rabbit - Podencos apparently bark when they find game. The whole thing only lasted a few minutes, and I was never concerned, just thinking, man, this is like having a teenager!

On this morning's walk, it continued a bit. Her little independent streak is coming out
No running off, but she took a few paces down a track we weren't going on. I called her name and she stopped and looked at me, then looked back. I squeaked, squatted and waved my arms like a maniac. She took another long look down the track, then turned and ran towards me. Lots of using the "come" cue as she came towards me and oodles of praise for a good choice. I'm going to have to get my parents a copy of Total Recall!


It's Conchita's last day as a quadruped today, which I'm feeling a bit sad about. I know it's daft, and it's definitely the right thing for her (we've investigated it enough, after all), but it still feels so final. She's so happy at the moment and the surgery is obviously going to bring her down for a while and that will be my doing. It's silly, I know it's silly, but it still feels like a breach of trust.

 

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She has such a funny character, full of mischief and joy. She was busy licking her kong earlier - she adores kongs! - and then suddenly started pouncing on it, play bowing and growling at it. Hysterical! I wish I'd managed to capture it on video, but as soon as I moved, she stopped. You would easily think she was a puppy sometimes from the way she acts. So full of life

 

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She’s been dropped off at the hospital and we’re now on our way back home. The lovely oncologist J saw last time came to see us and wish her well. The male vet nurse who took her was extremely sympathetic and gentle with her. I’m happy she’s in the best of hands.
We’ve done the obligatory IKEA shop while in Barcelona, picked up some cheap and ugly rugs to put down so she has good grip while she’s learning to balance on three legs. So now it’s just a waiting game for the phone call later to say she’s out of surgery and then we’ll pick her up tomorrow afternoon.

 

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I have a firm mattress for her plus vet bed and a selection of other beds so she can choose what she prefers. I also have a thin futon mattress I’ll put on the floor for us to sleep downstairs with her, so she might like that, too. Once I know what she finds most comfortable I can sort out a nice bed for her for longer term - although I imagine she will be making her way onto the sofas at my parents’ house very soon after arrival

I’ve been feeding her on the sofa already because it seems to be easiest for her; she’s effectively been on three legs for years now anyway, although now she won’t have the fourth limb for balancing.

 

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She’s out of surgery, hurrah! We’ve just had the call to say she’s out, is happy, comfortable and not in pain. We’ll get another update later, and then we can pick her up tomorrow afternoon. Yay, ChiChi!!

I'm glad it was done and dusted so quickly, I'm a wreck! I just want her back home now!

 

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We have her! Just leaving Barcelona now. She’s sore, stressed and crying, poor little love, so it’s all very emotional. I’ll update more once she’s settled in at home.

 

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Sorry for the poor photo. Conchita is now officially a member of the tripawd club. It was incredibly emotional picking her up this afternoon. She has barely stopped crying, which my sensible head is telling me is just a reaction to the GA, but my emotional side is anthropomorphising into something a whole lot worse. I wish I could explain to her what’s going on and why; that it will all be better very soon. For now, I hate myself a little.

 

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She’s definitely feeling a bit better this morning. She’s stopped crying, which is a relief, because it’s so heartbreaking!
She’s not got up to go to the toilet yet, but that’s not unusual; she’s a bit of a sloth in the mornings, just like me.

Time to go feed her her many meds- she’s going to rattle!

Thanks for your kind words, they do help.

 

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Well. I took the Labs out for their morning walk. She wanted to come. Errr, sorry, young lady, not today! She had a hop round what will one day be the garden and is far steadier on her feet today than she was yesterday. While I was out, she whined a bit, which is down to separation anxiety and perfectly understandable, but I left J with a radio so I could keep tabs on what was going on and he fed her her body weight in cheese while I was gone. I think making it OK for me to be away is really important now, so hopefully this will help. When I got back, she ran up the garden steps to me!!! Jesus, dog, I mean it's amazing that she can do that, but, really?! A quick check of the staples and they were fine, but it was a bit of a heart-stopping moment.

So, that's enough "bouncing" for one day. She's now back on the sofa - she jumped up herself - and is having a well-deserved snooze.

I had a BIG glass of wine last night to settle the nerves but if she continues like this, I think I'm going to need AA membership by the time she's recovered.

 

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Dear god, I need eyes and ears like a hawk! Took advantage of her being asleep to pop some bits upstairs. Turned round, and there she was! Stairs! FFS!
So, then I was trapped upstairs until J got home and could carry her back down, because you just know I'd have fallen over my own feet if I'd tried.

Staples, amazingly, still in place. She's going to be the death of me.

 

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Photo time!

Conchita is going from strength to strength. I don't have time to write many words right now, but here are some pictures from the first couple of days. I've kept the gory ones out, don't worry!

You'll see we've been playing with her attire. She came home in a string body stocking, which kept slipping down and causing problems. I read that a child's T-shirt was the better option, so tried that out, but it stretched and the neck would dig into her operation site. In the end, we've ended up with one of the Ruff & Tumble drying coats, which works brilliantly to stop her being able to get to the wound, so she doesn't need a cone.

 

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It's unlikely she ever had a good home before going into the shelter; Podencos are used as hunting dogs and are absolutely disposable. They're only ever owned by men and are considered to be stupid and untrainable. They have a natural lifespan of around 14 years, but generally live no longer than 4. The way she reacts to J makes us believe she's certainly been mistreated by a man at some point.

Even Willow, who can be a bit grumbly about her personal space, has been great with her. She grumbles sometimes, but she does that to all the dogs, and it's just a "stay away from my bed" thing (which I must work on, because she's grumbling because she feels threatened and I don't want that). This morning, though, I woke up and Conchita was sleeping with her head on Willow

 

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We don't know how old Chi is. We don't even really know how long she's been in the shelter. At least five years, probably more. It's not the sort of place that keeps records. My best guess is she's around nine years of age. It's hard to tell from her teeth, because they're badly worn from chewing at the bars. The vet also thought about nine, but no-one can be sure. Maybe they should have counted the rings in the leg they chopped off

Today, she was crying a little bit and I did an inspection which showed she has a blister between her pads on her front paw
We don't want to take her to the vet unnecessarily because it stresses her out, so I've done what they suggested; rinsed it with sterile saline and cleaned it with Hibiscrub. She's already on ABs, so they should do their work as long as we keep it clean, but it's the last thing she needs.
I assume it's been caused by a change in the way she's moving creating rubbing, and it will harden up in time. Poor little love! Apparently pressure sores are quite common in amputees. I'm emailing the vet in Barcelona to ask if there's anything I can do in terms of rehab, and have also emailed Greyfriars in the UK (who are luckily just down the road from my parents) to find out about what they could offer her going forwards.