In about a month, Ginko will be 12. He recently had a thorough exam, senior blood work, and vaccinations (3-year rabies, 1-year lepto). And, this week … he went in to have his teeth “done.” While he was conked out, they went ahead and took off two bothersome lumps — one on an eyelid and one his head.
Maybe letting Lilly sleep in “the big bed” with us Tuesday night telegraphed that something was up. Maybe my ability to keep my worries to myself failed … because Lilly shook so hard with fear that the dog scale at the veterinary hospital sounded like an 18-wheeler going over a cattle grate.
As you may recall, during Ginko’s recent knee surgery, the surgeon found icky fistulas (or channels through soft tissue, where infection had burrowed in). He decided to culture a couple of those spots, just in case the infection required some super-duper kind of antibiotic. Essentially, they swabbed a couple areas and grew them in petri dishes to see what sprouted.
After a nervous morning, waiting for the phone to ring, I heard from the orthopedic surgeon around noon. Ginko did fine, with strong vitals throughout his 2 hours or so under anesthesia. The surgeon waited to call until Ginko was awake from the sedation, but he reported that Ginko was “drunk as a monkey” on pain meds and the like. So, I’m glad to hear he is resting comfortably. Woozy, maybe, but comfortably.
Today, Ginko goes under for his third knee surgery in his 10 years. Surgeons sawed apart and screwed each knee back together (a procedure called TPLO) at age 3. Due to increasing problems with his right knee, they’ll take that hardware out in hopes of solving his pain issues. Last week, even with two different…
