Buster

We put Buster into bed with us before ‘lights out’ most nights. He lays there silently, tail wagging gently, hoping that we’ll forget he’s there and fall asleep with him between us.

SO CUTE!

Today, Wendy took Buster in to clean his teeth, implant a microchip, and to remove his floppy dewclaw. She said he did well through the proceedure, but that his teeth “look like the teeth of a 10 year old dog” (we think he’s about 6 years old but are not sure) and that it’s clear that he’s never had any dental care in his life. Buster was rescued from the pound by the owners from whom we got him, so his history prior to the previous owners is completely unknown. (The picture is neither Buster’s mouth nor from Wendy’s hospital — it’s just a photo I found on the ‘net)

Wendy had to remove one of Buster’s molars because it was so crummy, and she thinks that he may lose a couple more teeth in the next few years — they might be too far gone. The cleaning she did was thorough, of course, and we hope that with continued close monitoring and care, we may be able to head-off any more tooth decay or loss.

(this is his floppy dewclaw)

And maybe his breath will smell better, too!

Another quiet night at home tonight — how nice!

Wendy & I went back to Wal-Mart to get a baby gate for Buster since he’s now more mobile (see yesterday’s story). We’ll put the baby gate at the top of the steps when we’re upstairs and at the top of the basement steps when we’re downstairs. That way, Buster can have free run of the floor we’re on, though it seems that he likes two places best (maybe not in this order): a> by us in his cuddle cup or b> by food. We worry a bit for anyone observing our trash — this week it features the boxes for a playpen and a baby gate!

Tonight, for the first time, he ventured off the carpet runner we’ve got in our family room and onto the hardwood floor and then into the tiled kitchen. He did pretty well on the smooth surfaces. I’d estimate that he’s moving at about 60% on carpet, about 55% on grass, and about 50% on tiles or the hardwood.

We stopped by Penn Station for dinner on the way home from Wal-Mart.

I had my GARDE MANGER class this evening, so I went directly to Cincinnati State from work.

We worked on a few items tonight since the food order was yet again messed up. As a result, we didn’t have the ingredients we needed for the items assigned tonight. This is a frustrating occurance that has happened far too many times this term. So, we made what we could — Pate Choux Paste, herbed cracker dough (we’ll pipe this out and bake it for decorations on our final platters), and a few other things, but nowhere near the production we hoped for.

During class, Chef brought out some Irish Breakfast Sausage and one of the students whipped up some Cranberry Mustard. The two together were a very satisfying dinner.

At home, Wendy was in the computer room and Buster was laying at her feet. When Dolly & Bean (the other two dogs) went crazy when I got home. Buster followed them halfway down the upstairs hallway before Wendy could catch him! Pretty good for a ‘paralyzed’ dog, don’t you think? He’s really starting to get his proprioception back — he’s placing his front feet somewhat deliberately, but he gets it ‘right’ almost half the time now. Pretty good for a dog who was immobile only two weeks ago! We’re hopeful that he’ll continue to improve.

In other news, he’s completely off all his medications now — the steroids, the muscle relaxers, the metronidozol, the Vitamin E, and the Selenium. He’s been dry in his playpen for the last couple mornings and his stools are starting to firm up.

This evening, Wendy & I went to Joann Fabrics to pick out fleece for our upcoming participation in a Project Linus event that Holly organized and Tracy is hosting.

Project Linus is a 100% volunteer non-profit organization with a two-fold mission:

First, it is our mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”

Second, it is our mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.

I picked out a nice HELLO KITTY fleece and Wendy selected a fish-themed fleece. Those in hand, we stopped by Frisch’s for a fish sandwich, onion rings, and cottage cheese for me and a tuna melt and fries for Wendy.

Once dinner was done, we took Buster upstairs to the computer room where he crawled around a bit while we computed, but mostly he was happy to lay in his cuddle cup. We’ve discovered that he absolutely loves his cuddle cup — he lunged (unsuccessfully) for it when I put it on the floor for him before I could put him in. He doesn’t have the control of his front end to jump up the 2 inches it takes to get into the cup. When I placed him in there, he was thrilled and nestled right in. The only thing Buster seems to like more than his cuddle cup is when Wendy or I lay on the floor. He’ll flop out of his cuddle cup and crawl the length of the house to lay against whomever is on the floor. It very sweet — he’ll go through the considerable effort of slowly crawling over just to be next to us. He’s starting to get better control of his front paws now.

He’s still down more than he’s up, but we’re seeing progress nearly every day. As an example, this morning was the first morning he’s been dry & clean in his playpen. We think this is because he’s now off all his medications (the steroids made him thirsty, and that water has to go somewhere!). We’re hoping that being off the meds will also calm his bowels a bit, which have been mostly loose.

There are several new pictures in Buster’s gallery, here.

This article was written by Wendy. 

At this time Buster is making great strides, literally. As last week drew to a close he started to push himself around the floor more enthusiastically. As anticipated, his rear end is stronger than the front (which we expected due to the location of the injury, which is right where the nerves controlling the front legs attach to the spinal cord). By Saturday he was righting his rear end by himself and shoving forward on his down front end in sort of a ‘commando crawl’. He has progressed to being able to support his weight on all 4 feet and taking a few halting steps before the front end gives out and he tumbles over.

He has plenty of strength in all 4 legs, but the problem remains in the proprioception, which is knowing where one’s body parts are without looking at them. This is always the first thing to go and the last thing to return in this sort of injury due to the way the associated nerve tracts are positioned in the spinal cord, so we are encouraged that it is beginning to come back to him at all. In humans, we lose proprioception not only when we have traumatic injuries like Buster’s, but also when we drink too much; hence the “drunk test” of touching your nose with your eyes closed. It’s why we stumble around after too many beers… we just don’t know where our feet are without seeing them anymore. So at this point it is honest to say that Buster’s movement is like a VERY drunk person’s… he is strong but terribly uncoordinated.

Buster rolls over the tops of his feet and can’t bother to place them correctly on the floor (pad side down), so he tumbles over. Fortunately, he’s rather low to the ground to begin with, so a tumble is not a major trauma. After a few good steps (usually to escape his own waste or to get to food) he falls over and gives up and lays there until someone comes to fetch him.

He is eating well but still has some loose stools, which I attribute to the high doses of Vitamin E he has been taking to help his nervous function. We have stopped this tonight as he is progressing so well and we are hopeful his bowels will firm back up soon. Overall his spirits seem to be pretty good. You can tell he gets frustrated when he wants to do something he can’t, but mostly what he seems to want to do is eat and sit next to us on the couch, and those things are currently within his reach.