# Riley Update



## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

We went and have Riley's staples removed and got a surgery checkup. Things are going as well as can be expected. They were worried about the sore he has under his chin and wanted to stick a needle in it and send it off to be cultured. They took him back, took out the staples and tried to test it, but only got blood. So they decided to put him on another antibiotic and worry more about it when we go back in a few weeks. He is now on Simplifcef for another 28 days. Got him home and got looking at him and the vet tech had forgotten a staple!! We had another appt. for him in the afternoon, so we just swung by and had them take that one out then went on to his regular vet. He has anal gland problems and I know how to express them, but the surgeon told me to only let a vet do it for awhile because of his pelvis. They got that done and was going to trim his nails and he had had enough and let them know it! We are still on pain meds, but this week we are going to start reducing his doses so we can get him off them. We go back June 14th for a sedation x-ray to see how the healing is going. At that point, we will start talking physical therapy. They have a wonderful therapy set up at the hospital including an underwater treadmill. Not sure how Riley will tolerate therapy, but we're going to try!


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## Gingernutter (Dec 4, 2011)

Good luck Riley, poor thing sounds like he's been through/ is going through a **** of a time. Hope he keeps getting better for you.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I was just thinking last night that we haven't had an update.
Thank you for posting and hoping the worst of it is behind him.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Poor Riley, he has certainly been going through the mill with all his treatments. A lot of dogs love the hyro pool/therapy pool so I hope Riley gets some pleasure when he goes for his physio.

Keep us posted on his progress.


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## Katja (Mar 9, 2012)

Our girl Bella had a CCL repair and got water treadmill sessions - she really enjoyed it, even though she was never a swimmer. It was pricey, though.


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

We were wondering about the cost of the physicial therapy although it's not an issue really. We were without a dog for almost 8 years although I had had dogs throughout my entire childhood and when we finally got Riley, we talked it over and said that this isn't just a pet, it's a child to us so we certainly would spend whatever it took on a child, so Riley was no different. I thank God that we are in a position that we can afford it. It had made me really think about what happens to the poor animals whose owners can't afford it so we make a donation to an animal charity in Chuck and Riley's name every week. Do they do other therapy besides water?


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## Katja (Mar 9, 2012)

With Bella, the surgery cost included a couple of PT sessions and a couple of water treadmill sessions. PT consisted mostly of the therapist (who was actually a DVM herself) demonstrating how she wanted us to do massage, stretching and range of motion on Bella's leg, and a packet of instructions for us at home.

Until Bella had her surgery, I had no idea this sort of thing existed for dogs. Here's the practice we went to, just so you can get an idea of the offerings (and costs): http://www.dog-swim.com/

One thing I liked was that like human sports medicine, they were really tuned into the needs of athletic dogs like ours.

I think your regular donation idea is great, I may copy you on that.


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