Friday, August 22, 2014

Breaking Rules

We were given a few simple rules that Henry is to follow post surgery. Most of them are pretty easy and things naturally do anyway. But some of them are just asking to be broken.

The easy ones to follow are that he is to be crated when we are not home (which we already do). No walks for a week (only go out to potty, and come back in). That one is easy for now since we are not going to push him beyond any limits just so he can go to the mailbox with us to get the mail and we are definitely not taking him on a long walk (the boy just had his kidney out! we are amazed he CAN even walk!).

After this, the rules get a little harder. He is not supposed to jump up on anything (i.e. the sofa, a chair, etc). This means that if we are not right next to him he may get a wild hair and take measures into his own paws. So, this has actually happened twice already. Grr! Turn your back for one second and he's got a stubborn mind of his own.

Then the rules get impossible! He is not allowed to have any "sun" time. The vet is concerned that if he is out in the heat too long he could be at risk for dehydration. (And that his wound could get infected by laying on his belly.) It is crazy to me that this is the hardest of all the rules to follow. And, of course, we have to confess, that this rule, too, has been broken two times. Each time, around midday after a little snackie and relieving his bladder, his routine is to spend a few minutes catching some rays. So, we have permitted him to have 3 minutes of sun time a day. We set a timer. The bonus is that Henry is such a good boy that he always comes in right before the alarm actually goes off. And so far as his wound...well, he lays on his side or back usually, so his stitches are not even in the grass or dirt. We know that these are reasonable precautions and of course we want to do all the right things but to deprive him of his favorite thing: refilling his vitamin D supply by soaking up the sun for 3 minutes just doesn't seem right. It really is the one thing that makes him the most happy. Especially as of late. So, we've been "flexible" with the rules. He's been sticking to the time limit, so i think we are good.

#HenryStrong all day long! #TeamHenry