The Lamp Shade Effect

Many of you know our Daisy Dog had to go under the knife to have one of her mammary glands removed due to a large tumor that was found in it. She also got spayed at the same time. Luckily it was done in one incision.

The surgery went well and we brought her home later Friday afternoon. She was so happy to see us even though she spent the better part of Friday being "out of it" due to the anesthesia. The biopsy itself was sent off to the pathologist to find out if there is cancer. We hope to know the results of that very soon.

Most of you know that when a dog has surgery they get the lucky opportunity to wear what I call a "lamp shade" around their necks. This keeps them from licking, itching, chewing the wound site so that it has a chance to heal.



Daisy's incision is 3 inches long with several stitches. She has been in quite a bit of pain. She has to wear this lamp shade until she goes back for a check up in a week. We also have to make sure she does not climb up and down any stairs and we have to keep her as still and quiet as possible. She also has pain pills and antibiotics we have to give her twice a day.

I feel so bad for her. This lamp shade thing must be so irritating for any dog. But I think it has to be doubly so for a dog like daisy, who is a dachshund. Who's little legs are so short. To walk normally she would be dragging this lamp shade along the floor and it gets caught and causes her to choke a bit. So for her to get used to walking with it she has had to learn to hold her head up high.



The other bad thing is she cannot drink or eat by herself. I have to put her food and water in little bowls and hold it up for her to drink or eat out of.

She is miserable. Not with just the pain and discomfort of the surgery, but because of this stupid thing she has to wear around her neck. She hates it. You can see how much she likes it by the look in her eyes you might see in some of these pictures.

Not only does she bump into things as she walks by or turns corners, she cannot burrow herself up into her blanket like she normally likes to do. We also had our own little snow shoveler this morning. It snowed today (ugh!) and when she had to go potty outside, her little lamp shade would scoop up the snow as she walked and her poor little face would become covered in the cold snow. It was a funny site to see, and I tried not to laugh because I am sure she didn't like it, but I just couldn't help myself.

On the positive side of things for her.... she gets spoiled (more so than she already is). She gets held while going up and down the stairs. She gets to be hand fed. She gets to lay around all day and be lazier than she normally is. She gets to whine and her people will come running to help her from being too uncomfortable.

Through all this, she has been such a good girl. She is such a loving dog. She is worth every penny we spent to get this taken care of. I would do just about anything for my sweet girl!

We wish her a very speedy recovery and good results from the biopsy so she can get back to the cute, energetic, fun loving dog she normally is.