Dear Joanne, Your post brought tears to my eyes as I shared your pain. It brought back painful memories of my own and I wonder if the hurt will ever go away.
Rusty had his surgery last Tuesday to remove the top portion of his left maxilla. He stayed one night at the vet hospital and came home the next day. He looked surprisingly good physically. He had a narcotic pain killer patch stuck to his side (fentenyl, I think) for three days. I had to feed him watered down canned dog food which he lapped up for three days and nights. He had trouble sleeping so he kept us awake as we tried to figure out what he needed--water, food, to go out, or just reassurance that we were there. Last night, Sunday night, he finally was able to sleep through the night. He is still on rimadal, which is an anti-inflammatory. I am now hand-feeding him his canned food without dilution. He doesn't see the vet again for two weeks post-surgery and is on restricted activity. He has some trouble breathing after he eats. The vet said that should only last a few days. It sounds like an asthma attack through his nose. The surgery did remove part of his upper palate. I did get a peek in there when he pants and it looks really good. The vet did a remarkable job in preserving the structure while covering the area with skin from the side of the mouth. For awhile, it looked like Rusty had a permanent smile on his one side, but now the skin has stretched a bit so he looks more normal. He's always been a very stoic dog so it's hard to tell how much pain he was/is in. The pathology report has not come back yet so we don't know if the tumor had clean edges. One new thing since the surgery--Rusty has become a "toilet dog". He never used to drink from the toilet, but since his surgery, he doesn't drink from his water bowls anymore, but prefers the toilet. I've tried different shaped bowls and different heights but it always sounds like he's drowning afterwards.
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