The above is the reason I have for going away for so long this time (almost a month? wow!)… poor Hitchcock had another anal gland rupture and had to go through surgery not once, but twice! It was a very long, very arduous month for us with him and although we tried very hard to not worry about him, it was impossible when I heard the word “tumor” and “cancer.” Being that he is only 2 years and 8 months old, I really felt like I would break down if that’s what he had… and the possibility of it really scared me. To make a very very very long story short, Hitch is now missing an anal gland and, thankfully, it was NOT cancer! Phew! Now it’s just a matter of recovering from surgery and then we can move on from this whole ordeal for hopefully forever! He is absolutely pathetic during this time… it’s really sad to see.
The cone pictures are from the first night after the second surgery when I was afraid that the Bite Not collar (what he’s always used and you can see him wearing above as well), although great at keeping him from the incision, was going to allow him to pull on the skin 2″ away from the incision. It didn’t last very long, though. Just these couple of pictures and 15 minutes later it was changed out… we couldn’t sleep with all the crying! The Bite Not collar went back on and, thankfully, he was a good boy and left the entire area alone!
Sadly enough, we had to cut down his gorgeous beautiful long coat to boot. I’m really sad to see it gone, but I do have to admit he looks adorable! We had to cut him down really really short due to the mats he had on him so this isn’t at all ideal. I do think that in another month or two he will be at a good length and we might keep him shorter anyway as he is much harder to groom than Kubrick! These pictures are from the two weeks he had to recover between surgeries:
And because poor Kubrick has been extremely jealous of all the attention Hitch is getting, here he is with his brother… so he can’t say I’m picking favorites. 😉
Now that Hitch is on the road to recovery (will take another week for him to be allowed out of the collar) I hope to have more time not only to blog but also to get out of the house… being stuck indoors with a whiny puppy is no fun let me tell you! I hope my readers had a much better July than I did and now to catch up on 300+ blog posts! Holy crap, how will I ever get through it all?
Poor Hitchcock! I’m glad he is finally on the mend. I’m sure it’s been a stressful month for you.
i have to say…hitch looks cuter than he does miserable with the cone. So glad to hear he’s on the road to recovery!
Glad to hear Hitch is recovering. Also glad to see your posting again been missing your posts. I am sure that August will be much better than July.
Poor sweetie. Glad to hear he’s feeling a little better and it wasn’t cancer. We missed you:) Have you been knitting?
Poor baby! Glad to hear that it wasn’t cancer and he’s on his way to recovery. And he looks very charming with his new cropped ‘do.
So happy to hear that Hitchcock is doing better!
Poor puppy! They really can rip at your heart when they aren’t feeling well. Healing thoughts!
poor baby and poor mommy and daddy. Glad he is on the road to recovery. All you missed was heat and more heat…………
Here’s to a quick recovery!
Oh Hitch! You poor, unfortunate puppy! I’m glad he didn’t have cancer. We recently lost our dog of 14 years to it, and that was tough. I can’t imagine losing a little 2 and a bunch year old.
Oh, I’m SO glad to hear the good news about your puppy! Yikes, I know exactly how scary hearing the word “tumor” come out of your vet’s mouth can be. Sending Hitchcock (as a classic film buff, I have to say I love his name!) good wishes for a quick recovery. : )
Poor pup! And the Cone of Shame memorialized with pictures!!!
Glad Hitchcock is doing so much better. I like his haircut but dislike the circumstances in which he got it.