We were really worried about knocking Tasha out for her second surgery. Now that her infection from her darting wound was gone, we needed to knock her out for a second surgery to spay her and to remove several of her broken teeth.
We had worked so hard to get us to trust us – it seemed like a team of people coming at her and jabbing her with a needle to knock her out could really set back our trust bank. We were especially worried that we may have to use a rabies pole on her again just to get a clean shot with the sedative syringe. It was something that we really want to avoid completely. We had worked toward leashing her and we had talked to Nelson about how to approach her and not upset her while we tried to sedate her. There was lots of discussion about pre-sedation, how to distract her, who she would trust, oh it all felt so manipulative and disloyal. But it was in her best interest and it needed to be done quickly to keep her on a schedule to move her out of the clinic.
Our devious plan went really smoothly. And much like after her first surgery while she was passed out, I pet her. I pet her head and I held her paw and I TOLD her that I was petting her. I told her that I knew she would hate it but that I also knew in my heart that ONE DAY she would be OK with it. And then I lovingly kissed her on the head just because I could – she was passed out. Dr. Jacky’s update is a little more professional and less neurotic. Here is Dr. Jacky’s update to Nelson:
“Well it went very smoothly today. All very low key, mostly as planned with some last minute modifications based on how she arranged herself. In the end I was able to walk down the outside of the opposite run from the one my guy was in with the leash loosely held, while Fran stayed with her in her run. I had Fran pull back as I got ready to give the injection through the back fence, my guy was prepared if needed to keep her head toward him. All she really did was jump up and move around to look at me, and I promptly walked off like it was no big deal. She stayed calm, and Fran stayed with her until she fell asleep. Very low key like I was hoping.
Again much thanks to you and your advice, which we mostly followed and modified as needed…..
…..Huskies must have some sort of primal genetic in a dog’s bones dna howl? When she woke up and was disoriented she let out this long drawn out wail and every dog in the clinic throughout the clinic, even in the waiting room got agitated and half of them howled back. It was interesting.”
Don’t keep looking if you don’t want to see surgery prep pictures. The first few pictures are of Tasha after her injection, she is getting sleepy and then she passes out, she is carried to the surgery room, her dart wound is cleaned, and then she is prepped for surgery. My favorite part of prep – there is a little doggie vacuum that sucks up all the shaved off doggie hair. The Dentist is the first one to get to work.