Thursday, September 22, 2011

Hide and Seek

Riley loves her Zanie Flyer, but of course, is not allowed to play with one until her hock fracture has healed and she has done a significant amount of rehab.  When Riley was still in the splint, I happened upon a new game with her.  We keep a Zanie Flyer on the outside of one of our basement windows and we use it to play fetch with Reagan on most days.  Riley led me to the gate of that yard and we went inside.  Using her nose, she led me straight to that Zanie Flyer sitting on the window.  So I started to hide the toy in different places around the yard and it was really interesting to see Riley use her nose to find it.
Riley has not been immune to pressure sores.  She has one on each side of her of her foot and then a weird blister looking thing just below her stifle.  Despite changing the bandage everyday (or a couple of times a day) and giving the wounds a chance to air out, they keep getting worse. 
So I am done with bandaging.  Dr. G had told me not to bandage since greyhounds are so difficult with bony limbs and thin skin, but I offered that I could do it myself and frequently.  We were going to try to soft bandage for 2 weeks, but it is just not working.  I give up!  So I am adhering to the prescription of restricted activity more than ever since the hock is completely unsupported.  Unfortunately, Riley is having to wear her muzzle when she is unsupervised because she is a notorious wound licker.  Hopefully, she will be willing to leave them alone in a couple of days.

Riley is slightly gimpy and the leg fatigues quickly.  I hear that the stabilizer muscles are the first to go.  I cannot wait until we can start working on exercises to regain strength.  I am not suppose to work on range of motion, but just watching Riley I can see how it differs from the other leg, but I am also seeing that it is getting more flexible as she uses it on potty walks and gets up and down.

Keep the healing thoughts coming this way!  Pray for a happy reunion!