Thursday 17 December 2009

BOO update - swimming in her pen

Boo has relaxed over the days in care and while she still doesnt like to be handled she is not as stressed as she was and this is more than likely as she now feels better and has become used to the routine. Also as she now she has pain relief and food. She is actually very gentle and curious and when in the pen she will be around your legs like the other pups, feeling the waterproofs and trying to suckle/bite your boots. You can clean and disinfect the pen as long as you move slowly and deliberatly and dont try and touch her. She watches your every move and loves it when you put the shower on her. But if you pick up a towel, which she associates with catching her up, then you better be able to move like lightning out of the pen or, actually catch her. Once caught and the towel discarded she feeds fine and is relaxed. Thankfully its the towel she has a problem with and not me!

Feeding routine is changing day by day as she starts to heal and her swelling and bruising goes down.
She has had minimal handling, just twice a day to feed and medicate.
Today she spent the day in the pen filled with water, for Boo and her injuries we also add salt to the water to help with the healing process. Boo's wounds look sufficiently OK for them to start being wet for longer periods. As well as helping with healing the wounds, the swimming also helps with her digestion. As she is quite young and just weaned she would not be used to eating solids so swimming in the water and being active helps. It also will help with her digestion as it will take her body weight off her stomach area which has suffered severe trauma which must feel far better than lying on it in the empty pen.
We are very pleased with her progress so far, the wounds are slowly healing, she is less stressed which makes it easier to help her and she seems far happier. I use the word happy as she spent the day playing in the water and anyone who seen her said the same thing, she looks happy playing about.
Hopefully theres a bit of the video I took attached to this post so you can get an idea of what I mean.
Jamie




Boo Swimming showing off her scars

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