Dodo had undergone quite a few operations in her lifetime.
The first operation took place many years back. She was probably only around 2 years old. She had hurt my younger sister (who was in primary school then) while at play and my parents were furious. I have to admit she was easily excitable and was not the most gentle of dogs. They wanted to send her away. I cried and cried. This was my precious little dog, my faithful study mate and they want to send her away? What’s going to happen to her? In the end, I sort of won but my parents insisted I had to sterilize her. We were advised that sterilization would make her less excitable and more docile.
So we brought her to the vet for the sterilization operation. We scheduled her operation in the morning as we wanted to bring her back the same evening. That was a mistake. In the evening, when we went to fetch her, she was probably still under the effects of general anaesthesia (GA). We should have let her rest one more night and only brought her back the next morning but we did not know then.
I suspected the nurses roused her from her sleep roughly. I could hear her screaming from inside before I even saw her. She was in a lot of pain and she got aggressive. It was very difficult to carry her as she would try to snap. For a while, we were not able to hold her and she laid on the floor and screamed away. Finally, after some efforts, we managed to somehow bundle her into the car and bring her home.
In the car, she was screaming throughout the way home. When we reached the carpark, her cries were so loud that it actually attracted someone to come over and see what was happening. At home, she hid under a chair and refused to come out. I recalled clearly that her wound looked raw and was still bleeding that night. I felt very sorry to have put her through the pain and misery but that was the agreement with my parents – if I wanted to keep her, we had to sterilize her.
That was her first operation. Her last operation was in July last year – to remove a big lump on her paw. This was the second time she had to remove a lump on her paw.
On 17 July 2008, we brought her to the vet for the operation. She was already 15+ years old and I was worried she would not wake up from the GA. Older dogs are always at much higher risk. Much to our relief, she did. The vet gave us a plastic cone to put around her neck to prevent her from biting off the bandage.
On 22 July, we went back to the clinic to have the bandage removed. Thereafter, my aunt religiously cleaned and cared for her wound everyday. The cone was still around her head to stop her from getting at the stitches (which are now exposed as the bandage had been removed). Somehow, she managed to bite off a couple of stitches. On 1 August, we went back to the vet again to have all the stitches removed. Her wound had recovered beautifully in quite a short time. Well done for a senior dog!
In between the first operation and the last operation, there were other operations. She was always prone to lumps and growths on her body. Once she had this growth on the forehead which grew bigger and bigger. When it started to bleed from her scratching, we went to have it removed. She looked so much prettier after that. A few years ago, her paw had a lump and we had that removed too. She had also undergone a few teeth cleaning / scaling sessions where she needs to be put under GA.
Throughout the years, whenever she was undergoing any operations, I was always concerned that she might end up sleeping forever, as that was a real risk. I would always have to sign an agreement before the vet puts her under GA, saying I would not hold them responsible etc.
Every single time, she never disappoints us – she would wake up from the effects of the GA and recover well and quick. Such a brave and strong girl.
The first operation took place many years back. She was probably only around 2 years old. She had hurt my younger sister (who was in primary school then) while at play and my parents were furious. I have to admit she was easily excitable and was not the most gentle of dogs. They wanted to send her away. I cried and cried. This was my precious little dog, my faithful study mate and they want to send her away? What’s going to happen to her? In the end, I sort of won but my parents insisted I had to sterilize her. We were advised that sterilization would make her less excitable and more docile.
So we brought her to the vet for the sterilization operation. We scheduled her operation in the morning as we wanted to bring her back the same evening. That was a mistake. In the evening, when we went to fetch her, she was probably still under the effects of general anaesthesia (GA). We should have let her rest one more night and only brought her back the next morning but we did not know then.
I suspected the nurses roused her from her sleep roughly. I could hear her screaming from inside before I even saw her. She was in a lot of pain and she got aggressive. It was very difficult to carry her as she would try to snap. For a while, we were not able to hold her and she laid on the floor and screamed away. Finally, after some efforts, we managed to somehow bundle her into the car and bring her home.
In the car, she was screaming throughout the way home. When we reached the carpark, her cries were so loud that it actually attracted someone to come over and see what was happening. At home, she hid under a chair and refused to come out. I recalled clearly that her wound looked raw and was still bleeding that night. I felt very sorry to have put her through the pain and misery but that was the agreement with my parents – if I wanted to keep her, we had to sterilize her.
That was her first operation. Her last operation was in July last year – to remove a big lump on her paw. This was the second time she had to remove a lump on her paw.
On 17 July 2008, we brought her to the vet for the operation. She was already 15+ years old and I was worried she would not wake up from the GA. Older dogs are always at much higher risk. Much to our relief, she did. The vet gave us a plastic cone to put around her neck to prevent her from biting off the bandage.
On 22 July, we went back to the clinic to have the bandage removed. Thereafter, my aunt religiously cleaned and cared for her wound everyday. The cone was still around her head to stop her from getting at the stitches (which are now exposed as the bandage had been removed). Somehow, she managed to bite off a couple of stitches. On 1 August, we went back to the vet again to have all the stitches removed. Her wound had recovered beautifully in quite a short time. Well done for a senior dog!
In between the first operation and the last operation, there were other operations. She was always prone to lumps and growths on her body. Once she had this growth on the forehead which grew bigger and bigger. When it started to bleed from her scratching, we went to have it removed. She looked so much prettier after that. A few years ago, her paw had a lump and we had that removed too. She had also undergone a few teeth cleaning / scaling sessions where she needs to be put under GA.
Throughout the years, whenever she was undergoing any operations, I was always concerned that she might end up sleeping forever, as that was a real risk. I would always have to sign an agreement before the vet puts her under GA, saying I would not hold them responsible etc.
Every single time, she never disappoints us – she would wake up from the effects of the GA and recover well and quick. Such a brave and strong girl.
Dodo's jie-jie
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