Storm came home tonight. His splenectomy which was performed on August 21st, has left him quite bruised and swollen. His whole stomach area is almost black and his underbelly is swollen (size of a nerf ball) and hanging low. He is tired and in much discomfort.

He can’t seem find a comfortable position to sleep in and gets back up the minute he lays down. Poor thing can’t figure out whether sleeping or sitting is more to his liking right now. He’s still a trooper though. He grunts softly when he finally finds a comfort spot but otherwise he’s smiling and wagging his tail kindly.

We had a very tough time getting him in the car. Though he was so happy to see us and was excited to get out of the clinic, he was very anxious and scared to actually get into the car.

We tried to bribe him, plead with him, pet him and even use a firm voice with no luck. I then tried to lift his front legs to help him get in. I think I pressed on sore spots from all the needles and IV shots.

Word from the “wise”, no matter how friendly or sweet your dog is, it is still a dog. It doesn’t matter if your dog is a saint, when in pain they really can’t think or act right and their snapping of the teeth can cause serious damage. So do NOT ever attempt to lift a dog that just had a serious surgery without a muzzle!

Within a quick instant, he yelped from pain, growled at me and snapped. I pulled back quick enough for him not to have his teeth touch me. We then had to ask one of the vets and a nurse to help us. They lent us a muzzle and after a number of tries, they lifted him into the car, with alot of crying and growling from him.

He calmed down the minute he was in the car but he was in severe pain and couldn’t sit still for more than 10 or less seconds each time. He was much happier to be out of the car but he is in pain and can’t find a soft spot. I’ve laid down a comforter with two bedsheets. He was comfortable in the fetal position for a few minutes and managed to fall asleep right away but I guess the pain still woke him up.

He’s on a pain patch, antibiotics and some other medication to prevent diarrhea. He’s weak but looks much better than before. He’s to go for laser therapy four more times, every other day to reduce the bruising and swelling.

He was playing peacefully at the clinic with the vets and attendants but I guess the car ride stress really got to him and hurt him physically alot.

Leo become overjoyed to see his brother and jumped up and down. I feared he may touch Storm accidentally on the sore spots so I put him in his crate which in turn caused many unappreciated outbursts by little Leo.

It has been two hours since Storm came home. All is finally calm now. They are both sound asleep and resting. I hope.