Tanner and his internal mass - RIP my sweet boy

[temblabamomo]

That's wonderful new, I'm so glad he doing well! What a little trooper he is.

 

[lilspaz68]

He sounds like he's out of the woods, I bet you take him home tonight. ((hugs))

 

[Unepuce]

Thank you !

I do have a feeling I'll be taking him home tonight, but I don't want to get too excited just in case. But it's actually growing into a certainty... I'm in trouble! :mrgreen:

 

[jorats]

Awesome!

 

[mamarat]

Fantastic!

 

[Unepuce]

OK! Finally able to sit down and update!

I arrived at the clinic 15 minutes before my appointments and 3 minutes after my arrival, Tanner was being held to me. I held him in his cozygloo that was getting icky from so much use and pee, then remembered I had taken Petunia's bounding scarf with me and put him in there. Poor Tanner is in pain - he was moving around a lot and had a tendency to chew. I held him, talked to him, kissed him, and after 10 minutes, I got my first kisses out him :heart: Of course, that's when I was called from my appointment, so as much as I didn't want to, I had to break that magic moment. About an hour before I arrived, they had noticed he was in pain and had given him a big dose of pain reliever... poor, poor baby! The good news is - he's home! :dance: My vet had almost decided to send him home tonight, but when she saw he was in so much pain, she decided to keep him one more night. Thing is - I can't pick him up tomorrow. So instead of keeping him for 2 extra days, she sent him home right away.

I got home and prepared a cage for him. He just took his medication and that's when I noticed how weak he really is - he's wobbly and can't use his rear legs as normal yet. I gave him pieces of hamburger and raisins (for iron) with brocoli and lettuce and corn - as I expected, he snatched all of the corn. He pooped nice, normal, abundent poop :joy: so I just have to worry about him eating and keeping his pain under control best I can. I wish I didn't have to leave for 12 hours tomorrow...

I am not taking pictures right now as I want him to rest. If he is up to it tomorrow, I will take a few and post them for his fans! :wink2:

 

[lilspaz68]

Oh sweet Tanner!!!! :heart: :heart:

What pain meds is he on? Metacam?

 

[jorats]

It's good news! Plus a rat that is eating, is not so much in pain.

 

[mamarat]

Sending lots and lots of healing vibes.

 

[Unepuce]

He is on metacam, but they also gave me buprenorphine for the next 3 days.

And believe me, he is in much pain. He is all fluffy and with the massive dose they gave him this afternoon, I can't give anything before morning (except the metacam he got at med time). :sad3:

Good news he was awake a few minutes ago and I held him for a couple of minutes. When I put him back in the cage, he realized some corn had reappeared by magic and hid to eat. Hopefully, he'll eat something else too later on!

 

[victoria]

I'm happy to hear he's home, I hope he's back to normal soon :heart:

 

[Godmother]

:joy: So glad he's home. Kisses to him from me and my gang.

 

[Unepuce]

Tanner spent a quiet night home. He mostly lies in one corner of the cage, under a hammock, on a bundle of fabric. I will clean his cage in a bit a add a cozygloo on top of a bunch of fleece so he can have a comfy and warm place to rest his poor belly onto. He ate mushed blocks and blueberry baby food this morning, and licked his medication mixture like a little pro - I am relieved to finally be allowed to give him some painkiller. I held him a little bit before med time and he seemed to enjoy the attention and scritches - got a few kisses out of him. He doesn't want to stay too long though, and I don't insist.

We will be leaving this afternoon only to come back late tonight (my nephew/godson's 7th birthday already! :shock: ), so I don't think he'll get to see his friends tonight, but for sure tomorrow he will be enjoying a little bit of his brother's company - maybe even some more friends if he feels good enough.

So... he will be past the 48h critical stage at around 3:30 this afternoon :joy: He is still clearly in pain, but his incision is looking better and better, pinker, cleaner.

My vet told me yesterday that Dr Saulnier did most of the surgery and that she almost fainted during the procedure because it was so long and required so much concentration - that girl is tall, and she spent 75 minutes folded in two and concentrating on detaching the abcess from Tanner's bladder and muscles without damaging anything and cauterizing hundreds of tiny blood vessels... poor thing!!! Of course, Dr Beaulieu took over and completed the procedure and the result is that they won the battle! It was so cute at the clinic yesterday - Audrey, one of the vet techs, kept telling me how happy she was that he made it, that she kept calling to get news from him, and Emily at reception told me Tanner had become very special to her and she had gone to check on him numerous times during the day, and that Dr Saulnier, who was off yesterday, had called in just to know how Tanner was doing... After this and Mira's story, I definitely have to find a way to say thank you. Please, please, y'all... any idea of want I could do/offer them???


ETA - I took some quick pictures when I cleaned up his temp cage... so here is what Tanner looks like today


My poor boy with his week legs...


I was impressed with how good it looks,
all things considered!


Tanner eating a bit of blueberry baby food


His temp cage

 

[EDK]

Can you bake? I'd totally make them brownies or an apple pie I'm so happy for your little Tanner! I've been keeping an eye on this board ever since i got word of his condition and I would be pacing back and forth while checking here hoping to hear great news, and so I have and I'm relieved and happy for the both of you! I hope his pain will eventually cease and he goes back to his old orginal antics once again! I'd recommend making your good friends the vet doctors a nice sweet treat, pies being one of the best lol!

 

[Unepuce]

I did consider baking them something - I might try to get some time in my schedule to maybe bake them my "chocolate mint fingers" - IMO, this is to die for, but definitely longer to make than your usual cake or pie. I was also toying with the idea of a fruit basket... but somehow, it doesn't seem to says Thank you loud enough - too healthy maybe? :giggle:

I have noticed you kept posting on this thread :wink2: It's nice to see people care as much as you do, even if they never have met you nor your sick ratty. I really did and still do appreciate the support, believe me! :hugs: And I hope it will not be as emotionally draining for you when your baby undergoes surgery

 

[mamarat]

Tanner looks good considering what he's been through. Sending lots of healing vibes to your sweetie.

 

[EDK]

I'm happy to support anyone who needs it Cause I know at the end of the day that same support will come back to me when I need it the most. Ya I'll be posting about my little boy and his upcoming surgery most likely tonight or tomrrow morning. It's already becoming nerve wrecking. Theoretically his surgery isn't needed, its simply to neuter him, to see if it'll help lower his ambitions of constantly pestering one of my other boys, and to help him relax. But i'll explain more later. Again I'm so happy for Tanner, I hope to keep seeing good news here!

 

[Dahlas]

He looks great and I am so happy for you....give your sweet boy some kisses from me..

 

[victoria]

He looks pretty good! Oreo had a really long surgery (also with Dr. Saulnier-Hebert) and worried she wouldn't pull through those first two days but she did. I'm sure Tanner will be much better in a day or two :hugs:

 

[Joanne]

I missed yesterday's update - I'm so glad to hear he is doing well! What a little trooper!