Daisy Mae Update

Daisy Mae returned from the hospital on Monday night after her procedure. We were expecting she would stay overnight and come home on Tuesday but she was up pacing in her kennel within an hour of her surgery.


The surgery was a bone biopsy to get a sample. The sample would be used to determine if this was fungal or cancer, and if cancer, what kind.

She came home all hopped up on goofy pills. I could not get her to stay in the back seat for the ride. This was very stressful for me because I was told she must stay calm as her risk for breaking her bone was much higher now.

Every time she jumped from the back to the front I lost a year off my life.

The vet and the assistant lifted her into my truck but I had no idea how to get her out when I got home. Justin and Dawn met me at the house and Justin lifted her out.

I got her settled into the living room and tried to calm her down. Shawn arrived home with Heidi about an hour later.

I am pretty sure Daisy was seeing Purple Elephants dancing around the living room all night.

I set up a bed of blankets in the kitchen for her. At bed time I decided I would sleep with her just to make sure she was okay.

She was not happy with me for putting her through that so she slept as far away from me as possible. Or maybe she was so hopped up she didn’t realize I was even there.

Over the next few days she stayed locked in “doggie jail” when we were not home. By day three she was back to herself.

All of the animals loved doggie jail and took turns lying on the bed in the kitchen. I think it was a dream come true. They finally got to sleep where the food was and no one was kicking them out!

Daisy got better and better as the days went on. Now, remember, we have not treated anything. When I say she was better, I just mean she was recovering from her test which included a haircut, an incision, a hole in the bone, and stitches.

We left town the Friday after her surgery for a wedding in Green Bay. We were so lucky to have Kris and Taylor stay with her. Since they lived with us for awhile they really know Daisy. We knew she was in the hands of two people who really love her.

When we returned on Sunday, she was happy and looked really good.

We had the stitches removed after 10 days, which was this past Wednesday.

We are using the University of Minnesota for her treatment currently. They are really great and the best in the area for helping her.

Shawn and I have always talked about how insane it would be to bring Pig and Daisy to the State Fair. Daisy would go into shock or give herself a stroke sniffing all the smells that come with the fair. It’s a running joke. We also imagine how our dogs would act at an Old Country Buffet or in a Cub Foods.

Well, the U Clinic is one block away from the State Fair grounds. And on Wednesday when I brought her in to have her stitches removed the fair was open.

We were about 1 mile away from the fair when the sniffing started. She had her head out the window. She was sniffing so hard there was snot flying out of her nose!

Then she started to pace around the back of the truck.

When I realized she was smelling the fair, I about died of laughter. Sure enough! She was about to give herself a stroke!

But when we got into the clinic she had other things on her mind. She was barking at another dog. Mind you, this dog does not bark unless there is something going on. Then I overheard the owner say the dog was having issues with his incision from a surgery he had last Monday. Could it be this dog was in a kennel near Daisy when she had her surgery and she recognized his smell? Maybe!

She spent the rest of the time trying to leave the waiting room. I didn’t have her in her walking collar (huge mistake!), just in her leather collar, so I was in a panic that she would slip right out. If you know me, I am sure you can imagine why no one wanted to sit by the crazy lady with the crazy, shaved dog in the lobby!

When the vet tech came to get us, Daisy bolted for the door. So the tech decided to remove the stitches outside. They were out in under 30 seconds and we were headed back home.

Daisy is now out of doggie jail when we are not home. She is still on her pain killers twice a day. I tried not giving them to her yesterday morning and by the evening she was limping. I should have consulted the vet first! Today I was told we can back off on the anti-inflammatory to an as needed basis so we will start that tonight.

We got the test results back last night too but I am still processing all of that. I will do a post on that very soon. I am just not in the right state of mind right now.