We brought Andee home yesterday afternoon. The young vet student checked us out on several procedures, including expressing Andee's bladder, hooking her up in her borrowed cart (after an appeal to the supervising vet, we were permitted to borrow one after all), her medications, and the discharge instructions. We will meet with the physical therapy technician on Monday to go through the several different styles of custom carts to decide which style/features will be best.
Andee is restricted to cage rest, and the cage she needs is quite large--a 42" long, 36" high enclosure that dominates the center of the kitchen. The kids have both spent time in the kennel with her. We have a nice kennel pad, and a faux-sheepskin insert on top of that. Although Andee seems comfortable enough in there, she whines each time one of us walks out of the kitchen. But she settled down well last night, and successfully produced copious amounts of urine on several morning outings. Unfortunately, the second of these was in the kitchen after I thought she had completely emptied her bladder outdoors.
I was very proud of the kids today. Charlie helped me groom her, proudly walked Andee in her cart down the street, and explained the situation to several neighbors; Sarah spent some quality time just talking to Andee and getting her interested in a chew toy. But it's clear to me that care of Andee will add about two hours of required activities to Steve's and my day, even though the days themselves will not get any longer. I know we'll get more efficient than we were today, but caring for Andee is going to be a lot like having an infant again.
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