Hello everyone, here I am again with an update about Rowan. Today it is 1 week since he had surgery and everything shows that we have made the right choice by having him operated. No matter how hard the operation has been, and how much risk it has had ... it has been the right choice.

Before the operation, Rowan went very bad when we went to walk him. it seemed as if he didn't feel like it, he walked behind us as far as he could, and above all he walked very slowly, and really had to be constantly encouraged to continue. Immediately on the first day after his operation, it was noticeable that he was walking very nicely again and that he did not need to be encouraged at all. So even though he was in pain from the operation, apparently there was a great deal of relief noticeable for him while walking.


The wound was quite large and Rowan was really bothered by it, and still… but Rowan will not be Rowan if he does not find a solution himself. Because of course he had a hood on his head from us he could not bite or lick on the wound, but he had soon found out that if he was going to rub his ass on the blankets that normally always lie on the floor for the dogs, that also that could provide some relief. Not so handy when you consider that there is a wound where an 8-centimeter tumor has been removed.


On Sunday we saw blood coming out of the wound for the first time, so I panicked naturally and worried that the wound had opened. Because that risk also exists with every wound. And the vet had already warned that there was a lot of pressure on the wound because he had to pull the wound edges far apart to be able to attach the wound. I contacted the vet by telephone and because it didn't sound like it was wrong, no action was taken yet. Rowan did not allow us to look at all and clearly had a lot of pain. We could not but keep an eye on how much blood we saw and on Monday morning we thought that was too much ...


I called the vet and called my sister for transportation ... We went to the vet with Rowan and once there it turned out that my biggest concern was fortunately unfounded. It was not his surgical wound that was bleeding, but the scouring spot that Rowan himself had caused by sanding his butt over the floor to reduce his irritation. That he made it worse with this ... he did not understand that of course. We received extra medication for him, because now we had to pay attention that this place was not going to infect and a cleanser spray that we had to spray on his wound and his whole butt as often as possible.


Once I got home I removed all the blankets that are normally lying on the floor for the dogs so that Rowan can only lie on the vinyl floor. This is because a slippery floor will cause little to no sanding spots ... and further eyes in the back of my head to try and prevent Rowan from sliding his ass over the floor again.


Now Rowan soon realized that if there are no blankets on the floor, then I will climb / jump on the couch and slide my ass over the pillows. That is a bad idea, of course, with such a wound, so I soon realized that he was not allowed to do so. I have been a very 'bad owner' for Rowan last week. He was suddenly no longer allowed to lie on blankets, he was suddenly no longer allowed to lie on the couch ... Poor dog, but everything for his good.


In the meantime we are now a week after his surgery and the wound really starts to recover. Rowan is starting to talk again ... I have to stop him from walking, he wants to go much longer and further and above all faster than is good for him now. And he also thinks he can play with the other dogs again, which of course isn't allowed either.


He still has a lot of nuisance from the wound, but I suspect it is mainly itching and not pain. He is given a painkiller that works 24 hours a day, he is given antibiotics twice a day and even tomorrow or Tuesday has the luxury of having the vet visit him at home instead of going to the vet.

It remains to wait for the result of what the tumor has been. In the case of a malignant tumor we'll see how far we can get together. In the case of a benign tumor, he still has a few good years to go. But anyway by going for this operation we gave Rowan another chance that he would not have had otherwise. And when I look at Rowan himself, walking is much nicer for him now than for the operation ...

Now we can only hope and pray for the best possible result we can get and a few more beautiful years with Rowan.