It has been quite a long time since I updated this blog, so my apologies as this will likely turn into a long post. 🙂 Things were pretty casual and slow going over the last few months, but now that it is finally getting warmer out, we are able to take the pups out to do some of our favorite outdoor activities!
Henry is almost at his 9 month ampu-versary (June 15th) and his 7 month adopt-aversary (June 19th)! A few months ago we took him to a new vet, who kindly informed us that whoever did the amputation did it completely wrong. They did not take off the entire shoulder, and only amputated from the humerus down so he is left with a bit of a nub that he often lands on and injures because there’s nothing there besides skin to protect that sharp bone. We also found out that it is likely he is missing a portion of his remaining front elbow, so between the amputation, the elbow injury, and the half missing tail, we are fairly certain the poor guy was hit but a car, not caught in a trap like the rescue believed. Our vet told us that if he injures the nub often, we can certainly choose to have the remaining shoulder removed. Obviously none of us want to make him go through that again, but if it helps in the long run, it may be necessary. He is a young guy after all. He has been going to the chiropractor pretty regularly (once every 6 weeks) and has been doing great with it. He no longer limps in his rear legs, and is no longer ‘hopping’ with both back legs at once. Instead he is hopping only with his front leg and walking normally (one foot at a time) with the rear legs, which makes me so happy to see.
We ended up getting insurance for him and our other golden retriever through Embrace, and let me tell you, they are awesome! I was so worried that they wouldn’t cover anything for Henry due to his leg amputation, but it turns out the only pre-existing condition he had was the actual amputation – so complications from the surgery were the only pre-existing condition not covered. We also have their Wellness Plan, so we get reimbursed for all of Henry’s chiropractor visits, joint supplements, vitamins, etc.
Now, on to the fun stuff! We got our other golden retriever, Bailey, when she was a puppy, so she’s pretty well versed in going everywhere with us – canoeing, boating, swimming, hiking, festivals and other events, etc. When we got Henry we noticed that he is a bit of an anxious pup – he whines a lot – so we were worried he wouldn’t do well going to do these things with us. The first warm spring day we had open we gave Henry a trial run on the boat and he absolutely LOVED it!
Some other fun things we have been up to:
Swimming and hiking at our nearby State Park!
