All is well

Just a very quick post today, to let everyone know that Rubin came through yesterday’s operation just fine – and so did Terry and I, although, it has to be said, I think Rubin coped a whole lot better than we did.

You can’t actually see it in this photo, obviously, but his wound is pretty alarming: they had to shave off quite a bit of the fur on his neck, shoulder and leg to do the surgery, and then, of course, the wound had to be stitched back up again, so it was a bit of a shock to see him when we went to pick him up. He was a real trooper, though, and everything went really well, so I’m so glad we decided to go do it, as traumatic as it was for Rubin’s human family members, who spent the day holding a vigil, and, OK, doing a quick run around B&M Bargains. Well, you have to do SOMETHING to distract yourself, don’t you?

As for Rubin himself, well, he was pretty confused when he came round from the anaesthetic, and treated Terry and I to his best, “Who the hell are YOU?” look. If he was a child, I’m sure he’d have denied even knowing us, but as he can’t speak, we were allowed to bring him home, where he spent the next few hours watching us both like a hawk, and refusing to sleep, even although it was obvious that he REALLY wanted to.

We, of course, were busy watching HIM like hawks at the time, so the three of us basically spent the evening sitting around looking at each other suspiciously, as if waiting to see who would crack first. Naturally, Terry and I cracked first: Rubin can play the staring game aaaaalll day, and we realised it would probably be better for him if he just tried to act like it was a normal day, so we interspersed periods of work with attempts to get Rubin to eat something, so we could casually insert his painkillers into it. This was easier than we’d assumed it might be, because although the vet had told us not to worry if he didn’t have much of an appetite, we quickly discovered the following:

Things Rubin Will Eat, Even Immediately After Surgery:

• Goodboy chocolate buttons
• Schmakos dog treats
• Cheese
• Lettuce
• Amber’s dinner
• Terry’s dinner
• Any form of human food imaginable, as long as it’s not being directly offered to him

Things Rubin Will Not Eat, Under Any Circumstances

• Dog food.

I mean, I can’t really blame him, because I wouldn’t want to eat that stuff either, but he did eventually stop begging for our food, and eat some of his own, so we took that to be a good sign. Another good sign: this morning he’s behaving almost like his old self, and has even been playing with his toys and asking me to fill up his Kong (I know I said he can’t speak: he writes it down on a piece of paper, and then hands it to me…), so although we will be keeping a close eye on him, he does seem to be on the mend.

Anyway, he’s back at the vet’s on Friday for a checkup, and we just can’t thank them enough for the care they took of him. As for you guys, well, I can’t thank YOU enough either: thanks once again for all of the good wishes you sent – it was a huge comfort to Terry and I, and reminded me just how cool this little internet community can be. If Rubin could speak, I’m sure he’d want to say thank you, too, but as he can’t, he’d probably just stare at you for an unnervingly long time, and hope you got the message. I hope you do, too.