Four Presents!!!

Mommy has been feeling guilty that I have to spend so much time doing nothing, so she bought me some presents! Four presents!

First, she ordered me a new collar. I kept getting my dew claw caught in the tag ring on my old one, so she wanted to get one of those special collars with my name and phone number embroidered on it. She ordered it from Dog Collar World. They have soooo many colors to choose from! We chose orange and white gingham with black embroidery thread. It came to our house in only a few days! Here is what it looks like:
I am a little bit sleepy in this picture, which is why I am rubbing my eyes. But it's a pretty good picture of my new collar, don't you think? My name is on one side and my phone number is on the other side. And we attached my bell, too. AND it's still a breakaway kitty collar, so it's extra safe. Although the website said it's a 10 pound breakaway...but I only weigh 8 1/2 pounds ...hmmm. I've never gotten caught on anything before, so it's probably okay.

At the grocery store yesterday Mommy bought me TWO MORE PRESENTS! She got me this thing that looks like a toy, but she insists that it is Not-A-Toy, but rather a little buckwheat heating pad. You can judge for yourself--do you think it looks like a toy?

It's filled with buckwheat and you can microwave it and it gets all warm and toasty. They're called "Whoopsies." I think that name is kind of funny. But no matter what it's called, it looks like a toy to me!

The other thing she got me at the store was some wheatgrass! I love to eat grass, and I haven't been able to walk around in the backyard or on walks to get my recommended daily intake of grass, so she bought me some organic grass of my very own! We used to get this for my sister Clover, but we haven't had it since she died almost exactly six months ago. :(
Num num, I love grass!

The fourth and final present isn't exactly for me, but it's me-themed, which is almost just as good. At the Garlic Festival over the weekend Mommy and Daddy got some yard art! Look:
This is the me-themed one. It's a welcome chihuahua! Mommy's only complaint about it is that she wishes it had paw prints instead of bones. Bones are so morbid, but they are sometimes hard to avoid on doggy stuff. The artist we bought this from also had ones that said "Protected by Chihuahua Security Co." Those were pretty funny too!

We also got an angel kitty for my sister Clover, who is at the Rainbow Bridge. I think we will put this one in the sunshine near the vegetable garden.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend too!
Bye for now,
Poppy the LBC

Pee Ess: (or should I say POO Ess!?)
This is just an extra picture for your viewing pleasure. Mommy calls this one "So Close, Yet So Far Away."

Lunch Time!

My recovery is going really well. The problem is that I feel so good that I want to get up and run around! That would be very bad for my back though. I have three more weeks of crate rest to go. :(

This picture was taken six days after my surgery. Look at me standing up!
Later that same day Mommy and Daddy decided to take me out for lunch to Chipotle. I love this place because they always feed me beans if I ask nicely! I sat in my carrier during lunch so I wouldn't wiggle around too much and fall off the chair. It was pretty comfy!


And if you want to be really impressed, check out this video of my first post-surgery walk six days after surgery:

I can actually walk without my sling, but I'm not supposed to. Sometimes I walk around the living room just a little bit. But really I want to run and play!!! Being relaxed is soooo hard!

Bye for now!
Poppy the LBC

My Sense of Drama is Highly Developed

Hi friends,

As you can see, I'm still resting and recuperating from my back surgery. Sometimes I am restless and really want to get up and move around, and sometimes I am very sleepy, like this:
Mommy put a camping mattress on the floor so she could rest next to me. It puts her in the perfect position to rub my head constantly. Yay!

Last night Daddy noticed that it is really swollen along my back where the incision is. It's probably a seroma, which they told us could happen. It's supposedly not bad, but Mommy hates it and wishes it would go away! They are putting warm stuff on my back to help it feel better, like this warm washcloth in a plastic bag:

I am starting to feel more feisty and have taken to screaming any time someone tries to pick me up. Mommy and Daddy do not appreciate this; I'm not sure why. After all, when I scream, I usually get what I want! I'm not really in more pain now...it's just that I tend to be a little bit overdramatic. For example, the other day when Mommy said, "Poppy, do you want to go out?" I stood up and walked across the bed to her before she even knew what was happening--and no screaming at all! Of course, they didn't tell me that we were going to the v-e-t to get my sticky fentanyl patch removed!

I am really excited because tonight I might get to go out to dinner and see my long lost Uncle DJ, who I haven't seen in over six months! He is the one who doggysat me when Mommy and Daddy had to go to Cirque du Soleil after my last back surgery. Oh, I am excited!

Bye for now,
Poppy the LBC

Recovery, the Sequel

Hi Friends!

I am feeling pretty okay after my back surgery. Mommy and Daddy are really pleased because I am already way ahead of where I was in my recovery last time. Maybe even a whole week ahead, and it's probably because they caught it early this time. I can already be picked up and put down without screaming. And I can move my back legs and tail a little too!!!

Mostly I am feeling a little sad and am spending a lot of time resting in my bed:
I'm on pain meds and also a sedative, which is helping to keep me relaxed. I moan a lot, and the only thing that makes me stop is being close to Mommy and Daddy. I put my paw like this in her hand all by myself:

Yesterday morning Mommy took me outside to watch Daddy while he watered the garden and I was really happy to be out there looking around and smelling everything! I didn't moan or whine at all! I had such a good time, in fact, that they decided to take me out to a birthday party! This party is a yearly summer event for Mommy and Daddy's close friends' kids. They've been looking forward to going for a month now, and they were sad that they were going to have to miss it. But after I had such a good time outside in the back yard, they thought maybe they would take me--just for an hour or two.

So we packed up my pee pads and my stroller and my blankie and hit the road! I really did enjoy that party, even though I ended up moaning the whole time. It wasn't because I was in pain though--it was because I wasn't allowed to do anything! I had to just sit there and rest. But it was awesome because I got to see some of my best friends and everybody said, "oh, poor Poppy" and gave me gentle pets. And I really loved having some fun things to see and smell. (By the way, please excuse Mommy's slipper foot--she had toe surgery last week and this is the only shoe she can wear!)
It was fun, and boy was I tired when I got home!

Last night Mommy made me a treat Kong with crunchy foods and frozen peanut butter. I licked my way through the peanut butter, but I wasn't about to be tricked into eating crunchy foods at a time like this! It's wet treats all the way for me!



Bye for now,
Poppy the LBC

Oh Noes!

On Tuesday morning I woke up in a lot of pain. It was my back! And my back legs felt all funny again. Mommy and Daddy took me to see my vet, who said we should wait 24 to 48 hours and use anti-inflammatories and pain meds to try to avoid another surgery.
On Tuesday and Wednesday I was pretty tired and a little bit out of it, as you can see.

Well, the plan worked for the first day, but last night I started to get worse. So this morning we went to the specialist, who sent me for an MRI. When I woke up from the MRI, I was all sleepy and a little bit upset. I really wanted to go home, but the MRI revealed that I do need to have another surgery! :(

I'll be back in a couple days... Wish me luck!
Poppy the LBC

Pee Ess from Poppy's Mom: We just dropped her off at VSA for her surgery. We get to visit her tomorrow and then pick her up on Saturday morning. In our family we have now had two knee surgeries (Dad), two toe surgeries (Mom), and two back surgeries (Poppy). I think that's enough!

UPDATE: Poppy is out of surgery and doing well so far. We'll get to visit her tomorrow and maybe even bring her home tomorrow(if not, then Saturday).

Resting and Relaxing

Hello Friends! I haven't been doing anything exciting lately because Mommy has been busy with end-of-school-year stuff at work, and then she had foot surgery. Eek! So we've been recovering.

But the rest of my summer promises to be filled with fun and family! We have a couple of fun camping weekends planned for after Mommy's foot is better. In the meantime, I am keeping busy with a rigorous schedule of sleeping, snuggling, eating, and playing...in that order.


Bye for now!
Poppy the Little Blonde Chihuahua