The Stitch Removal Day Has Come and Gone

Oh my, we both waited two full weeks for this day to come and lo and behold, he would have nothing to do with it! It was our biggest Christmas gift we were going to get and it didn't happen. The veterinarian tried to remove the stitches and got about three out, before he started bucking and jerking so much, they gave up.  It was mostly where the stitches were covered with scabs and we couldn't easily remove them. We reluctantly took him home to consign him to the dreaded cone until we can somehow remove the scabs.  We are using warm compresses to wet the area and now we're using antibiotic cream to soften the stuff up a bit more. If that doesn't work, we'll use vaseline to make it softer and hope for the best. I will attempt to remove the stitches myself. I asked the vet. if I could do that and she said, if you can, then go for it~so that is what I'll do.  I'm hoping it works and with patience and perseverance, we'll be successful. At least for his sake we hope so because if we can't do it then they'll have to put him to sleep again and I don't want to do that. It would be way too many times this past month.
We were very disappointed, but it has to be this way...we'll work it out and it's just another setback. I think Bob was more upset about having the cone back in the picture, but I think it's just a matter of time, I'm going for the gold in removing his stitches, but I think I can do it!

This is fourteen days out...I think he looks great!

The picture above is my 2 week photo of his recovery. Under his eye is where the scabs are and somehow if we'd known we would have used warm compresses on his face to make them easier to remove. So far the one scab is pretty hard and it's not responding to the warm wash cloth we used. I will work on it some more, but the location of this particular area is just so distracting to him, he can "see" me coming at him with the washcloth~

I have noticed his behavior is different though.  Prior to the surgery he was an active and happy dog. Always running or jumping and raising his butt up in the air and getting ready to take us on, but now he's very quiet. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that he can't hear and so he doesn't "respond" the same. He is not the same in that he doesn't have the bounce in his step or the extra energy he had before the surgery. He is subdued, if that is the right word to describe the change.  I miss the little dog that used to run to us or would sing a long pretty howl when we came home. It was his vocal greeting that made us know how much he missed us. Now there is often just silence and a yawn...I hope that part of him is not lost forever, but I'm noticing how much quieter around here it is now. He doesn't respond to loud noises, the doorbell ringing, the door being open, the garage door rising, the car coming into the garage... He is in a silent place. Maybe that is why he's so "quiet" because his world is much quieter now. I miss the little dog he was, I can only hope that in all of our grief and indecision about what to do, we didn't subject him to something worse.  But in the end we did what we had to do and we gave it our all. We pray it wasn't to lose the very essence of the great dog he was to the silent world he lives in now. Too sad for words to imagine that he once heard our voices and now hears nothing.  I'm still working through this aspect of his treatment and I hope and pray I'm able to get passed it. He probably has, now it's our turn.