The Tripawd Times of Nova the Great Dane

Today is Nova’s TWO month Ampuversary! I look back at how things were going a month ago, and it really can’t get any better. She is definitely back to her old self, and her incision has healed beautifully. Her hair is starting to grow back here and there, but for now it is pretty patchy (I am told that is because of the chemo, and once the chemo is done her hair will grow back much faster). Actually, the worst spot for hair growth has been on her back (right above her hips) where they shaved a square for the spinal catheter during her surgery. The hair appears to not be growing back at all there. What is really funny is that the place where the hair is growing the quickest is directly ON the amputation scar. You can’t even really see the scar anymore.

The dog dramas are minimal these days, chest x-rays are clear (indicating the cancer has not spread), and we have settled into a peaceful, steady routine. Life could not be better. The only thing I wish for is warmer weather, so she would spend more time outside. Nova is not much for winter, and I am really looking forward to taking her out to the park or other social activities like local running races and cross country meets, but she is really not interested in the winter and getting wet. She is still very much the house cat in that regard.

Her appetite is great! She devours pretty much every meal I give her, which is EVO kibble mixed with various all-meat or mostly all-meat canned foods like EVO, Wellness, and Merrick meals. Although, tonight she turned up her nose at a meal (Wellness Salmon canned, scratch that off the shopping list) and my heart skipped a beat. It is so hard not to freak out over every little thing. I fed the meal to her sister, Emmy, and gave her something else, and she ate it with gusto. That is the first time I have ever seen a dog turn down ANY brand or flavor of canned food.

Lately she has been back to wrestling with her toys too. That may sound like no big deal, but it makes me so happy. She loves stuffed animals, and last night around 4 am I heard her jumping about in the great room. I came out and saw that she had emptied her toy box of most of her stuffies (her sister Emmy was dead asleep) and was throwing around a big fish that made loud grunting sounds. My 12-year-old Ben had fallen asleep on the couch and was plenty grumpy about all the noise, but I was just so happy to see Nova enjoying herself, I went back to bed with a big smile on my face.