Thanks a lot cone.

Posted on by

I don’t talk a lot about Jake’s spine/walking issues.  The progression from good to bad, for the most part, has been slow and steady, so it’s given him time to learn to acclimate.  Every once in a while I’ll find a video of him from the early days of him living here and recall just how mobile and fast he used to be.

It is what it is.

Until it’s not.

The cone is a pain, for sure.  There is no dog who has ever worn a cone and loved it and there is no owner that has had a dog in a cone that hasn’t thought ‘do we really need to use that thing’.  Jake is on week 4 of the cone (24/7).  We have to protect his eye.  But in doing so, it has become apparent that it was at the mercy of his spine and legs.  It’s not just holding the cone up, it’s the posture he’s forced into while wearing it.  His leg function has decreased.  A lot.

If you asked me if I would rather he see or keep leg function as long as possible, I don’t know what my answer would be.  I hate finding out there has been a trade-off but the reality is, his legs were always going to decline so I guess protecting the eye was the right thing to do.

One of our awesome readers suggested we try this mask thing for Jake  It’s much lighter than the cone and it does protect his eyes.  The problem is that Jake is flat faced and even though we ordered the flat-faced version, he is too flat faced for even that.  So he can wear this while I’m home but he has to still wear the cone when I’m not home and at night.  But giving his back any break is a good thing, so we are pretty excited to present to you, the newest Power Ranger!

You can still see his hamburger eye, through his Power Ranger mask. IMG_5411 IMG_5422

IMG_5425

PS. His eye is not healing very quickly.  The graft is taking but it’s still ‘too thick’ so we have a whole new set of eye drops. I would say more on that but I am trying to curse less.

 

26 thoughts on “Thanks a lot cone.”

  2. We feel your pain, and poor Jake has even more challenges than Boca did. I’m glad the visor is somewhat of an improvement for when you’re home. The cone is one of the most evil of necessary evils!

    Reply ↓

  8. I’m bummed that it won’t let him stay cone free, but at least it works for while you are home. I swear, cones are almost the worst part about having an injured dog, because it just adds insult to injury. The awesome side effect of the optivisor is that your dog looks like a welder or motorcycle maniac.

    Reply ↓

    • It’s still such a huge help, thank you! I spoke to the company, they said Frenchies often have trouble with it and can sometimes use the normal mask with modifications. I ordered that one too but it didn’t work for him. His crazy face!

      Reply ↓

  9. hahahahaha trying to curse less! I can only imagine the foul language Jake is saying under his breath! lol Hang in there you 2, the silver lining has to be right around the corner.

    Reply ↓

  10. I love this fellow so. My heart aches for you both but I know his eye is going to be fine! I don’t trust people that don’t curse. 😄

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply