Something you'd think would be funny, but is really sad.

Today my dog went in for surgery to have a tooth and abcess (sp?) removed. From the way the doc described it, the painkillers would make him act like he was drunker than sh*t, which I must admit, sounded kind of humorous, since I recall a few incidents from my youth revolving around drunkeness (and why our high school class president was called "Skids" behind his back, but that's another story). However, when we brought him home not fifteen minutes ago, he turned out to be a sad sight. His legs don't exactly work right, so he keeps falling over on the ground and when he can walk, he often walks sideways. Judging by his heart rate, he's panicking, especially seeing how he won't sit down. Now we're afraid he might break something, himself and otherwise, if he keeps walking or heaven forbids tries to vault up onto the furniture. That, on top of the doctor's warning that he'll be drooling and sneezing blood and I'm in for one hell of a night.

Put him in a dark closet with a lot of blankets and padding on the floor. That''s what I do for my cat when it''s on ketamine and it minimizes the damage.

Experienced the same when our cat had to undergo some surgery. Lying down flat on her place, eyes open, not being able to move at all. Worried the hell out of me. Later on, as the medication slowly wore off, she could barely walk. One step and then she''d stand there for a minute without moving a bit. I was really glad when that day was over and she was back to normal again.

Now he''s starting to perk up...kind of. Unfortunately, some of the drugs are starting to wear off and he''s in pain.

Dogs don''t want to be alone like cats. Wrap him up in a dingy old blanket by his favorite person and he''ll appreciate the attention.

Sorry to hear about his pain Rat.

I feel your pain!! One of my dog''s is epileptic - sometimes he has seizures still even though he''s on more dope than Courtney Love. He has a terrible time during and after his seizures - squirtting pee everwhere and then running into walls for 5 minutes after he wakes up.

My little freedom bulldog had surgery a few months back to remove a growth - and she was in a world of hurt. Her little cries of pain went straight to my nerves like a rabid tooth beaver.

But what Slick said is right! Doggies need love and attention when they feel yucky. Wrap him in a smelly shirt and hold him in your lap (if he''s not too big).

He''s doing better, but he''s still a little shaky on his feet. It''s like he''s about to fall asleep but keeps fighting it, so his head keeps bobbing up and down. Once, one of his legs gave out so his chin slammed into the floor. Fortunately, he was on the happy pills so he didn''t seem to mind. I outta try some of that stuff.

What sort of dog is he? I''m picturing something fairly big judging by your description of his drug-induced clumsiness.

He''s a beagle, and he''s doing much better today, although he seems unwilling to bark at cats for the time being. Maybe I should rewatch the parts of the Kill Bill DVD that I missed when he went beserk this week.

Can you crate him, RB? I concurr that limiting his area of free mobility for his own good is the best way to go. That and a quiet place.

He tends to wig out when he''s confined. Shouldn''t matter though. At this point, the only thing wrong with him is pain in his mouth, which two happy pills can cure real fast.