Ripp’s Story, part 9—A Clean Bill of Health


Ripp’s feeling good and starting to look like his old self.

OK GSRA peeps and other Ripp fans: get up on your feet and do your happy dance!! At Thursday's recheck visit to the NCSU vet school, Dr. R, the surgeon who led the team on Ripp’s ear surgery, was VERY pleased with how he’s healing. In fact, she said she didn’t need to see him anymore!

 Ripp 1 month postsurgery

Not that she didn’t WANT to see him, of course, but that she didn’t NEED to. We could not have hoped for better news! She recommended continuing him on antibiotics for another week as insurance that there is not a scrap of infection left deep inside, and that seems like a great idea to us. If anyone is counting, he is now on his FOURTH antibiotic since the surgery, because one bug or another proved resistant to the earlier drugs. As Andrea P said when she heard about the latest, “Ripp’s so special, even his bacteria are unique”! Folks who have followed this blog may remember that he had his surgery on August 1st, so it’s seems somehow fitting that this happy news comes on August 30th, the very end of the month. (Yes, I know that August has 31 days; close enough, I say!) Although the poor guy has been through a LOT this month, for almost all of it he’s been in significantly less pain than before surgery. And now, of course, that pain is gone for good (reprise the happy dance!).

Ripp does still need to go through heartworm treatment, unfortunately. We couldn’t even consider doing that any sooner, but he has now been cleared for it by Dr. R. We’re going to wait a few weeks though, as Ripp has a very important social engagement in early October that he wants to be feeling his best for. That’s right, Ripp plans to be eating barbecue and socializing with all his favorite peeps at the GSRA Reunion Picnic on October 7th! He might not QUITE have a full head of hair by then, but he expects to still be looking mighty fine. And feeling even better. ;-)

Now that Ripp is cleared with the vet school, he can play ball again.