March 25, 2020

After Akeela drinks water, she always tries to lick up the extra water drops that splash out. Sometimes it’s on the floor, sometimes its on her legs, and sometimes she will even try to lick it off people if they are standing in splash-range. On the second day after surgery, she experienced a bit of ‘phantom limb’ after she drank from her water bucket. She licked the drops off her left arm and then moved her head over and licked the air where here right arm should be. I don’t know if this was habit or intentional, but it was heartbreaking!

That night I actually had a dream that my arm was amputated along with Akeela’s. I was devastated! I was embarrassed and kept looking around at all the people who had both arms and felt extremely jealous. This led me to the question of if Akeela was capable of consciously thinking about her missing arm. Perhaps my dream was my subconscious way of processing what was happening to her. According to online articles and vets, dogs do not have the conscious ability to process their missing limb like a human would.

After observing Akeela for a few days, I don’t think she necessarily realize that her arm is gone, so much as she can tell something is missing or wrong. Things she used to do have now become challenging. This is sad to watch as well, because when going down stairs, for example, she will look around and whine when she can’t get down them. It’s frustrating for her and incredibly heartbreaking for me. I am hoping that with time and rehab therapy, these day to day activities will become easier for her.