Sheba is safely back at home after yesterday’s procedure, the firstof her two-part Vet-Stem experience (special thanks to my Dad for expertly piloting the recoverymobile this morning through mad Midtown traffic). She’s inhaled a late breakfast spiked with a double dose of Milk Thistle, and she’s now resting comfortably on a brand-new, joint-supportive sleep surface: the MicroDry Ultimate Luxury Memory Foam Pet Mat.

This machine-washable, bone-shaped, low-profile bed is a dogsend, especially on a day like today. It’s one of those humid, rainy days in New York City that never fail to aggravate poor Sheba’s crippling arthritis. Tomorrow is the big day when her stem cells will be injected into her creaky joints, and she will finally start experiencing relief. But until then, it’s pain as usual, compounded by the discomfort of having just had surgery.

Happily, Sheba’s smiling through it all because she’s reclining blissfully on her MicroDry Pet Mat, which is unbelievably squishy, with the most delightfully plush, chocolate-brown, fuzzy cover. When she’s recovered, she may have to fight me for it! This thing retains Sheba’s own body heat to keep her warm, dry,and comfy. That’s key right now, for when wounds are kept warm, they heal up faster.

This blessed item is available exclusively at Bed, Bath & Beyond stores for just $19.99 – a serious bargain, if you ask me. I highly recommend it if your dog has arthritis, or requires any kind of surgery any time in the near future. (The company that manufactures it happens to be the proud sponsor of Saturday night’s Brooklyn Bridge Pup Crawl, a nocturnal dog parade acrossNew York’s Brooklyn Bridge that will benefit animal shelters across the country.)

Already, Sheba looks like a new dog, and she hasn’t even received her Vet-Stem injections yet! I’m counting the minutes until that happens tomorrow (in case you hadn’t noticed). In the meantime, I’m enjoying the company of a brand-new best friend. It’s as if Sheba paid a visit to The New You, the plastic-surgery tuneup and beautification center in the sci-fi movie “Logan’s Run.” She looks like an entirely different animal.

While she was under anesthesia, getting liposuction for stem-cell-harvesting, Sheba’s teeth got such a thorough cleaning that now she sports a mouth full of sparkling pearls. She also got a bonus grooming, because combing and brushing had become so painful for Sheba that the poor thing would shriek if she so much as spied me across the room wielding the Furminator.

That’s how bad her arthritis had become: Even the slightest pressure of the grooming tool, and the inevitable pulling of hair, however gentle, was excruciating. But Sheba’s a Border Collie, which means she has a thick, double coat. And if that coat isn’t regularly groomed, it quickly develops mats, which are even more painful to a dog with arthritis than the grooming process could ever be.

So, to prevent matting in the short term, Sheba’s wearing her glorious red coat in a lion cut. She looks like a cross between a Poodle and a fox. I heartily commend the quick thinking and aesthetic standards of the expert groomer on duty in the O.R.! The leg-waxing technicians at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon couldn’t have done a better job.

I’ve never seen my dog shaven before, and I kinda dig her bare-legged, bare-bottomed look. It’s so sexy for spring. Plus, having Sheba’s legs and hips exposed will doubtless make tomorrow’s injection process a lot less hairy for all concerned (please pardon the pun). But I think that once the Vet-Stem process is complete, I will let her gorgeous coat grow all the way back in.

What do you think, Dogsters? Please weigh in on Sheba’s appearance in the comments. How about this for incentive: One commenter will be randomly selected to receive a free MicroDry Ultimate Luxury Foam Pet Mat. Good Luck!

Check out Part Two of Sheba’s saga here.