We have had a hard week. First we took Diva in on Monday for her surgery to remove what turned out, thankfully, to be a benign cyst. We had been given a collar for her to wear but she hated it so we took it off and just kept an eye on her.
DH stayed home with her on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we left her home alone. She managed to pull out one of the stitches that day but I didn't panic, because it was only one, and the rest of the wound was securely closed. So I put a Band-aid on it and we all went to sleep. This was Wednesday night.
Thursday morning after breakfast I turned my back on her for all of five minutes and when I looked at her again she'd gotten all the stitches out! She knows what she is doing, don't you think she doesn't. We've scolded her enough times if she starts licking her leg. So she acts all innocent while we're watching her, but then when our backs are turned, her little dog brain must say "Aha! They're not watching me! Time to remove these annoying things from my leg!"
So I called the vet where she's been having these surgeries done (which is also the Emergency Clinic at night, so they are well-acquainted with us!). They told me to bring her in and they'd put in staples this time.
I had been all set to go to work, but this put a monkey-wrench into that plan. Luckily I have an understanding, animal-loving boss. After bringing Diva home, with yet another Elizabethan collar, I worked at home the rest of the day, and stayed home with her on Friday as well. All went fine until today.
She'd been totally ignoring the stapled portion of her front leg today - we were thinking it must be healing up by now so were less concerned. We still didn't let her out of our sight, though. Then I made a crucial error. I went upstairs to take a shower, while DH decided to go run a quick errand. He didn't realize I was taking a shower, and I didn't realize he didn't put the collar back on her.
Ten minutes later, I went downstairs to see what she was doing...and wouldn't you know it - all but one of the staples had been thoroughly removed and were on the carpet. And the cut was opened up all over again.
I called the vet's again, they said bring her in again. And you have to understand this place is a good 20 minutes away by highway! A lot of back and forth has been occurring here.
So, once again, Miss D made an appearance at the clinic, where she was welcomed by all. The doctor told me everyone loved her so much they were fighting for the privilege of taking care of her in the back.
After a half hour, they brought her back out. I had asked for a slightly smaller collar that would be less annoying to her, and she came trotting out wearing it, and proudly displaying her newly-restapled front leg. That collar is not coming off for any reason whatsoever, except to eat. We have learned our lesson!
10 comments:
What a rough time over something so important.
Pets are like small kids, you have to watch them every minute, then still worry.
So true! And you can't even explain to them why you're putting them through this ordeal!
Our black lab Oki has had two sugeries one right after another. One was a cancerous bump and the second another bump that thankfully was not cancerous. The second set of stitches came out 2 weeks ago.
He scratched so much while his stitches were healing, that the skin got very hard. Our vet put him on Prednisone so he wouldn't be so itchy and it did the trick. The thing is, since the prescription ran out he is scratching again so I have to get more.
Other than that, he is doing fine and looks forward to his daily one mile hike in the rainforest around our house.
With the different times your dog has been sown /stapled up, his incision must be much larger now, and take longer to heal.
Mauigirl, you have to expect such trouble from dawgs. Cats are far superior to them. ;-)
Seriously, I hope she gets well, before you go broke. Those trips must be costing you a fortune.
Sounds like Oki has the same thing Diva does. I hope he's OK now and doesn't get any more! Our vet said to give Diva some Benadryl to help the itchiness of the healing process. It helps her sleep too!
Larry, you're right, this time they put in umpteen staples. But it seems to be healing up nicely now that she is not licking at it.
Tomcat, you're right, these little trips don't come cheap! Let's hope this is it for awhile!
Oh yes I know the innocent licking move very well. Dogs are hilarious. Glad you got the collar she needs to heal properly. Hope she's doing better!
As I start to write, Margarida our resident super-cat has just come out of the closet...well, my office chest of drawers to be exact. It's amzing how she opens the door, walks in, hides and gets forgotten about, cos she falls asleep in there.
So, I remembered one of our dogs back in London who was awarded that protective collar while being treated for an ear infection. Elizabethan, precisely as you describe it. It only just occurred to me that the 16th-century fashion victims were amazingly prophetic when they named that thing a "ruff".
LOL, a ruff, that is indeed appropriate!
Cats can go into the darndest places. Our old cat used to sleep in bureau drawers if you left them open.
Diva is doing fine with the collar now that it isn't quite as big as the first one they had given her, which she really hated. She's so good about it. We take it off for her to eat and then she just lets you put it right back on without a single protest.
So refreshing to visit your blog which gave me lots of ideas and thoughts as to how to improve my blog and thanks for visiting mine.
Best regards, Jon on 7-20-07
http://mississippgarden.blogspot.com
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