Injuries ? Infections ? - Paw Talk

SharonM · #1 05-18-2003, 08:25 AM

I was trying to get a good picture of my boys in their new collars , but, just try to get em to both look at the camera

But, I noticed in this one how well Dutchy's scar shows.
When he was about 7 months old, he somehow got a little sore on top of his head. It got worse and worse, and seemed to itch him something terrible ... The vet had me scrub it till it bled

4 times a day, and put ointment on it. He said it was staph infection. The scrubbing didn't help, and it turned into a mass cell tumor that had to be removed. When he shaved his head he found 3 more little spots ... so, had to go an inch beyond them, an inch beyond the tumor itself in order to be sure he got it all. Darn near ripped the entire top of head off (good thing he isn't a doberman, or any other tight skinned doggie). 17 stitches (2 layers) 2 drains, and I had me my own little snow plow (ever see a short legged doggie in the snow with an E collar?)
What kind of injuries/infections have y'all had to deal with in your babies ??

**Scarlette** · #2 05-18-2003, 05:01 PM

I've been pretty lucky with my dogs. The two incidents that stand out the most is when my cousin ran over my Boston Terrier with a motorcycle. My cousin was about 11 years old at the time and my Boston LOVED to chase moving objects.....her favorite was the vaccuum cleaner. Anway, she decided to chase the motorcycle while he was riding around in the yard, somehow she got in front of it and he ran her over. Luckily nothing too serious, I thought for sure her back was broken because she couldn't move her back legs very well. I made an emergency trip to the vet and he did some x-rays and said she might have some nerve damage but would be fine. She was chasing the vaccuum again with a week! A few years later she did develop arthritis but I was thankful because it could have been way worse.

The other injury was when the same Boston was attacked by my friend's chocolate lab. It ripped the whole back of her neck off and I could see all of her neck muscles and her spine. Unfortunately my vet was out of town so I had to race her to the next closest vet's office 40 miles away. I told him to do everything possible, I would find a way to pay for it, but if he thought he couldn't fix her, then tell me now and I would have her put to sleep and save her the pain of surgery. He said "oh, I can fix her" so he did surgery. I went to visit her the next day and they had her heavily sedated but she knew I was there because she wagged her little stub of a tail. I talked to her, gave her kisses and told her I would see her tomorrow. The next day after work I went to see her and they told me she had died. It felt like someone had ripped my heart out of my chest and I promptly ran out into the parking lot and threw up in between sobs. I had that dog for 9 years and that was my baby girl.

Crittercall · #3 05-18-2003, 11:14 PM

HOT SPOTS!!! My first shih tzu was allergic to everything and could chew and dig at herself until she was bleeding within 10 minutes.

I can't think of anything really out of the ordinary with my girls. Mostly what comes to mind is things I've seen on other people's dogs.

Sharon, I was cursing your dr for not putting your dog on Keflex for the skin problem until I read about the tumors. Glad he was able to fix him up!

Oh yeah, Wallis has trouble with her anal glands and has had infections there. But that isn't a very ladylike thing, and she doesn't like to talk about it.

Becki · #4 05-19-2003, 02:32 AM

When Claudia was a puppy she ran through a pile of burning trash... we lived in the middle of a citrus orchard and they took out about 2 acres of trees, let them dry then burned them in smaller piles. Apparently her and one of her littermates were tearing around and ran right through one of the piles while it was still smouldering... all the fur was burned off of the bottom side of her, including her legs, and her paws were burned pretty bad and she still has scars where the hair never grew back. Ira's mom opened the door to let them in the house and there was my poor singed (still smoking and very stinky) puppy! So we threw her in the bathtub and ran cool water on her, then washed all the burnt hair off...it was nasty and very scary, but it wasn't too too bad thank goodness.

Then there was the thousand dollar dog, he broke his leg somehow and came back to the house with his leg broken so bad the bone was poking out! The healing process went well, but I can't believe the stench that came off of that poor dog while he had his cast!! PU!

Last and most traumatic was Ira's mom's dog, Cisco... We had just gotten her fixed and one morning soon after I heard Ira's mom yelling for me to come help her so I threw on some clothes and ran out and her she is sitting in the front room holding the dog...with her intestines hanging out!!! So I held the dog while Ira's mom drove to the vet (45 minutes away) and they fixed her up just fine. I am STILL traumatized from that one! I've never seen intestines before...wouldn't mind never seeing them again! After the vet took her in I looked at myself and I was COVERED with blood, my shirt was inside out, and my pant's unzipped!

Jodi · #5 05-19-2003, 11:17 AM

Sharon, that's a great pic of Dutchie & Blackie. I love their matching bandanas!

OMG, such horrible stories. They make me wanna cry! Scarlette, I'm so sorry about your baby girl...that's so sad!

Becki, your poor baby! I'm a wimp when it comes to burns!!

Critter, Bach had a hot spot once. What a pain! It was very hard to "cure" and he stunk something awful when he had it!

Crittercall · #6 05-19-2003, 07:53 PM

Yeah, J, those things are nasty and can turn into a staph infection which REALLY smells. I worked for a veterinary dermatologist for a while - talk about some smells!

Becki, your story of the burnt puppy reminds me of a dog I saw at the ER once. A little poodle, belonged to a little old lady - her baby, in other words. She had been boiling potatoes and was carrying the pot from the stove to the sink to dump off the water. Dog got in the way, she tripped, and the boiling water went all over the dog. He survived okay, but it was a horrible sight.

DirtySouthChins · #7 05-19-2003, 10:06 PM

We have been very lucky where our dogs are concerned, although about 2 months after adopting Zoey, she got what looked like a bite almost a spider bite on her left front paw, well after trying to clean it out and putting bacitracion on it for a few days, we noticed it continued to grow larger, so we took her into the vet, and they said it was some type of tumor (can't remember the name of it) however she needed to have it surgically removed, and then they ran some tests on it just to be sure it wasn't cancer, and luckily it wasn't.... But she is doing great now, and just has this small little scar on her paw.

Crittercall · #8 05-19-2003, 10:31 PM

What a relief! Glad you were so lucky with her!

Pinny Gig · #9 05-22-2003, 10:53 PM

Quote:


	Originally posted by Crittercall HOT SPOTS!!! My first shih tzu was allergic to everything and could chew and dig at herself until she was bleeding within 10 minutes.

ARGH!!! Crittercall! I can SO relate! My greyhound has done this on various occasions and it drives me insane drying to get him to stop licking. Fortunately (knock on wood), he hasn't had any hotspots in quite a while.

The last hotspot he had was so bad, he had to take Prednisone to help it heal...and then Benedryl after that. Ugh...