Day 2826

Dash is getting older. He doesn't always lift his leg when he pees anymore and often ends up peeing on the front leg with the injured dewclaw. After this happened again for the umpteenth time, I thought I'd try to clean the leg with a damp cloth to prevent him from licking it. This was a mistake. When I was cleaning the leg, he jerked away from me, causing the broken dewclaw to start bleeding again. He wouldn't stay still so I could bandage the area and immediately ran to the bedroom and started rolling on the white bed comforter. I managed to put the cone on his head so he wouldn't try to bite me and then gently dabbed the area with a gauze pad soaked in saline solution. Luckily, Dash's blood clots fairly quickly. I still can't manage to wrap an ace bandage around the area, but the bleeding has stopped and if I leave the cone on so he can't pick at things, maybe we'll be back to normal in the morning. This wound is having a tough time healing, but I don't know what to do. The vet specifically said not to leave the area bandaged too long. I just wish Dash would leave it alone.

It's two hours later now. I was wrong again. We just got back from the emergency vet. While I was writing the first paragraph, Dash started bleeding again. He had gone to sleep in the bedroom and when he woke up I noticed that there was a puddle of blood on the carpet. He hadn't been licking the wound because he was wearing the cone. Somehow he had spontaneously started bleeding again while he was sleeping. Janet and I tried without much success to create a makeshift bandage so he wouldn't bleed all over the car again and then it was off to the emergency vet. They're getting to know Dash pretty well at the emergency vet. This was the third time we've had to take him there this summer.

The vet said she didn't think Dash needed stitches. She was a little worried that the dewclaw wound hadn't healed properly after ten day and gave us more antibiotics and some pain pills. I wish we could just leave this new bandage on, but it has to come off after 24 hours just like the initial bandage. We're kind of back where we started. I don't look forward to keeping Dash calm and living with the cone for at least another week. Dash is a great dog, but he isn't a very good patient. Anything out of the ordinary freaks him out.

Before this evening's dog crisis, I had started watching the new Ken Burns series about the Vietnam War. The documentary was very good. I was surprised at how much I had already forgotten about this time in history. It's a shame that the show comes on right when I start writing the blog every night. I'll have to find some other way to watch the rest of it. I had a low draft number when I was in college during the late 60's and probably would have been drafted if I hadn't fallen while rock climbing in Colorado one summer and been declared 4F. My knees are still a mess after all these years, but that's one injury that I don't regret.

Dash is finally calm and is sleeping again. The emergency vet did a really good job of bandaging him up. I need to go buy some styptic powder and ace bandages in the morning. There's got to be a better way of dealing with emergencies like these. Ironically, we had tons of bandages left over from Janet's surgery, but none of them were the right size and we couldn't stop the bleeding anyway. No matter how prepared you think you are, you really can't plan for everything.

Rhett is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2817

We had trouble removing Dash's bandage this morning, so we took him to the vet to get some help. Dash must have known that the nurse knew what she was doing, because he was calm and composed and the bandage came off easily. This wasn't the case when I tried to remove the bandage thirty minutes earlier. He didn't want me anywhere near the thing.

Since Dash wasn't limping, we took him on a walk without his cone when we got home. Our beautiful Fall weather continues and we all enjoyed the outing. Unfortunately, the cone didn't stay off all day. I was hoping that Dash would ignore his injury, but I caught him licking it several times and the cone had to go back on. I removed and replaced the cone for most of the day. For the most part, Dash was good, but there were moments when he was paying way too much attention to his leg. In a way it's too bad we couldn't leave the bandage on, but the nurse said the wound would heal faster if it was exposed to air.

Somewhere in the house we have a really nice soft cone, but we couldn't find it. This happens a lot. The cone could be in my storage room, in Janet's storage room, in a box somewhere in the house, or we could have given it to a rescue group. All Janet and I can remember is that we bought a nice cone for Dot once after one of her surgeries and she wore it for a while. I remember the color was blue, but I definitely don't remember where I saw the cone last. It's not worth buying another one, because Dash will only need to wear this cone for a day or two.

I got a chance to go to the gym today while Janet stayed home with Dash for a while. We hate to leave a dog wearing a cone alone, because it is so easy for them to get stuck somewhere or get into some other kind of trouble. Some of our dogs have absolutely hated wearing a cone, but Dash is pretty good. He seems to be able to take a nap with the cone on his head just as easily as without it. That's probably the true sign of a lazy dog if he still lays around and sleeps with a cone on his head.

I had a good workout today. I really need to renew my efforts to go to the gym several times a week. I can tell I'm starting to make some progress. I don't know why it's so hard for me to go three times a week. I certainly don't have a lot of other pressing activities. Just taking care of the basic things seems to take all my time now.

I see my neighbors starting to pile trash in their front lawns in preparation for bulky trash day. This would be a good time for me to go up on the roof with a pole saw and cut some of the low handing limbs. I never remember to do this until the day after bulky trash day. It's a shame that the city only picks up this type of trash once a month, but I guess that's better than nothing.

Dash is sleeping now. I hope he stays asleep. He was eating grass in the yard earlier this evening and that's often a sign that he's going to throw up. One thing at a time please. Dash has gone almost three weeks without throwing up. Let's at least wait until he gets the cone off before we have any more digestive problems.

Cleo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day