So last Tuesday, I took her to the vet for her initial checkup. She came out fine, just one shot and everything was great ($85). An interesting note: the vet said they don't do flea/tick meds here, since they don't have that problem. He said he only sees about 1 case of fleas a year, and it's always on a dog that's been out of state somewhere where they have them. He told me that if we do plan a trip back to Michigan with Gracie to call them and they'll hook us up with the meds, but otherwise, not to worry about it. I am definitely cool with that!
That evening, we took her for a walk, since Mitch and I walk every night and if you have a dog with you it looks like you're doing it for the dog's benefit instead of the actual reason of trying to get out of the house and away from the kids. Sara came with us, so we let her walk Gracie. As we were coming back past the neighbor's house, their giant black and white cat - named Oreo, but I'm going to call her Psycho Feline - came flying off her porch and went after Gracie. Sara was ahead of us, holding the leash. Mitch and I both thought Psycho Feline would just hiss and bat at Gracie and then run away. Boy, were we wrong. She kept going at Gracie and hissing and biting. Meanwhile, Gracie is FLIPPING OUT, crying and trying to get away, wrapping herself and the leash around Sara's legs. I took off running to them, grabbing up Gracie, kicking Psycho Feline away and unhooking the leash so Sara didn't end up with a cracked skull on the pavement. Everyone was a little shaken up. We got home, assessed Gracie's wounds - a couple of cat bites on her right hip - and declared everyone OK.
Or so we thought.
Gracie slept all of Wednesday, which given that incident and the vet visit, didn't seem unusual. On Thursday, we noticed there was a little swollen spot on her belly. Friday morning it was gone, so I decided not to call the vet. Meanwhile, she's still sleeping a lot, but we chalk it up to puppy growing.
Saturday afternoon, I pick her up - a bad habit we've all gotten into instead of making this dog walk - and feel a hard lump on her right hip. I show it to Mitch who says he noticed it earlier. I don't either one of us connected it to the attack by Psycho Feline. We did wonder if it had happened when she jumped out of the boat into the yard earlier, but she seemed alright either way.
Sunday, she slept FOREVER. When she did wake up, she wouldn't put any weight on her right leg. Mitch called the vet and left a message, and he called back in 20 minutes, which really impressed us. He offered to open the office to look at her, but thought she'd be fine until Monday.
Monday, I took her in. She had a temp of 103.3 and was vocally upset when the vet manipulated her right leg. The vet said it was an abscess caused most likely by the cat bites and it would have to be drained and Gracie would have to be sedated. The vet said "Cats are gross" and I told her this is an outdoor cat who I have seen catch mice and snakes in the few weeks I've been here. The vet rolled her eyes and said "She's extra gross then." A bit of a surprising attitude for a vet, I thought, but at this point, I'm agreeing wholeheartedly.
The kids and I went home and waited. A few hours later, we went and picked her up ($212). She had a shaved side, drains coming out of two places and some stitches. But it was clear she felt better already. She was bouncing and chewing and and running doing all the regular puppy stuff she hadn't done. The vet thought she wouldn't chew at the drains and said if she did, to come back and get a collar - hereafter called the "cone of shame". The drain thing was very icky with all the stuff coming out. I don't know what I expected, but I tend to think things will be less messy than they usually are.
She didn't chew at the drain. At least the rest of the that day. But when I woke up on Tuesday at 6 AM and put her in bed with me after Mitch left - yeah, yeah, we're teaching this dog all kinds of bad habits - I knew something wasn't right. I flipped on the light and sure enough, she had pulled the top part of the drain out. It was hanging down under her belly and looked like an extension cord. If I wasn't so freaked out, it would have been funny. I had to wait until 8:30 when the office opened to call the vet. The girl I spoke to said "I can't believe we let you leave here yesterday without the collar!" Well, too late to do anything about that now, honey. I drove back to the vet where it was determined that yes, the drain would need to be reset and yes, she would have to be sedated again.
At 3:30 yesterday afternoon, I picked her up again ($73), where she had yet more hair shaved off her and another incision. But the only drain was on the underside of her belly.
This is kind of crappy picture, taken from my phone and then copied from my Facebook page. But you can see the top two incisions that are now stitched over.
And of course, she has been sentenced to the "Cone of Shame".
The drain stays in for 7-10 days, so I'm calling next Tuesday to schedule having it removed. Gee, how much will that cost I wonder?
In spite of all this, she has really improved. She is like a regular puppy now, energetic, eating, chewing, running around. She's sleeping right now, with the kids being gone to school, but I think she'll pull through all this garbage and recover just fine. Fingers crossed.
* And in spite of the title of this post, I don't believe she actually had cat scratch fever. But it stays with the theme of my post titles that I try to follow whenever possible. (Except for Ten on Tuesday and Fun Fact Friday.)
ok now you should go down and talk to Psycho Feline and nicely ask it to help with the bill. If it declines I would chop off its whiskers and put duct tape on the bottom of its feet. You could also tie its tail to its leg
ReplyDeleteSeriously....if your dog had attacked Oreo she would be down at the pound! Not cool at all! Hope Gracie pulls through OK!
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