Suicidal Dog Slits Wrist

Tonight River took a sliding shoulder into the back door and broke the bottom pane of glass. In doing so, she managed to cut the outside of her right paw and puncture the area right near her dew claw. The laceration was clean and right to the muscle and was bleeding enough that I didn't think I'd be able to stop it myself.

I trapped her in the bathroom and tried to clean her up a bit and then taped paper towels to her paw to apply some pressure and stop the bleeding. (You know, after I stood in the bathroom for a minute staring at the medicine cabinet thinking, "I need gauze." "I don't have gauze." "I need gauze." It was a vicious cycle.)

Carolyn looked up an emergency vet and drove us there and I called Belinda to pick up Remy and take her to her house so that she didn't somehow get into the broken glass. I didn't need two cut puppies and bills to go with them. (Remy got a bath at Belinda's! How cool is that?)

When we got there, the vet cut off my make-shift bandage, looked at the wound, and bandaged her back up. Then he gave her a sedative. And it knocked her out. It also made her vomit up her dinner. She she is being really sleepy in the doctor's office.



And here is my shirt with dog blood on it. Luckily, I was in my lawn mowing getup, so I don't really care.



I think I might donate this shirt to the lab. What's not fun about dog blood on a shirt?


They gave her some stitches and bandaged her up. While she was there, I went to Lowe's to buy some stuff to fix the window. I settled on plexiglass and silicone to fix it in there, with a backup plan of plastic tarp in case I wasn't handy enough to fix it.

The bandage can't get wet and it needs to be changed if it does. If not, I have to change it every 3 days. It's starting to bother her because she keeps licking at it and limping and favoring it.

I put a latex glove over her paw to keep it dry and carried her outside because I thought she might have to pee. She turned right around a gimped herself back into the house. Then I fed her because I realized she threw up all her food earlier. She liked that, because she always likes food... and I gave her an antibiotic and some pain meds that are supposed to make her drowsy. It's kind of working, but she keeps messing with her paw.

Hopefully it will kick in soon.

Carolyn babysat her while I fixed the back door. Turns out I am awesome and managed to clean up the glass and put in a piece of plexiglass to fix it. Not sure how permanent of a fix it is, but I'm going to try to keep it for as long as I can. I'm pretty sure a new door or new glass might be really expensive.




I know, those pictures were really exciting.

Update: I took her out again and she peed and ran right back to the door. Then came in a drank a whole bowl of water. Maybe I'll set my alarm for the middle of the night to check on her.

Because this is the kind of thing she does when I'm sleeping:

(Not all the time, she just apparently didn't like Kovu's bed.)

Okay, it's late and been an eventful day. I'm going to try to get some sleep. I hope River does the same.


End Blog.

It's So Quiet

River is spending the night at the vet. She got spayed this morning and they are keeping her overnight. It's really quiet. We've only have to go out twice tonight. Remy's sleeping soundly on the couch.

It's so weird.

I kinda miss her.

Remember this moment tomorrow... and for the next week when I have to take her outside on a leash and try to keep her calm so she doesn't pop a stitch or something.

Cross your fingers that she'll get a cone! I can see fabulously funny video coming from that.

I hope she's doing okay on her own...



End Blog.

PS... she vomited in my car this morning on the ride there. It's like she knew something bad was going to happen...

Maybe I Should Have Named Her Bronco

I took the puppy to the vet today because she's been doing this weird periodic cough thing. Sometimes right when I come home from work, sometimes when she runs around a lot, and like, all the time when she pulls when on her leash there's the little gagging cough.

The doctor diagnosed her with tracheobronchitis which is basically kennel cough. Awesome. She got some pills and he said she'd be feeling better in 3-5 days and it was good I bought her in because it wasn't deep in her lungs yet and she didn't have pneumonia. She got her temperature taken (which she really did not care for as it was rectally) and a rabies shot and some flea and tick meds and a delicious heartworm chewy.

This dog doesn't seem sick at all. The pamphlet they gave me said to limit her exercise, but that's damn near impossible. She's so crazy. So, I'm not following that recommendation because the only way to do it would be to drug her with some alcohol or something.

Anyway, the doc said that it's not uncommon with the weather being how it is and he's seen a lot of it. Although, he didn't seem to worried about Remy catching it, so I guess that's good. I'm just to keep an eye on them both.

Meanwhile, she's due for more shots for distemper and the like on the 15th and Remy is going to get some shots and a heartworm test and I'm getting them to trim her toenails at the same time too. So, she'll probably hate me... more. The next trip will be pricey, so luckily they didn't charge me for an office visit today - just the meds which were only $14.00. The best part about it is that River totally just ate the pill all by itself. Let's see how long that lasts...

I leave you with the River picture of the day. This is where she decided to go after the doctor took her temp and gave her a shot - under a countertop in a cubbyhole where they keep the trash. Seems about right... poor girl. Here's to a speedy recovery!



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Itchy and Remy

Remy's been waking me up at 3am for the past two nights. Last night I think I finally nailed down why - she's itchy. She's got some red spots on her that look like she's been scratching at herself, but I'm not sure what was wrong with her - if she had a few fleas, if she was allergic to something, if she got stung by that damn yellowjacket... So, today after work, I took her to the doctor.

I basically told the doc the same thing, and she also wasn't sure what was making her itch, so she gave me some doggie antihistamines and an antibiotic for some of her scratched raw wounds. So now the Rem Dog has to take pills twice a day. She's really pleased about it because they're inside cheese.

I also got some Frontline and put that on her, just in case there were fleas somewhere. I hate that stuff though because it makes her fur all greasy, but if it makes her feel better and lets me sleep through the night, I guess it's worth it.

Remy still hasn't gotten a job though and just cost me 109 bucks.

She seems like she's feeling better, so I'm not really complaining. And besides, she's a super famous star now because they put up her "Remy dressing in Royals gear" picture on the jumbo screen at the Royals stadium. Therefore, I think I have to be at her beck and call from now on. You know, I haven't even gotten onto that thing yet!

Check her out - she's near the end. http://www.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809163487456

Here's to recovery... for both of us.


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