Doggie ER - new Vet

[fullygoldy]

Yesterday, our Cosmo had to go the vet to get stapled back together.  Apparently he injured himself while running through the woods with his boy on Tuesday afternoon. Cosmo does not whine or complain about anything.  If his bowl is empty, he just stands by it.  If he wants out the door, he stands there too.  If he has to stand too long for his patience, he huffs out a little sigh.  If he really really needs to go outside, he might do the quietest whine you ever heard, but mostly he'll stick with the sighing.  So when he's injured or sick, it is freaking hard to know something is wrong with him until it's been going on for awhile.

DH took him to the vet immediately after discovering the wound, because even though it was clean and not bleeding, it's not going to heal by itself.  Boy and I picked him up.  The assistant kept coming in the room and saying, he's still waking up, it will just be a few minutes.  I think we were there a total of 30 min, so it wasn't overly long, but it feels longer when you're worried.  Cosmo had a torn flap of skin under his right foreleg (kind of in the armpit area) and needed 5 staples.  He still hasn't eaten anything or gone out to do his business yet, but he also seems to have slept okay.  We need to keep him on the main level of the house (he normally sleeps upstairs with the boy) for the next 10 days, until the staples are removed.

But the point of this entry is that the vet who came to discuss aftercare with us was new to me, and she was obviously the love child of sasha_feather  and were_duck !  She was sooo obviously in love with her job, and doing a professional but also warm job of filling us in, but I was completely freaking distracted by the cute!  She has were_duck 's enthusiasm and energy (and her super cute haircut) and sasha_feather 's face, including glasses and coloring (but not quite her height), and seriousness.  It was weird but comforting.

Comments

[were_duck]

Awwww, I'm glad sasha_feather and I could merge ourselves together to become your new vet! That's kind of funny because a lot of people mistake us for one another lately, which I find a little hilarious, wtf, and flattering. :) I hope Cosmo recovers well from his staples, eeesh.

[sasha_feather]

Hahahaha OMG that is hilarious. There was a brief point in my life where I thought about being a vet. Maybe this is me from another universe who crossed over in a some kind of accident!! :O

[jesse_the_k]

Super-vet from the 27th dimension! That's excellent. Our girl is similarly stoic, and it's really hard to know when she's gashed herself.

Recent discovery: if the dog wants to lick the wound (itchy? or staples are pulling?) then make compresses from cheap Tea bags. Yep, put 'em in cold water for five minutes then hold against the wound. Not only does the tanin reduce the unpleasantness that made 'em want to itch in the first place, it makes the wound taste blagh so it discourages further licking.

[fullygoldy]

The compresses sound like a good tip. I'll keep that in mind. He came home with a giant cone, but he was so sad and uncomfortable, we replaced it with a large t-shirt. the hem is knotted on his back to keep it from dragging. He can lick the shirt if he really wants to, but can't get to the staples. Plus the shirt isn't so tasty either. He's worn jackets in the winter, so the shirt wasn't too much of a stretch for him to put up with.

Also, Cosmo was much happier today when I got home from work. He's actually eating again :)

[jesse_the_k]

Ah, the cone of shame.

There are many things I would like to know if I meet up with someone who can reliably communicate with animals. #1 would be: is it as shameful as all that? Because humans' hearts truly bleed for our animals when they are bedecked in those cones, but maybe the animals think hey I am so sexy or my how relaxing.

In other news: don't anthropomorphize our animals, they hate it when we do that.

[fullygoldy]

I don't think it's shame. It's uncomfortable, and weird, and probably feels like a punishment on top of the owie that caused the need for the cone. Plus their instinct is to tend the injury, and now they can't, but also don't understand why, so it seems like it would be pretty stressful.

Yesterday, both DH and the girl tried on the giant cone - they said it was uncomfortable, "cold," loud or echoey, and really interfered with their peripheral vision. So there are lots of reasons our pets would make sad faces while wearing the things, and none of them have to do with shame.

I guess I need a doggie icon...