Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Doggy injury

So, the reason that you didn't see Montana in that photo of us at the top of Pikes Peak is that she wasn't there. Shocking, I know! But seriously, we would normally take her with us on an outdoorsy excursion like that. And in fact, when we left the house without her, she was very upset.

But there was a reason we didn't take her with us, and it's that she seems to have somehow injured herself last Friday. Torsten was out of town, and I wasn't working, and she was acting antsy, so I decided to take her out to the state park that has an off-leash dog area with a pond for the dogs to swim. Everything was fine and I didn't notice any problems with her at all.

When we got home, I left her in the backyard and went to the gym. And when I got back a couple hours later, her foot was bleeding. I didn't think much of it, assuming she had cut herself on a rock or something. She didn't really want me to touch it, and it stopped bleeding on its own, so I figured it wasn't a big deal and left it alone.

But later, when I checked, I discovered that she was missing an entire toenail. Seriously, the whole thing is gone. I'm no detective, but given that the blood starts in a big patch in the middle of the patio, in one of her favorite spots to lie, and then is tracked in bloody paw prints in only one direction, I've developed a theory. I think she tore her nail or something while we were at the park, and then while she was in the yard she chewed on it and somehow yanked it out.

Anyway, when I saw this, I called the vet and they told me that as long as she didn't appear to be in severe pain (and she wasn't), and it wasn't still bleeding (and it didn't), I didn't need to bring it in, but instead I should just clean it, bandage it to keep her from licking, and keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't become infected.

Of COURSE Torsten was out of town when this happened, because it's so easy to clean a sensitive wound on a dog by yourself, you know? But I managed it. I cleaned it with soap and water, then with peroxide (which she did NOT like, but it was necessary to kill any bacteria that might have gotten in there). Then I put Neosporin on it (again: she was not a fan) and bandaged it up by putting an old sock on her and attaching it with medical tape. That, too, she was NOT pleased with.

In fact, I think the bandage exacerbated it. Without it, she wasn't even limping, but with it, she was actually hopping on three legs, and when we took it off later, it had blood on it. I think it must have been pressed against the wound, irritating it. So we stopped using it once we got home and could keep an eye on her to make sure she wasn't licking it.

But yeah. No big deal, but it did mean that she spent all weekend trapped at home, and we still haven't brought her to the dog park or anything, because we'll afraid she'll reopen the wound somehow while playing, and then it will get infected. I'm not quite sure how long to wait to take her back there. And in the meantime, the poor dog is house-bound and not happy about it.

In fact, when we got home on Saturday night to feed her before heading back out to the concert, she was PISSED that we were leaving her again. I guess she's not used to being alone for that long, since we work from home and often take her with us when we go places. But it took us forever to put her back in the yard, because every time we would start to close the door, she would come dashing back in the house. And by "dashing" I mean "hopping on three legs as fast as she could."

Really, it was adorable. But I didn't take any pictures or videos, tragically. It just seemed cruel when she was clearly so unhappy. So instead, I leave you with a photo of her from back in the day when she had all her toenails:

21 comments:

  1. Aww you guys are such good doggie parents!

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  2. Poor puppy dog :( This actually happened to our Golden Retriever two weeks ago. He broke his nail at the dog park. The whole nail did not come off though, he broke it close to the bone and had to have the remaining nail surgically removed. What was nice is that the vet put padding on the bottom of his foot before wrapping it up so it was easier for him to walk! Our vet said he was the THIRD dog in a few days to come in with the same problem!

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  3. Awww. My dog managed to cut one of the pads on his paw a while ago, and we had to do the whole sock thing to keep dirt out of the wound when we took him outside. He was so not a fan. Our vet told us to soak the wound for about 5 minutes twice a day to help keep it clean. It cleared up within a week.

    I hope Montana is 100% soon!

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  4. Poor baby! Dogs can get the weirdest injuries. My parent's dog for instance is missing a tooth. No idea how, when, where or why. But one day it was just gone!

    Hope she feels better soon and you're able to let her play again!

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  5. Aww, I hope she heals up quickly. You're a great doggie mommy!

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  6. oh poor puppy! hope she feels better soon!

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  7. awww poor montana!! as someone whose lost their own toenail multiple times, i sympathize with her :-)

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  8. Ugh, I live in fear of this. One of our dogs never had his dew claw removed and I fear it'll get ripped off one day. I hope Montana is better soon.

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  9. Poor baby!

    I am laughing at the idea of her hopping on three legs, though.

    When I first bought my civic I was terrified of the dogs tearing up the upholstery, so I bought them these little booties. When I put them on their front feet it is HILARIOUS. They stick their front legs out and get all weird when they put them on the floor.

    They look like Elaine dancing on Seinfeld.

    HILARIOUS.

    But really, poor Montana. Hope she is feeling better soon!

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  10. This is the part of dog ownership that makes me so nervous! You're so calm about it all. I'd be freaking out if I had to try to bandage a dog - I'd be nervous to do it all wrong.

    She's such a pretty dog though!

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  11. Awww, poor dog! My Golden hates being left home and will throw herself down and cry. Its heartbreaking.

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  12. Aww, poor Miss Montana! And why are men never around for stuff like this?! I think you handled it perfectly on your own though. :)

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  13. Poor Montana! Inevitably every dog (and child, because yes, there are countless overlaps) is going to have an injury. And it's no fun to see your baby in pain nor is it fun to do things to your dog that they don't want you to do. We've been there with SoMi, so I feel your pain. Sounds like you were very mature about assessing the situation - nice job!

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  14. I'm sorry,,it's just like little kids not being careful while playing outside all over again and they have to stay home but they wont listen because they wanna play. I hope Montana's getting better soon, she sounds so happy playing in the park.

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  15. Poor Montana! I'm sure she'll be just fine in no time.. Oscar loses his claws every once in a while, too. Makes me wonder what they're up to when we're not looking!

    She's a gorgeous pup.

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  16. I hope she feels better! Argo bites his nails and has pulled off a broken one before. We use toddler socks (the kind with little rubber treads on the bottom), and b/c they are really small he seems to have an easier time adjusting than when we use big ones.

    There's also some stuff called Bitter Apple that you can spray on hot spots, etc. to keep them from licking. I don't like to spray it on open wounds (b/c I've gotten it in a cut and it stings) but I spray it over Argo's bandage and it keeps him from picking at it.

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  17. Aww poor puppy! Hope she gets better soon!

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  18. Ouch! That sounds painful! I hate to see Fuzzy Britches hurt so I can imagine how you feel. Hopefully she gets better soon so that she can join you on your next adventure!

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