Last Sunday during our afternoon walk Olive started limping.
When we got home, I noticed her left front dew claw was askew, though there did
not seem to be any bleeding. Since I wasn’t going to get anyone to look at it
on Sunday night, I put it off for Monday morning. On Monday morning she was
still limping, so I mad the call to the vet.
It turned out that her nail had fractured close to the base.
The blame is on me in that I had intended to ask the people at Candlewick to
have their groomer trim her nails the last time she was there for the day. I
completely forgot about it, and resolved to have the nails trimmed this coming
Thursday, when I would be riding up to New Hampshire for a game day. So, I was
kicking myself for forgetting such an important part of Olive’s grooming. I kicked
myself even harder when I got the bill; veterinarians these days don’t come
cheap.
At this point the weather was rather wet outside. I was told
to keep the bandages dry, and was given a heavy plastic bag to tie around Olive’s
paw for outdoor walks. When we got home, I gave her a dose of the pain relief
medicine (something called Rimadyl) that the vet gave us with a dental stick
treat that she usually gets for her lunch, since the directions are to give the
medicine to her with food. I thought it might be a bit easier on her if I used
a lighter bag made with thinner, more flexible plastic. That did not work well.
After walking a short distance, I could see that the bag was starting to shred.
Olive wanted to turn around and go back at that point anyway, so I got her home
and took another look at the heavy plastic bag. Using an old shoelace, I was
able to tie the bag around Olive’s leg so that it stayed fairly securely. That
worked, though Olive did not seem to like it (who can blame her?). She stayed
off that paw and hopped along on three legs. Even so, she was faster than I
was. At least we were able to have a full walk.
She will get another dose of the pain medicine later tonight,
two tomorrow, and two on Wednesday to finish off the six doses we were given. Olive
is not happy having to walk with a heavy plastic bag on her paw; I keep telling
her it’s only for a couple of days. I also keep reminding her not to lick the
bandage with the bag off. I think she knows that she would not like a cone.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
For Halloween I had ordered a sheep costume for myself, so
that Olive and I could go out as a border collie and her sheep. Of all days,
Halloween this year was rainy all day. Not wishing to ruin the costume, I put
the border collie and sheep idea aside for a year. Perhaps next Halloween we
will have better luck.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Here are a few dog cartoons I picked up since the last
entry.
 |
| Olive is already in the only shape I want her. |
 |
| I imagine some dogs are like that. Olive is good about it and seems to like Candlewick. |
 |
| Well, of course! |
