Monday, February 16, 2009

Flesh Wound

This was Lily just over a week ago, minding her own business, dabbling a paw or two in the pool, enjoying the sunshine . . . .


When it became too hot, she went for a dip, fought with the hose and generally had a really fine time . . .


Yesterday, she had a small 'wet' rash just below her ear, the size of a 10 cent piece. I daubed it with Betadine and didn't think much of it. I came home tonight to a wet patch the size of a dinner plate and rushed her to the vet . . .the 'hot spot' had become a mass of wet soreness and matted fur, bloody and weeping and she required sedating, shaving, treating and is now sulking around the house with a rather nasty open flesh wound. She's clearly embarrassed about the festy look . . .Clare's gone to bed because she feels 'sick' just looking at it!



My poor beautiful girl . . Lily that is . . .they also found a bite wound on her cheek and that was also shaved and treated, a lost battle with a Possum perhaps. I can't fit an Eizabethan Collar because it will aggravate the wound . . .gah . . it's going to be a restless night with me yelling 'stop it!' every time she attempts to aggravate the thing. I couldn't believe how big it had got in the space of 8 hours!

And, besides the sedation, cleaning, shaving I have been given a plethora of topical cleaners and medicated shampoos, cortisone tablets and antibiotics to be applied three times daily and told to stop her scratching, licking and tormenting the thing in the process . . .


The sum total of her fun in the sun . . . .$380! Is it any wonder I can't save any money!

40 comments:

Gledwood said...

beautiful!!

Susan at Stony River said...

Poor Lily, and poor you! Our Jack does silly things and gets into adventures too---fortunately he's never yet cost us as much worry or money as this.
Yet.
Good luck as she recovers!

Anonymous said...

Ouch! Our furry friends can certainly be a drain on the purse. Hope Lily makes a speedy recovery, and doesn't have any more arguments with possums or hoses....

Megan said...

Ouch. In more ways than one.

Anonymous said...

Poor Lily! My mother's dog(RIP), had a habit of stick chewing. One day, sure enough, he got some bits stuck in his throat. A trip to the vet( and $125.00 from the wallet ), took care of the problem.

Baino, you'll have to watch Lily when that starts to heal up good. Itching will set in. Too bad you couldn't use an E-collar.

Anonymous said...

Baino--if you've not done so, have Lily checked for rabies( don't know if that's regulated down under ). And I'm hoping it wasn't a snake bite. That does look rather nasty :(

kj said...

oh baino, i know full well what a pain this is, esp without the collar. and poor lily too. did you sleep last night?

(ps this too shall pass, however, that vet bill certainly have been earmarked for paris, right?)

xo

Anonymous said...

Awww... the poor baby. Give here a nice ear scritch from me. That looks nasty. Bert's friend Gorgeous George has a similar thing after a run-in with a cat. Nasty...

Unknown said...

You spend a lot money.

ps: Maths is my second strongest subject tied with English I think.

Unknown said...

And I am ambidextrous.

laughingwolf said...

aww poor lily :(

Anonymous said...

At least it's not a plastic bucket around the head job.

Unknown said...

oh yes, this is a scenario I remember well. Argh, the "joys" of hotspots! I don't envy you your task of trying to keep her from not bothering it. Hope it clears up really soon - give her a snuggle, hotspot and all, from me.

Baino said...

Well she 'was' Gleds . .just a walking pustule at the moment!

Ah Susan, I've no idea where the puncture wound came from, she's not a fighter by nature. Pets keep me poor!

It's much better this morning nick, now a dinner plate sized scab! Yuk

My hip pocket's still hurting Megs!

Lily's partial to the odd stick but being a retriever, they just get dropped at the doorstep. She has cortizone cream for the itching and nope, no rabies in Australia. The bite is consistent with a dog bite actually, could have been sustained in rough play!

Don't tell me about it kj. Clare and I at lunch on Sunday decided to set the 'goal' for Paris, finances willing. At this rate, I'll be lucky to save just the fare!

Ah the bite is nothing EM it's the bloody hot spot that's the pain. All dried over this morning though so I just have to stop her scratching. How I do that while I'm at work all day I dunno.

Yes I do Ropi! The high price of pet ownership. I should have been a Vet! You're ambidextrous . . my . .a man of many talents!

She'll survive Wuffa. Apart from a knee replacement (cruciate went) over 18 months ago, she's been a very happy and healthy dog.

If I can't find my Eliz Collar Ian, I might be cutting the bottom out of the bucket yet!

Will do AV. It's looking much better this morning although shoving what are supposed to be 'palatable' antibiotics down her throat isn't easy!

Melanie said...

My lab had this last year and it cost about the same. Wish I knew of a cheap rememdy. There were plenty on line but I couldnt bring myself to use Pig(my lab) as a guinea pig. Cant believe how fast all of the drugs worked though.

you have a pool?? next time its 47ยบ we're all going to Baino's house!!! lol

Anonymous said...

Poor puppy... and poor you! Can't have been a fun time, visually, financially, or as far as one's blood pressure is concerned.

I hope you properly self-medicated with a healthy dose of medicinal wine...

Kath Lockett said...

Oh, poor Lily - what a shocker of a place to be injured..... I'm sending over at least four strong espressos to you this morning because I'm quite certain that your night did consist of nothing but "STOP IT LILY!".

I hope she gets better soon and maybe earns a fortune for you in pet-care advertising to make up for the funds spent.

Anonymous said...

Poor Lily. I don't have animals but \i don't like to see them suffer.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear!

Poor Lily and poor (in every sense) Baino. You could have done without this I'm sure.

My daughter developed a toothache last week and trotted off to the dentist thinking a small filling might be needed (no fillings to date). She came home with a root canal job done and my credit card €535 lighter! More work still needed as well.

Gotta look on the bright side though. At least we're all still here to tell the tale!

Baino said...

Aw Melanie, surely you didn't call your lovely lab PIG! They seem to be prone to it. My sister's dog gets them quite a lot but this is a first and the biggest for me! Glad you paid about the same I thought I was being totally ripped off! Yeh, the pool's a godsend and makes up for no aircon!

Nah, on the wagon Kate! Had two cups of coffee this morning tho and I'm flying!

Yeh, GM she's very good at looking totally pathetic! Then I have Adam home with the flu as well so they deserve each other!

Oh Steph . .I've been there too but the tooth nerve was dead so I had no idea there was a problem! Sounds like Dental's as exe in Ireland as it is here ... but yep, we're all good in the bigger scheme of things!

kj said...

baino, you will make it to paris, with change to spare. i promise.

Anonymous said...

How did the small rash thing get so big in such short time? Did they say what the reason might be? Poor thing. :(
Hope she gets better soon.
Gx

laughingwolf said...

good... hope she heals quickly

Ces Adorio said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ces Adorio said...

Poor Lilly. I love that name. I would have been hysterical! In two months I know the meaning of EXPENSIVE pet care. I don't really consider it that way anymore. I just think of it as an uninsured family member. Actually, I am thinking of buying pet health insurance. My co-worker told me about it. We'll see. Hope Lilly mends well and fast. Get some sleep!

Baino said...

Well kj it's a goal anyway . . .

Gaye I have no idea,it's like a wet hotspot that just grows uber quick. It's drying up nicely now tho ..nobody seems sure whey they start, it's a skin infection, quite common indogs with 'folds'.

Yeh Wuffa, she's doing just fine!

You know Ces, for my next dog, I definitely will take out insurance. Lily's a pretty healthy specimen normally but very 'bouncy' hence the $3,500 knee replacement after chasing rabbits and wrecking her cruciate ligament 18 months ago! Plus there's annual jabs and checkups, flea and heartworm treatments, ear cleansers and antibiotics and the odd scrape and scratch. Definitely worth it.

Paddy in BA (Quickroute) said...

Ouch - poor little mite
Ouch - your poor pocket!

River said...

$380! And people wonder why I don't want pets....

Miles McClagan said...

Poor dog, you need to get Darryl Somers to send some of that dog food your way...he's got a 1/2 tonne to spread around...

Anonymous said...

Hi Baino!

Lily is beautiful, I hope she is better soon.

Hope you managed to stop her scratching!

Baino said...

Quickie, poor pocket indeed. This always happens. Just as I manage to get a few hundred put away some crisis or another hits! Ah well.

I used to have a sticker on my car "Poverty is Owning a Horse" now I have two, and a dog . . .you do the math River!

Miley? Daryl Somers God is he still around. Dog food? WTF?

Ha! She is when she's not a scabfest Cinnamon! No scratching, she's being very good, either that or doped up on cortisone. Nice and crusty scab now . .sorry far too much information! Clare still can't look at it, makes her 'wrists' feel funny apparently!

Anonymous said...

Oooohh Nasty! Poor dog. Put mittens on her paws to stop the scratching from doing any further damage.

Anonymous said...

Ouch! I wonder if she's allergic to iodine? Not usual for a wound to get that big overnight. :(

Poor Lily. I hope she heals fast! Those possums look so sweet (and I thought they were relatively harmless to dogs) but clearly their dental hygiene leaves much to be desired.

xxx said...

Ouch!!!

best wishes

Anonymous said...

Yikes, looks very sore indeed, poor thing - here's to a speedy recovery

Baino said...

Amazingly Jack she hasn't scratched, I think the cream has a mild anaesthetic.

Jay, not the iodine. I'm told that these things move particularly fast and labs are particularly prone. It's drying up nicely now with a little TLC. I think the puncture is actually a 'play bite' but it's not infected.

Ribbon, I ended up in the 24 hour emergency clinic with her last night. Poor thing needed some pain relief but is good today and currently on a walk with Clare.

Thanks Conor . .she'll be fine. It's me and my nursing skills that needs the sympathy!

Miles McClagan said...

Darryl Somers donated a tonne of dog food to the bushfire appeal. He must have some to spare...

Baino said...

Really? God I missed that one. Didn't pick him for a dog lover, I thought he had a think for mops with blue hats!

Bimbimbie said...

Oh that looks very sore and expensive - glad she's drying up now, I did wonder if she had had a run in with a goanna.

TCL said...

Poor Lily. I hope the old girl is ok now.

I did a number of things in the bush this past week that could have landed me in trouble, including galloping my horse when I was told not to - not because I don't know how to ride but because the argie trainer didn't want the much younger kids to run their horses then take a dip off a mount in full flight.