His allergies cause him to itch. I thought it was fleas but he gets a treatment once a month and he's flea free. He also sneezes. Over the weekend, he developed an itch/irritation on his thigh and took to alternately licking and biting the spot. I wasn't too worried - dogs lick themselves all the time - but then I saw that the spot was getting redder, angry looking and it appeared he'd pulled out the fur on the spot.
I called the vet yesterday when I realized that my over the counter med was doing nothing and got an appointment for first thing this morning. Dr. Kumar was great. he also has allergies so he was feeling Bizz' pain. Bizz ended up with a shot of steroids (look out A-Rod - Bizz got the long acting kind so he's heading for the big leagues), two kinds of medications (one cream and one pill) and lastly - the cone of shame (if you do not get this reference watch the Pixar film Up).
The cone presents him with some challenges - he has to maneuver a bit more to eat and drink (which he did just fine though he got his food all over the cone so cone cleaning will be a daily routine), he can't bite the "itchy" spot though he keeps trying, and he has no peripheral vision (which means he keeps bumping into things including me).
For me the challenges are - being very patient as he tries every possible maneuver to get the cone off; not laughing when he is surprised it hasn't come off; and most of all - not freaking out at the sight of a headless dog walking next to me.
Keep your fingers crossed that the meds work and his skin heals. The cone is on for the next five days. It can't come off because he will immediately start biting himself again so we're both stuck with it.
In case you don't believe me about the headless dog - this is what I saw when I glanced just now:
No comments:
Post a Comment