August was a big month for this household and actually it was kind of a blur. August was the month my cousin that had cancer died, so that was a biggy with us trying to be positive and going to see her and dealing with it all. The biggest part of August that tested my patience though...I'll give you a hint
A skunk, Lyme disease and a broken paw...oh my!
Yes, this was our motto for the whole month. Our poor little puppy didn't know what hit him! :(
Wednesday August 1st. Typical night of the four of us watching TV We always let the puppy out around 10:30 when going to bed. We had had an issue with a skunk back in the spring so that sparked our interest of making sure there wasn't any when the dog went out at night. We had been very lucky. This night my mom was the one to let him out. I was in the restroom while my dad was sound asleep and my fiance was in my room. She let him out but when he comes in all I can hear is "oh no". My fiance and I run into the kitchen and right away block our noses. Thats right, after months of nothing, a skunk had done its duty! The dog was rolling EVERYWHERE. My mom said when he came in he ran right to the couch and started rolling and scratching his eyes! When we saw him he was rolling on the floor and just making a mess..it was so sad! Ok so, its 10:45 at night and the house smells disgusting This is the first time we've dealt with this so we had no idea how to approach it. It didn't help that the dog thought he was in trouble so he ran under my bed and wouldn't come out (thank goodness for safety proof windows!) After looking up online what to do, Brian raced to the grocery store which is 2 minutes away (thank goodness for being open until midnight!). We kept Bailey in the living room watching him like a hawk. It was now 11:30. Brian and my mom closed the bathroom door and attempted to give this smelling dog a bath. Bailey hates water so this was an even more interesting experience. The scent on Bailey went away a little and we were able to sleep...with all the windows open of course :) The next day was even worse. By this point the whole house was drenched in skunk and we all had headaches up the wazoo. My poor father went to work smelling too! We raced Bailey to Petsmart to get a real bath while my mom stayed here, with her put baking power or whatever everywhere. That was an interesting day. But as everything does, that passed.
On to Monday, August 13. We woke up to Bailey not being able to walk on his back right paw. Why? We didn't know but you could tell he wasn't comfortable. That particular paw has an issue with the knee. it gets displaced every so often but then is fine after he walks on it or awhile. We decided to let it be for a few hours just to see if maybe he just slept on it wrong, or if it was the knee cap. We went out for a bit and when we came back he was still having issues. We called the vet but couldn't get an appointment until the next day. something we weren't fond of but said alright. We drove to Petsmart so our friend could maybe tell us what was wrong but she didn't have a clue either. Unfortunetly the vet there wasn't available to look either. He wasn't crying and was acting normal. His one issue though was that he couldn't get comfy. It was also hard because we didn't want him to jump in case it hurt him more but, he thinks he's a bunny rabbit and jumped anyway. After 12 hours, of being brave and dealing with it, he was able to finally get comfy.
The next 10 days were a struggle. We had no idea how to handle the situation and Bailey acted as though nothing was wrong. I felt like a race horse. If we caught Bailey looking like he wanted to jump we'd run to get him but he was too fast and would jump anyway, darn dog! :) We'd have to be with him at all times so it was hard to get anything done! One big issue was that the cast couldn't get wet. Obviously that's how it would be with humans too but let me tell you, dogs are alot harder! When he'd have to go outside we'd have to put a baggy on his leg and tie it. It was SO much harder when it rained too! It took maybe three days before he would go on the grass. I can remember when September started and I had to get up early for school. It would take 10 minutes out of my time just to deal with him. Something that was frustrating but totally worth it.
On to Monday, August 13. We woke up to Bailey not being able to walk on his back right paw. Why? We didn't know but you could tell he wasn't comfortable. That particular paw has an issue with the knee. it gets displaced every so often but then is fine after he walks on it or awhile. We decided to let it be for a few hours just to see if maybe he just slept on it wrong, or if it was the knee cap. We went out for a bit and when we came back he was still having issues. We called the vet but couldn't get an appointment until the next day. something we weren't fond of but said alright. We drove to Petsmart so our friend could maybe tell us what was wrong but she didn't have a clue either. Unfortunetly the vet there wasn't available to look either. He wasn't crying and was acting normal. His one issue though was that he couldn't get comfy. It was also hard because we didn't want him to jump in case it hurt him more but, he thinks he's a bunny rabbit and jumped anyway. After 12 hours, of being brave and dealing with it, he was able to finally get comfy.
The next day he seemed to be in more pain. I stayed home while Brian drove an hour to the vet (yes, the vet is in the town Brian grew up in and lived before we started dating). He calls me and says that Bailey had Lyme disease. I didn't really know what it was but Brian said animals get it from ticks. It then occurred to me that back in May we went for a walk with our friend from Petsmart and one of her dogs. We took them into this swamp like area that had looks of brush and trees. When getting back to the car both dogs had TONS of ticks! I think we found the culprit Brian said they gave him medicine and that he had to swallow half a medicine pill once a day for 30 days...lovely. It was a pain to give him dinner every night. Feeding him in a bowl but then having to put some in our hand and make sure he took the medicine too. Me being the worry wart I am, HAD to check for ticks every moment he came inside and would watch him walk all day long just to make sure everything was ok. He was a champ though and was fine two days later!
Now comes the three situation. The one that really tested me (all of us to be honest).
1) two months long of it
2) Bailey not being able to act normal
3) Needing to improvise alot of stuff which took up alot of time
That's right, I'm talking about the broken paw. Everything happens for a reason, and I believe this wasn't any exception.
Saturday August 26th. Brian, myself and his father had went to a cookout/dinner at the airport where Brian flys. We got back around 9, and at that time Brian's father left. It was Brian, myself and dad in the house. As any dog, Bailey gets bursts of energy to play. He likes to play mostly with Brian because Brian isn't afraid to let Bailey bite him or to be really rough. We ave a good size table in our dining room, with the floor being a rug. There's enough space around though that Bailey can "run laps". This is one of his favorite things to do. Brian, or myself will stand at the doorway and when Bailey comes around with signal to keep running. Brian uses his foot to stomp and I use my hands and wave. It was around 9:45pm. Bailey was hyper. I sat in the living room listening to them play. Bailey's running around the table. All of a sudden I heard a loud shriek and cry. Bailey comes racing into the living room with his front left paw up. With Brian right behind saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" about 6 times. He then says he doesn't think but knows he broke Bailey's paw. What?! Bailey hurting and Brian's crazy. He sits Bailey on the couch and tries to put ice but Bailey wanted nothing to do with it. Bailey then thinks he's in trouble, as always, and runs under my bed. My bed isn't that high so its amazing he could get under with a broken paw! Brian's frantic trying to figure out what to do while I keep saying to calm down because it happened and we have to fix it. My dad gets online and looks up a few urgent care places. Brian's upset even before calling because we know they charge an arm and a leg! After a half hour of calling places, we settled on one *Note: in the mean time Bailey is actually calm and just laying on a blanket!* We drove 20 minutes away to get there. We sit with the doctor and he knew right away it was broken. At first Brian and the doctor both thought was broken between the "wrist and elbow". the doctor said that if that was the case he'd have to have surgery to fix it...hello money! They took him back for X-Rays as Brian and I sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half (it seemed like so much more). the doctor comes out and says luckily it was only his "fingers" that were broken.... MIRACLE! We waited 30 more minutes and he finally came out. I have to say he looked so cute! He was so out of it though which was sad. they basically just said to make an appointment with the vet in 10 days and to make sure he isn't active and rests alot. Bailey not active? yea right! Here is a picture from that night
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| 1AM. Totally "drunk" of the medicine |
We took him to the vet after 10 days. they did an xray and said that we'd just have to wait. How long you ask? 6-8 weeks! I'm sure you can imagine our shock. They changed his cast and gave us the list of things he cant do. That wasn't happening! They then gave us the wonderful (sarcasm) news that we had to bring him in every 4 or 5 days for a cast change. Seriously??! Having to drive an house both ways every 4 days and pay 27$ each time wasn't too exciting. Especially since Brian ha to work alot so it wasn't overly convenient. We did it though. This is where our patient was very little at times. We had to make sure that Bailey didn't do what he wasn't supposed to, which didn't work too tell. We couldn't go on walks, had to put a baggy on to go outside, couldn't let him jump. Another reality that we realized is that for the first month we could leave him alone at home. Luckily, besides school, I was home most days even if no one else was. On the days that we knew everyone had to go somewhere we had to do it in shirts. I can remember one time my dad was going to run a few errands and Bailey wanted to go. We decided that was ok. First my dad went to a clothing store while I had to stay in the car with bailey to make sure he didn't get hurt. Sitting in a car for 30 minutes isn't fun. We then went to the food store. We each had to get a few things. Normally we go in together and one of us just wait for the other to finish. This time we took turns. I went in first and then came out so my dad could go in. Craziness!!
That was basically our two months though. I'd say we encountered an obstacle maybe every week. they were a very difficult two months because it felt like we had to give ourselves to Bailey, which was fine but patience was sometimes hard when the dog cant communicate and thinks everything is ok and when we have to change our schedules just to accommodate him. We took it head on because it's what we had to do and I fel that honestly this situation happened for a reason. It's funny how the reason part may not be crystal clear and sometimes we never really know why it happened or at least don't see the reason in front of us, but it's always there regardless.
I feel that pictures speak louder than words times. So I'm going to leave you with pictures of those two months. I'd like to say that although it was sad for Bailey, we got a kick out of the fact that each time his cast was changed they made it a different color. Everyone on Facebook was so eager to see what the new color was. I want to note that I took a picture with each NEW color. The cast got change every 4 days for two months so there were times the cast had to be the same color.
