Cone of shame

When I think “Everything is going well, now I can finally blog about everything that’s on my mind”, something happens. In this case our Sam.

It began last week when his vasculitis started to act up, although we had treated it as usual with the prescribed ointment. Sam’s left ear bled a lot. The only way to get this under control (according to the vet) is to tie the ear to the head with a bandage for a few days so Sam doesn’t scratch it and the wound can heal. Sounds simple, but of course he tries (and often succeeds) to get the bandage off and everything has to be re-done again and again 🙄.

On Sunday morning, I let the dogs in the garden when the neighbor’s dog jumped over the fence and attacked Sam. Sam was at a disadvantage, because I had him on the leash. I wasn’t able to stop the two dogs from biting another, yelling and kicking didn’t help. It was pure chaos. It only took the neighbor’s daughter a few seconds to come over and help us by pulling away her dog, but it surely seemed longer to me. But the two of us somehow were able to end the fight. I was surprised about myself, though. While this drama was unfolding, I was calm and wasn’t afraid for myself. I just wanted to protect Sam, because it was very clear the other dog wouldn’t let him go. Dropping the leash and running away never crossed my mind. Luckily Janet wasn’t bitten, she wasn’t on a leash and just ran away into the house.

After that we noticed Sam had two bite wounds on both his upper hind legs. So we brought him to the veterinary emergency service. The lesions are not very deep and not very big, but they had to be stapled and Sam is on pain meds and antibiotics for a week. The first days he was very quiet and tired. Things have been better since yesterday evening, so I think the meds are doing their job. If everything goes according to plan, the staples will be removed on Monday. Until then we will stay in care-for-furbaby-mode. We try to let him go without the cone as much as possible, so he can eat, drink and groom. But of course this also gives him the oppotunity to lick his wounds, and we don’t want that. We have to keep a close eye on him when he is without the cone.

We talked to the neighbors, and everyone agreed that may not happen again. The neighbor’s pet liability insurance will cover our vet bills (which will be about € 400 in total).  Now we hope the wounds will continue to heal and that this was the last time something like this happened.