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Sassy has a wound


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So Sassy and I were out on the sidewalk for a walk on the 5th of July before heading off to work. A lady who lives in my home owners association, and recently had hip surgery, was walking a neighbors dog. I think she volunteered to babysit this little guy (no bigger than Sassy).  I have never seen her with a dog before, so just a little inexperienced. 

This just happened to be the day that the association was resurfacing the black top so all cars had to parked in the street. About 150 of them lined up on both sides of the street. 

This lady was getting in the car when her charge slipped his collar and he started running around and sniffing this and sniffing that. Well he eyed Sassy and came running over to say hi. And as some dogs do he was sniffing a lot longer than Sassy was comfortable with, the little prude (hah we all know better don't we?) started giving this guy the what for. As I was pulling her to my left to get her away, I think, but don't know for sure that he took a bite at her. I didn't know it at the time. I was just relieved to separate them. In the mean time the lady finally catches up and tries to slip the collar back on, which wasn't working for her. I told just her to take the leash and wrap it around his neck and pull it through the handle. Worked like a charm and she commented that the little guy was going home and she was done. So she is out of the picture now.

The next day I bent down to pick Sassy up and put her in the truck, as some times she gets lazy and doesn't want to jump up which she is certainly capable of doing on her own. When I did that Sassy darn near took my left hand off. I didn't understand what the issue was, but knew something was tender. Later that day as she was coming down the stairs to the front door, she did it very slowly, almost a slow motion bunny hop, both front paws at the same time. When we reached the truck, this time she jumped right in. I reached over to pet her on her left side and she once again tried to take my hand off. This time she left a white scratch on my hand, no broken skin. But I could not tell what was wrong. Took her to the vet later that day, doc examined her and decided to prescribe 7 doses of an anti-inflammatory. Worked like a charm - 2 doses she was back to her old self and no more hand removal exercises.

The next day i noticed what appeared to be dried blood on her left side which was not noticeable to me or the vet the previous day. This is about equal distance between her legs and equal distance top to bottom on her left side. Took this picture and sent it  to the vet and asked what he thought. I thought it was from the encounter with the other dog. He said don't worry about it, but call him if it didn't seem to heal.

Well yesterday about 7 days later it seemed larger and had some mass to it. It felt like the result of a spider bite, you know that hard disc about the size of a silver dollar you get while the venom is making things itchy and driving you crazy. Sassy seems oblivious to it, no biting at it, nothing. Acting young for her age. Gave her a bath this morning before going to the vet and she was doing the scooting zoomies afterward.

So we go into the vet this morning to have it looked at again. The vet takes her in the back and shaves the area and removes what scab there is and the second picture is the result. He has given her a 20 dose (2 a day) antibiotic prescription. He is not sure if it is a bite wound or a spider bite and does not think it is skin cancer as it came up to quickly.

I don't know what to think, but I do trust Sassy's vet completely. So we will do the 10 days of medicine and see where it goes from there.

 

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Sassy Jan 22, 2005

 

AM. CH. THARRBARR LITE MY FIRE ZOMERHOF

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eek, ugly wound. i haven't seen a lot of dog bites, but whether it is a dog bite or spider bite it is clearly infected and it is a good job you took her straight to the vet, since without antibiotics she could be in real trouble. If it is a wound, it will heal up (possibly rather quickly). If it doesn't heal up you can worry about other possibilities. sorry this happened to sassy! seems like she'll pull through nicely. 

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Ouch!  Unfortunately I am all too familiar with dog bites, due to the times Buffy was attacked.  Yes, they get infected very quickly.  It looks like this was a small puncture wound that would have been unnoticeable.   (A thick Cairn coat can hide a lot.)   The puncture closes up quickly but bacteria inside the wound causes an infection.  I'm glad you caught it right away.  

Buffy sends her best wishes for Sassy's speedy recovery and hopes she's back to her boy-chasing ways soon!

 

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That looks nasty. Heal soon Sassy! 

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Until one has loved an animal, a part of  one's soul remains unawakened.  - Anatole France

Adventures with Sam &Rosie

 

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Sassy thanks you all for your well wishes. She is taking her meds and the area has scabbed up pretty good. Nice and dry. She acts like it never happened. 

I know if it were me I would be crying and complaining 24 hours a day.

We'll keep you posted.

Thanks!!!

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Sassy Jan 22, 2005

 

AM. CH. THARRBARR LITE MY FIRE ZOMERHOF

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So glad to know that Sassy is on the mend! Good girl, Sassy!?

l hope this question doesn't sound alarmist... But when one of our dogs gets bitten, how much should we worry about the possibility of rabies? I ask because this question comes up often at our dog run where skirmishes break out from time to time.  In those cases, most owners exchange info re proper tags and ID's, but occaisionally there are bad feelings and the offending dog and owner take off not to be seen again!?

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FEAR THE CAIRN!

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In the city I would think very low if even a possibility. But for me another reason (among many) to not take my dogs to a dog park. 

Until one has loved an animal, a part of  one's soul remains unawakened.  - Anatole France

Adventures with Sam &Rosie

 

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Poor Sassy, glad to hear that she's feeling fine and that the wound is healing.  I had a Lab about 12 years ago who was bitten by a Shar Pei while out on a walk.  He was about 5 months old at the time and we didn't think too much of it because we couldn't see any wounds and he remained ever the happy little Lab, playing and jumping, etc.  That night while in bed, I woke up to the sound of his constant licking and when I looked at him, the entire side of his face was swollen, he looked like a Platypus, poor thing.  He was bitten in the mouth and it was becoming infected.  Our vet insisted that we find out if the Shar pei had been vaccinated.  Luckily, he lived a block away and he was up to date on his rabies vaccine.  The dogs owner was very apologetic and said that her dog hated other dogs, only liked people.  This infuriated me, the fact that she had her out walking through the neighborhood and even allowed her to approach my dog was not cool at all.  Anyway, Cocoa survived his ordeal and I never seen this dog walking around again.

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5 hours ago, Terrier lover said:

... for me another reason (among many) to not take my dogs to a dog park. 

The topic of dog parks is controversial. I could never exercise a dog as vigorously and happily as the workout it gets playing with its own species in the park. The downside is the risk that a fight can sometimes break out.

On the other hand, in rural areas the risk to our pets can come from coyotes, ticks, traps, etc. A friend from our dog run was at her house upstate where her hound encountered a porcupine and the result was so devastating that sadly, the vet had to euthanize the dog.

Edited by sanford

FEAR THE CAIRN!

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Sanford time to get another Cairn. No need to go to a dog park....it will be a :Prodeo in your own back yard. 

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Until one has loved an animal, a part of  one's soul remains unawakened.  - Anatole France

Adventures with Sam &Rosie

 

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The scab came off last night and area is healing pretty well. Still can't tell if from dog bite or spider bite. Sassy is probably wondering what all the fuss is about. But she was enjoying taking her antibiotic inside a pill pocket. She doesn't know yet that she had her last dose last night.

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Thank you everyone for the well wishes.

 

Sassy Jan 22, 2005

 

AM. CH. THARRBARR LITE MY FIRE ZOMERHOF

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  • 5 weeks later...

So Sassy's wound has healed up nicely leaving a black patch (of course her natural skin color). But there is no hair, except for maybe 3 or 4 scattered over the area, growing back. It has been a month and a half since the incident. I would have expected some more hair by now. Wondering if the shaving and scab removal has left a permanent dark hole which will suck the energy out of everything that comes within its gravitational pull? :vampire:

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Sassy Jan 22, 2005

 

AM. CH. THARRBARR LITE MY FIRE ZOMERHOF

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In the past when the vet had to shave small areas on Ruffy, they would stay bare for what seemed like forever. Eventually the hair grew back, but I could never see progress watching from week to week. I'm guessing this is the same for Sassy. I think it's unlikely that an insect bite would cause permanent hair loss - ditto for shaving, which is routinely done at groomer's and vets. 

I'm guessing that the hair is regenerating itself under the skin prior to re emerging.until  one day when the new growth will appear as fuzz. 

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"Wondering if the shaving and scab removal has left a permanent dark hole which will suck the energy out of everything that comes within its gravitational pull? "

certainly seems a risk. if she starts to spin into a blur and then disappears with a pop, run.

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Based on my experiences with Buffy, you'll think the spot is totally bare until one day you'll suddenly notice it's fuzzy and blonde again.  And I agree with pk - watch out for that gravitational pull.:P

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