Cone of Shame

We hired our baby sitter, Justin, to take care of our doggies, fish, and chickens while we were gone for Memorial Day.  I'm sure the pooches loved going on walks each evening and playing soccer in mornings with him (normally I only play soccer with them every other morning and low-key indoor fetch the other days).

I think Taters must have snagged his right front dewclaw while we were gone because it was red and swollen by Tuesday night.  He sometimes gets pretty "addictive" with licking his paws, like when they are dirty from playing outside.  But that night he would NOT stop licking no matter how many times I told him to stop.  When I looked, I could see why.

The vet clinic couldn't see him until Thursday morning so I had to find the E-collar for him to wear all day Wednesday.  Poor Taters sulked when I put the "cone of shame" on him to stop him from licking, which would only exacerbate the infection/discomfort.  I don't think he's ever had to wear it since he's been a part of our family.  Eddie didn't like him in it because, "it makes Taters' feelings hurt, Mama."  His concern for his big brother was so sweet--but I firmly explained why Taters had to wear it and he eventually stopped removing it.

Yesterday morning I got Eddie up and as we were sitting at the dining room table eating a yummy breakfast (see below), Taters sauntered in.  I told him to "go on" and motioned with my hand for him to retreat back to the living room.  Doggies are not allowed in the kitchen or dining room while we are eating but every. single. time. Taters comes in to see if I'll notice.

Thursday's breakfast: yellow squash, orange bell pepper, Vidalia onion,
and collard green frittata with cheese...and some local strawberries.

When I spoke to him, I noticed that there was blood smeared inside his E-collar.  At first I thought his foot was bleeding and he got it on the outside of the cone.  But then I noticed a deep laceration on his right eye.  YIKES!  I have no idea how it happened.  Eddie was in the room with me the whole time that morning and we don't have anything sharp sticking out in the house that he could have run into (obvious, since we have dogs and a small child).

Owie dewclaw. Vet explained that the nail was yanked away from the nail bed. 

Eye injury.  (Ain't he handsome?)

At the vet later that morning, I explained what happened and the vet said she was baffled.  She'd never seen an animal get more hurt wearing something cumbersome like an E-collar that is designed to prevent them from hurting themselves.  Haha, only our dopey, "special" boy could do something like that!

He ended up having to stay for the day to remove the entire dewclaw nail and to give him 4 stitches on his eye.  The eye part required general anesthesia.  So now he's stuck wearing the cone until the nail grows back (which will be weeks!!!) and he's not allowed to plan soccer until the stitches come out in 2 weeks.

Luckily he's not a huge spaz like Ruby (who has had to wear the cone twice due to injuries from Emmy) so he's not driving me as crazy as I thought he would.  He does run into the furniture a bit while wearing it and he can't go out the doggie door, which I know drives him crazy.  Most of his days are spent trotting from the living room window, through the house, out the doggie door into the yard, and back again.  I've therefore reduced his food a little since he won't be burning as many calories during the day.  Hopefully Eddie will be amenable to taking the dogs on leashed walks around the park/neighborhood so they will get some outside time on week days.

Just because he has the cone, doesn't mean he wants to miss out on story time
before Eddie goes to bed!  He hopes up on Eddie's bed every single night to
warm up the sheets while we read books on the floor.  What a sweet, sweet MaterTaters!

Man, I love this dog!  And it's a good thing, because this cost us $350.  And of course, he's worth every single penny.  In our family, doggies rank just as high as humans in terms of love and commitment--I cannot imagine my life without canine companions and I can't believe I survived my first 23 years without them. We're lucky because other than Emmy-inflicted injuries, our dogs haven't cost us much beyond regular checkups/medications.  Hurray for mixed-breed dogs and their excellent health!