Spa Day; bad news for Willy. Update Mar 17, post 7

[Freedom]

Today was spa day for the flock, with Willy up first. He did the usual growling and snapping, had to lasso him to get him started. Bath went fine, and I managed to get him dry under the drier with 3/4 of a hot dog. :hungry:

Came time to trim and, have I mentioned Willy always has to watch what I am doing? :stop: Got him almost done, did one ear, great, working on the second ear and he turned. :no2: Ear nicked! laster: I have only done this once before, and it was Willy, back when he'd only been here about 3 days. At least I knew what to do this time! Being a Sunday I really did NOT want to go to the ER vet. So I took a length of paper towel, folded it in half length wise, wrapped it around with the bleeding ear on top of his head, and used duct tape. :giggle: Willy is NOT amused.



Initially, he couldn't walk. :laughing: Then he tried to combat crawl (moving on his tummy). Eventually he got the hang of it. He went to my room and up on the bed where he proceeded to show what he thought of the situation:


Yep, he stripped the bed! Then he settled down under the pillows to mope. He's been moping and feeling sorry for himself all day. BTW, that is Riley on the bed, waiting her turn (she was last today).

Tasha was second:




No issues with Tasha, and Riley is always quick and easy; her coat is quite different.

This afternoon we did take our 2 mile walk about the neighborhood. Although it is a bright sunny day, it is COLD and there is a strong wind (wind chill factor is 25!) so thank goodness we did not meet anyone on our walk. I don't know how I would explain this to someone. :blush: :ashamed:

Haven't decided yet what I will. I plan to keep his ear wrapped until tomorrow anyway. After I got it all duct taped, I realized I never looked to see how badly I cut him, to decide if he needs a stitch or 2? So perhaps I will take him to our vet tomorrow morning. Or maybe I'll just wait.

The last time this happened, the vet wrapped it as I have done (not with duct tape though, she used that medical stretchy stuff) and kept it up for 4 days. You have to be sure the clotting has set, so that gravity doesn't just pop off any early scab, and the bleeding starts again.

Ear nicks bleed profusely! The dog has a wet ear, and so shakes the head. I have blood splatter all over the kitchen, if I remember it took me a week to find and clean all of it last time.

[mrspunkysmom]

Poor Willy. Stay still for momma next time?

You have quite a task to accomplish when you trim. My hat is off to you. I get a friend to trim the critters nails. Less bloody for me that way.

[Karen]

Oh, Willy! Keep it up, and mom might decide to shave all your ear hair off!

[Freedom]

Poor Willy. Stay still for momma next time?

You have quite a task to accomplish when you trim. My hat is off to you. I get a friend to trim the critters nails. Less bloody for me that way.

I do NOT do nails, we go in once a month to have nails done. Of this group of 3, Riley is the only one who would allow me to do nails. Willy bites, Tasha panics and gets herself sick, tucks her legs up under her = puppy mill rescue, remember. So even at the groomer's, it takes 3 of us to get Tasha's nails done, plus a tranquilizer from the vet. Willy allows the groomer to do ANYTHING.

Karen, believe me, I've considered shaving his ears!

[Karen]

Karen, believe me, I've considered shaving his ears!

I figured as much. Tell him how silly he'd look with "nekkid" ears ... Would it help if you did his ears when he was basically asleep after an adventure at the farm or anything?

[Freedom]

Ha haaa, good thought Karen, but won't work with Willy. He is a biter for grooming, so have to be on my toes! The dog should be restrained on the grooming table, you want to get the ears even. Can't even stroke Willy when he is sleeping he wakes with a rumble and a roar! As both I and poor Riley have learned.

[Freedom]

Willy is at the vet. He will have anesthesia and he needs 3 to 5 stitches.

We went in for his monthly Adequan injection; a vet tech visit. The tech handed me the bandage scissors, and I cut off the wrapping while she prepared his injection. Got the wrapping off fine, and then naturally Willy shook his head. Blood flew everywhere! Floor, 4 walls and ceiling of the exam room, my face and shirt, tech's face and shirt. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She opened the door of the exam room and called for our vet. Dr. used clippers to get a better look, and had to muzzle Willy as he was NOT happy to have the ear touched at all. Meantime of course the thing is pumping blood all over the exam table. Well, she decided he needed stitches, so we rewrapped his head (she had appointments, we were NOT scheduled) and I will get a phone call when he is ready to come home.

I had the girls in the car, we went to the farm for our walk. So odd to be walking with just TWO fluffs.

[cassiesmom]

Oh, Wilfred-Edward. You always watch what mum is doing. It's just really, really hard to do when she is grooming your earsies. (((HUGS))) and (((HUGS))) for Tasha and Riley, too!

[cassiesmom]

Sandie, how is Willy's ear? Is he still interested in everything you are doing? Willy, I hope it is healing very well! (((HUGS))) for the Fluffs and kitties

[Freedom]

Willy saw the vet on Tuesday for his post surgery follow up. Everything is healing well, and the collar is GONE. He is so happy to be rid of that! The vet did warn me not to touch the ear, or clean it up or anything, for at least another 10 days. The scab is still very fragile and if it gets disturbed, blood will flow again. The sutures are the dis solvable sort, I 'may' see them drop out, may not. So he does not need to return to the vet.

I am going to shave his other ear, put a cotton ball on the bottom of each ear, and call him a Bedington terrier. IT will be a chnage from hearing "is he a poodle?" Ha ha haaa.

We are also going to start Dasuquin and Deramax for his arthritis pain. I told the vet, if he is slowing down due to age, fine. If he is slowing down due to pain, I have to do something. So we will give the Deramax a try, see if there is any improvement. If so, we will continue with it, if not, I can stop it at any time. To protect his liver, I will give milk thistle and samE.

[Freedom]

Here are photos from several days post surgery. Willy wore the ecollar for the first 48 hours, then I was able to swap to the inflatable collar.










As you can see, Willy was NOT happy with me.


It's been 5 days since these photos and, as I mentioned, no more collar. He feels much better and is his happy self again.

[cassiesmom]

Awww, WIlls! I hope your ear keeps healing as well as it has so far!