Aargh! Pup problems

guinevere

Final Flight

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 28, 2003

• Jun 7, 2004

• #1

My 18 month old dog (who's a permanent puppy) got scratched on her jaw yesterday by my cat. I called the emergency vet (since it was Sunday), because on Halloween last year, her face developed a tennis ball-sized growth in the time span of an hour - turns out she'd gotten scratched a few days earlier and had gotten an abcess. I want to avoid the pain for her and the very spendy $$ vet bill for me!! The emergency vet said to keep it washed out with hydrogen peroxide and warm water and get her in to see her regular vet today. This am I called my vet - Bella's face was no longer swollen, she was eating fine and had energy, so we didn't make an appointment, but they said they could squeeze her in if things started to look dodgy.

Well, I just noticed that her chin was bloody, she's been scratching at it, and now there's a marble-sized mass in there. The good thing is that she comes to work with me, so I noticed it right away. I have to put her conehead collar on her as soon as we get home, and we're going to the vet bright and early tomorrow morning. I'm sure it'll end up fine, but I am so bummed out that this is happening again!!

Here's a pic of Bella at work BTW:

http://img51.photobucket.com/albums/v157/guineveruca/c2ae6b2b.jpg

guinevere

 

B

bronxgirl

Medalist

• 
• 

Joined

Jan 22, 2004

• Jun 7, 2004

• #2

What a sweety pie! I hope Bella gets well soon. Cat claws can have nasty bacteria, at least to humans - not sure about how the canine immune system views them.

 

guinevere

Final Flight

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 28, 2003

• Jun 7, 2004

• #3

Thanks, bronxgirl! Apparently, Bella's immune system doesn't handle cat claw toxins too well, since this is trip #2. I just hope we get this in time so that it can be healed with antibiotics. Last time she had to get her face drained, and she was a Frankenpup for about 2 weeks (did I mention it happened on Halloween? )

guinevere

 

A

Aloft04

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Mar 15, 2004

• Jun 7, 2004

• #4

She's ADORABLE!! Oh, and very top-management, corner office looking in her executive chair.

 

A

Antilles

Medalist

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 26, 2003

• Jun 7, 2004

• #5

Very cute. It's nice you can bring her to work. Our dog never had cat claw problems. She did have a few facial run-ins with bees though. You wanna talk about tennis balls.....

 

Kara Bear

Final Flight

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 26, 2003

• Jun 8, 2004

• #6

You are so lucky that you can take her to work!

 

guinevere

Final Flight

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 28, 2003

• Jun 8, 2004

• #7

Update

Thanks everyone for the well-wishes.

We went to the vet this am (I'm very proud of Bella - we WALKED the whole 4 miles because somebody only had a $5 bill and it was too early for anything to be open to get change for the bus), she's on antibiotics now and all will be fine. But it's a good thing we went, because while we were there, the other side of her face started bleeding, and it turns out there was a puncture wound on her face - she was playing with some other dogs Sunday afternoon and she must have gotten bitten! It's not serious, but now it's really a good thing she's on antibiotics. The vet and I were amazed that she started spontaneously bleeding at just the right moment !

I'm expecting her to pass out from the exercise she's gotten already today. I know *I* feel like taking a long nap!

guinevere

ETA: ps she's gained 3 pounds since our last visit - in APRIL!

 

Last edited: Jun 8, 2004

S

skatepixie

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Aug 2, 2003

• Jun 8, 2004

• #8

Oh my God! She soooo cute. I hope she starts feeling better...

 

S

serenity

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Aug 19, 2003

• Jun 8, 2004

• #9

I hope she gets better soon too. We were watching this parrot for a friend and I noticed swelling on my cats front paw. (She is declawed in the front paws) Well this is where the parrot bit her.
After numerous times of cleaning it finally healed. Would you believe it she now has a nail that grows all alone on her paw. I have to trim it too.

 

guinevere

Final Flight

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 28, 2003

• Jun 8, 2004

• #10

That's really crazy - I wonder how that can happen? Don't they take the whole nail system out when they declaw cats (obviously not if this happened).

At least when you trim it she can't scratch you with her other paw

 

J

JOHIO2

Medalist

• 
• 
• 

Joined

Jul 29, 2003

• Jun 8, 2004

• #11

Hope the perennial pup is feeling better! Cat scratches are so dangerous and so easily infected.

As to Halloween.......my cat scratched her own cornea by putting her face into the Christmas tree. Just before Christmas, of course. Christmas and a flat tire and an emergency trip to the vet. Not fun! Thankfully, that was years ago. Now kitty is an old lady kitty at 19, so emergency trips to the vet tend to be centered on urinary problems. Oh well, as long as she is still enjoying life, she'll get that vet trip with a return trip guarantee.

Back to cat scratches though...I've had more than my share of experience with those and the drainage and antibiotics can get to be a never ending cycle, so hope pup is better.

 

NJSk8Fan

Joined

Jan 30, 2004

• Jun 8, 2004

• #12

Your Bella is adorable!
Your a good doggy Momma to get her to the vet and take such good care of her! I hope Bella will be healed quickly and with no complications!

 

B

bronxgirl

Medalist

• 
• 

Joined

Jan 22, 2004

• Jun 9, 2004

• #13

guinevere said:

That's really crazy - I wonder how that can happen? Don't they take the whole nail system out when they declaw cats (obviously not if this happened).

At least when you trim it she can't scratch you with her other paw

Click to expand...

Harry was supposedly declawed before I adopted him (He was about 10 at the time) Within a year, it looked as if he had developed a cut that wouldn't heal on his paw between his toes. The vet thought that the original declaw procedure hadn't cut the bone back enough so that the epithelium was regenerating. When he did the surgery, he found that Harry was trying to regrow a set of 5 mini claws from the one bone that hadn't been declawed correctly. He was surprised to see that one. I guess Harry just wanted to be an interesting patient?

 

guinevere

Final Flight

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 28, 2003

• Jun 9, 2004

• #14

NJSk8Fan said:

Your a good doggy Momma to get her to the vet and take such good care of her!

Click to expand...

The reason I hopped on that so fast is that by the time I realized there was something wrong with her in October, she had a fever of 103, wasn't eating, was clearly miserable, and had to get her face drained, which cost me $500!!! She also had to go under anesthesia for the draining, which isn't that great for a young dog (or anyone, really). After that adventure, I am highly motivated to get her looked at immediately if I suspect there's anything wrong with her

guinevere

 

B

bronxgirl

Medalist

• 
• 

Joined

Jan 22, 2004

• Jun 9, 2004

• #15

Hope Bella is getting well under your tender loving care!

 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 27, 2003

• Jun 11, 2004

• #16

Hope your sweetie gets well soon!

 

J

Johar

Medalist

• 
• 

Joined

Dec 16, 2003

• Jun 12, 2004

• #17

JOHIO2 said:

Hope the perennial pup is feeling better! Cat scratches are so dangerous and so easily infected.

Click to expand...

You've got that right. My mom's hair dresser was scratched by a semi stray that had been hanging out on their country property for awhile. Scratch was completely unprovoked and showed immediate signs of infection.

While at the hospital, she had a severe allergic reaction to the medicine and ended up spending two nights in the hospital. The bill was several thousands, even with insurance.