deborahjross | Poor hurt puppy (Reply)

Dave's German Shepherd Dog, Oka, has got to be the most expensive pet we've ever owned, and that includes the horse I had in high school. He's a wonderful, wonderful dog, but has had a string of bad luck in his 5 years. First, he inhaled a foxtail -- one of those seeds with a very sharp point -- that worked its way through his diaphragm and under his skin, where it formed an enormous abscess. It took 2 surgeries (incisions hip to shoulder) to get it cleaned out. Then he got heartworm (yes, we do know about ivermectin, but Dave got careless, and now we have proof it's endemic in the mosquito population here) and went through the treatment with nasssty arsenical salts. Then he developed pannus, a chronic eye disease peculiar to GSDs and Siberian huskies, that if untreated results in blindness, so he will be seeing a veterinary ophthalmologist and receive steroid eye drops for the rest of his life.

Now... he slashed open one of the pads of his front paws (glass?) and I'm waiting for the vet's office to open so I can take him in. Poor baby keeps jumping up from the floor with his usual boundless energy and then getting this puzzled look when it *hurts* to put any weight on it. More updates later...