It's like Oprah has been lurking around Hillmomba, bestowing UNWANTED gifts upon the Hillbilly family. First, The Pony has had several dog bite incidents over the past month or two. And now, another Hillbilly family member had been attacked!
Farmer H got a long text Saturday while working at his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2). He called me around noon.
"Are the dogs okay? I just got a text from our neighbor up the road. She said our dogs were at her house, and her dog got in a fight with them. Her husband went out to break it up. And her dog had blood on its mouth. She said she feels terrible, and that she'll pay any vet bills."
"I don't know. I haven't seen them all day. But they were barking up a storm around 8:00. Maybe that dog was down here and they followed him home. I'll go see if they're on the porch."
When I opened the front door, my little Jack came running. He stood on his hind legs, his front paws on my leg, for a petting. He seemed a little needy and subdued, but there wasn't a mark on him.
"It's okay, Jack. Where's your buddy Scarlett? SCARLETT? Come here, Scarlett. SCARLETT? Come on. Where are you?"
Scarlett came around the corner of the house. She had been in the area of the side porch. She was not springing along like her usual exuberant self. She was mincing along, favoring her right front leg. It looked like the paw was turned in. She wasn't limping, but putting that foot down funny. Her eyes were sad. She didn't jump up on me. I patted her head, and noted that the back of her neck area, where she has a white ruff in her reddish fur, was matted. I knew better that to touch it. On the best of days, Scarlett does not like her shoulders and neck patted. I just stroked her head, talked soothingly, then went back inside to call Farmer H.
"Scarlett is hurt. I didn't look for a bite, but her neck fur is matted and sticky-looking, and she's walking funny on her right front leg. She's not dripping blood. But she might have a bite. I don't expect that lady to pay. It's not like her dog came down here. Ours were on their property. He was just doing what dogs do."
"Yeah. Everybody lets their dogs run out here. I don't want her money. I'll look at Scarlett when I get home."
"Well... tomorrow is Sunday. No vets will be open..."
"Yeah. But maybe she's just sore."
"Can you give dogs aspirin?"
"According to Dr. Pol you can. He does it all the time."
"I guess we'll wait and see when you look at her."
The good news is that when Farmer H got home around 4:00, Scarlett was not favoring that leg any more. She wasn't her hyper self, but she was putting weight on it like normal. Farmer H said he looked at it, and didn't see any wound.
"Well, their dog had blood in its mouth!"
"Maybe there was more than one dog."
"Jack seems fine. Sometimes when he play-fights with Copper Jack, he jumps up and bites his mouth."
"Maybe that's what happened."
"Still, Scarlett's fur looks like it had something to make it stiff and spikey around her neck. She could get an infection from a puncture."
"We'll see how she does."
So... the good news is that for now, Scarlett seems okay. Walking normally, but not jumping around all hyper. She's not a fighter, she's a barker. Even when Copper Jack and my Jack get into it, playfighting, Scarlett hangs back, just barking. I'm pretty sure the other dog objected to our two (and possibly Copper Jack as well) being on his turf, and tried to show them they were not welcome.
I don't blame that other dog, or the owners. It is what it is. Dogs being dogs.
6 comments:
I'm glad Scarlett's leg/paw is okay and hope there is nothing sinister in the matted neck fur.
River,
Most wounds heal without issue. I'm just used to watching The Incredible Dr. Pol, where people bring in their dogs with pockets of infection that need the fur shaved, and the wound cleaned out, and antibiotics. It's a show about a vet, so of course all you see are the horror stories when the animals are sick.
True. I used to take Lola to the vet every time she scratched herself raw, now I wait and see if it heals alone or gets infected before rushing to throw away my dollars. She has allergic dermatitis that flares a couple of times a year.
River,
We had a cat that got in a fight, and had a half-dollar size hole in her chest. You could see the connective tissue over the muscle. The skin kept splitting open more. We took her to the vet, who said, "Oh, cats do that. It will heal up." Gave us a bit of ointment, but no stitches. That wound did indeed heal. Without a mark left, eventually.
After my daughter's dog attacked Eddie, his neck was wet with saliva, but I coudn't find any blood. A couple of days ago, while Eddie and I were having our evening love fest when I tell him how much I love him and he listens intently to my woes of the day while I massage his back and neck, I discovered a tiny lump scabbed over. No signs of infection, but I doctored it with neosporin. My daughter called Sunday morning to tell me that Gemma (her pit mix) had attacked Max (chi mix) and then bit my son-in-law. Chad loves that dog so much. I am waiting to hear of Gemma's fate. They have had her since she was 7 months old and she has never attacked before Eddie. They decided to see the vet and let him decide if she might benefit from some training or if she should be put down. Makes me sad.
Kathy,
Poor Eddie! Poor Gemma. It would be hard for me to keep a dog that bit me, unless it was reacting to an injury when I was trying to help it.
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