March 28, 2016

White Dog rested her head on my shoulder and yawned. "I kept dreaming that you guys were all in the bedroom jumping on the bed. All night that is the sound that pounded in my head... thump...thump...thumpa thump...thump."

White Dog has her own private suite in the closet in the office. Now C.A. Storm has joined her by choosing to spend nights snuggled on mats and his special blanket next to the toy box. We thought both had been spared the night of Yo's discomfort.

I was awakened as YoYoMa jolted upright and began scrambling to chew on his tail. He sleeps next to Steve in the space between the bed and the wall, not really wide enough for the frantic circling he was trying to accomplish so his legs thumped and his feet clawed at the hardwood as he thrashed. He was beside himself.

I quietly called him to me and led him by the collar into the bathroom where I could turn on the light. The bottomside of his magnificent tail was stained pink from his overattentions. I washed him up and applied our go-to vinegar anti-itch spray...which worked for a few hours.

By the time Steve's alarm sounded, Yo was back at it; ripping at the furs of his back side. Steve helped me look for an insect bite or other reason for his distress but we found none. Steve rooted around and found the HotSpot Spray and doused him liberally. Just for good measure YoYoMa took a benedryl.

He slept soundly and ignored the tail for a while (mostly thanks to the drug) but after breakfast he attacked himself again. The tail was not looking good so I called Cindy at our vet's office. "Whatcha got for Yo who is trying to chew his beautiful tail to shreds," I asked her. We decided that Steve would run over for a sample of a dermatological gel and if that did not stop him, we would wrap the tail. "Sure it is not a behavior thing?" she asked. "I don't think so he seems mellow as ever and the new boy is not a problem or in Yo's face." "Probably a non-issue but just keep it in the back of your mind."

For now the gel seems to be doing the trick. Paws crossed. White Dog, always a girl with a plan, mentioned we should be sure to keep the bright red tube on the nightstand...just in case.

With apologies to my handsome Yo and to those of you who are squeamish;
This is the hot spot Yo has chewed on the underside of his tail.