7.24.2017

July 23, 2017

White Dog looked over Steve's shoulder as he looked closely at Trixie's shoulder...the one she had abraded a while back...the one we cleverly created a "bumper" to protect...the one that was suddenly deeply infected.

Minutes earlier he had reached down to adjust the layers of cloth that made up a shawl like guard to keep her from scraping herself on the dog door as she goes in and out. The device was working well, no longer was she rubbing skin. But he felt wetness.

Looking closely (not an easy thing to do with an uncooperative girl of 60 lbs), Steve saw the edge of the raw area was sort of oozing and when he pressed the wound opened to reveal a deep infection. Trixie winced in pain. We went into emergency mode.

It took both of us to hold her down and take a good look. On the surface it had been healing well but  pocket of infection had been trapped beneath the skin. We cleaned out the wound first with soap and water; then with antiseptic wash. Steve shaved away the furs and irrigated the area with a stream of fresh water.

Fearing that she would attract ants as she rested on the deck we set aside the option of sugaring the wound and opted instead for antibiotic cream. (On Monday, the vet added an oral antibiotic to assist in the healing.)

The infection is in a hard to reach place so fortunately we were spared needing a cone but the spot also is in a place that is hard to bandage...mid shoulder too far up to wrap around leg and too forward to wrap around body.

Again, the White Dog Army engineering team put their heads together using Sachi and Nilla and even Stormer as more patient models than Trix as we tried different ideas to find a solution.

Digging in the cabinet under the bathroom sink Steve came across a bag of thick old-fashioned pads left from my pre-menopausal days and forgotten. I found a child-sized tshirt purchased long ago for a project.

The team discovered the perfect solution for covering the wound and providing padding was to apply the ointment on the wound then cover it with the napkin whose adhesive strip held it in place against the tshirt...which was held in place by Trixie's harness. Everything stayed in place.

Trix was more upset with being "man-handled" as she put it than she was from pain due to the infection. And the extra pair of antibiotic pills means two more "treats" so she is all right with that.

The White Dog Army congratulated themselves on a great round of problem solving. "We are like the MacGyvers of the Dog world," Opal proclaimed. "The question is will momma reward us with jerky or will we have to get that jar down and open by our own wits?"

2 comments:

Random Felines said...

another good solution - but poor Trixie....we hope it heals up quickly

TimberLove said...

Oh baby, many prayers for a quick recovery.