Yesterday, Buddy had to go to the vet. For one thing, it was time for a good teeth cleaning (something for which he was clearly overdue). Also, he had been licking at a bump on his left front elbow for the last week. It clearly wasn’t painful, just annoying. I had pointed out the bump earlier to the vet, and he said when it got bigger or started to cause irritation, bring Buddy in. Looks like the time had come.
Buddy was a little woozy when we picked him up last night, and clearly not happy to be wearing a Victorian collar (aka The Cone of Shame). The vet said his teeth were healthy and no extractions were necessary. He removed the cyst from his elbow and had sent it off for biopsy, and put in three stitches. At our request he injected Buddy with a microchip for tracking, and even trimmed his claws (unasked!). He sent us off with a pain relieving syrup (meloxicam), an antibiotic (clindamycin), and an anti-anxiety med (acepromazine) for when Buddy gets too freaked out by thunderstorms.
Buddy was pretty wobbly last night, but is doing much better this morning. Navigating with the Cone of Shame is a continuing challenge – his spatial awareness is way off, and he almost fell down the stairs a few times. He has finally been able to get comfortable with it while sleeping, it seems. I think he was in a bit of pain this morning, as he couldn’t get comfortable and kept lying down, then getting up again. It looks like the pain killer has hit him surprisingly hard, though, as I’m watching him fall asleep on his bed right now. Theoretically, he has to wear the Cone for the next ten days, with his stitches coming out on Saturday. We’re hoping maybe we can take it off sooner than that, but we’ll take things day by day.
Awwww….he’s adorable.
Awww that is the saddest face ever. Glad he is doing well!
You are such a good puppy parent. 🙂 Buddy is lucky to have found you two!
You could point his nose at the sky…maybe he can pick up satellite TV with the cone!
Cute pup, though.
Keep him out of the rain! Avoid a tragedy!!! 😀
I actually wonder what a dog’s hearing is like wearing a cone. It must be super amplified!
I’ve wondered that myself. I noticed he tends to stick a lot closer to me on walks, since he can’t hear me walking behind him.
awww poor Buddy 🙁
Awwww. Poor Buddy.
Go the distance on the cone of shame.
I let Rosebud’s soulful eyes convince me to remove hers early–and she licked her stitches open, resulting in more vet bills, staples, extended cone-of-shame, etc.
Sorry Buddy!
Now that’s a look of “But….WHY? What did I do wrong to deserve this?” 🙂 Poor fellow. He is cute but that look is just to priceless. Better question is…How the hell do dogs eat and drink with those things on?
Todd.