Insect stings and bites are also a problem for curious dogs. We have had a couple of near misses already and are in two minds about whether or not a bee, who had the audacity to buzz into our kitchen, has been swallowed whole.
There is also a big increase in allergy rashes. I don't think that Muffin has a problem but we did think so last year when her paws went red and her lady bits got swollen. After an expensive trip to the vet, I realised that she probably reacted to the vanish carpet powder we used while she was trying out a home boarder over night. We hoovered excessively for a few days and gave her a course of cortisone tablets and things settled down. Lesson learned.
Red paw made a reappearance this week but this time it only seems to be the right back paw. When it began to swell it was time to seek medical advice. We had already made an appointment as I was growing more convinced that she had eaten the missing sock. I was very relieved that on the morning of appointment day, the sock made a come back! I found it like a little morning present, next to Muffin's bed. It was slimy and disgusting but I have never been so happy to see something that gross in all my life!
We kept the appointment with the, as Muffins doggy pals say, 'veryhairyman'. He was very kind and she left him a small puddle of appreciation on his table. He could see nothing obvious in the paw but says she may have had something irritating her and has made things inflamed with the licking. She has been given antibiotics due to swelling and more cortisone tablets. She is very good taking her pills. After failing to hide them in a Markie I just gave them to her as they came and she ate them!!! She was slightly bemused watching me try to force them into a solid crunchy biscuit. I have to confess Markies, are a first for us. Hubby was given them by a customer who tragically lost her best pal this week. They look like fig rolls to me so I was working on the assumption that the centre would be squidgy. Another lesson learned.
What else? Oh yes, not summer related but some evil person has been putting poisoned sausages down on our local field. Muffin has been wanting to go in the mornings now that its light but I have been taking her the other way.The local paper has advised vigilance if your dog is off lead and after speaking to the vet who said there have been no new cases, I took her over yesterday. She was on lead but still managed to lunge out, grab a large dog biscuit and swallow it before I could finger sweep it out of her mouth. Another day of watching and worrying. Having had no ill effects, it seems she just struck lucky and scored herself a dropped goody. Another lesson learned. NEVER trust a terrier, even when they are on the lead!
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