Sometimes things just don't get better..... I have had a miserable year when it comes to pets. I swear if it's not one thing, it's another. This will be a quick post and I will do a longer post with better picture's later.
A week ago I noticed Bailey licking and digging down by his butt/tail an awful lot. We do not have a flea problem so I wasn't sure why he was digging. So on Wednesday my OH gave him a bath. On Friday while I was soaking Brandy's hoof, I noticed a lot of dampness/wet hair by Bailey's tail. I called him over to me and lifted up the hair to see what was going on. He had licked the area next to his tail raw. It was red, inflamed and it stunk. There was definitely an infection going on. I checked him all over and noticed that the other side of his tail was the same way. I called my vet immediately. They were booked and couldn't get me in so they said to call in the morning to see if there were any cancellations. I called Saturday morning and she was still booked full. She hemmed and hawed and finally said for me to bring him in at 3:30 that afternoon.
It turned out to be a very good thing that they squeezed us into their busy day. Once Dr. R looked at Bailey, he said he had a severe staph infection going on and he would get worse every hour. They told us that we needed to leave Bailey there and for us to leave and come back in a couple hours. They were going to shave Bailey and clean it up. When the receptionist called me to tell me that Bailey was ready to go home, she apologized for how he was going to look. I told her that my OH and I were just talking about that and we said he was probably going to look like a baboon. She laughed. And that is exactly what he looks like.
Oh goodness. Anybody want to take my dog for a walk in their neighborhood? I think you would get a lot of stares!
Dr. R told me that we were only a day away from maggots. MAGGOTS? Are you flipping kidding me? He said that these infections spread quick and he just had to euthanize a dog for the same thing, but that dog was totally infested in maggots. OMG!! What he said happened to Bailey is that the skin was already irritated from Bailey licking this week, and then he got a bath and with all his hair it stayed very moist and then the weather turned really warm (this is a good thing, the weather I mean!) which in turn caused the perfect breeding ground for this infection. Lovely.
So now I have a hairless dog. But I do feel really bad for him. He is in so much pain. He is on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, plus we have to put on Gold Bond medicated powder to keep the area dried out.
I can tell you one thing..................
I really miss this BUTT!! I just loved his tail hair and now it's gone. I know it will grow back, but that could take forever!!
16 comments:
OMG girl, I am so glad you caught it in time! How scary!! :-0
Scary. At first I thought you were going to say it was skin ulcers, because Midge has had those. Staph infections are much worse. My husband gets upset if the dogs lick themselves too much, and I just feel like he's being and alarmist, but now that I know this can happen, I'll take it more seriously.
Lol, are you going to shave the rest of the dog? Poor Bailey, that does suck. Those can get really nasty. We put a dog down at work that came in with a blanket over his hind end. After the owners left we peeked under the blanket. Yep. Maggots. Same kind of thing. It was horrible.
I only have one dog right now that gets those "spots", and I shave him right up and spray Vetricyn on his butt. Really works well. That and I shave him fully before it gets hot. It's hard having hairy dogs in AZ.
Hope Bailey gets better soon and you get a break from it all. You've had a terrible run of luck lately!
Aww,, poor boy! Poor you!
I know your weather is cooler than ours, but if it were me, I'd just shave him all over, so he wouldn't look like a baboon. lol!
Hang in there,
~Lisa
This is the week for pet woes. Our 15 year old dog passed away and his daughter, who is 12, was diagnosed with Lyme and anaplasmosis. I thought she was just slowing down due to age. Bad mommy! I feel so bad for her.
Poor Bailey! At least you caught it in time before it got too bad. A naked butt is better than maggots:) You'd be surprised at the amount of dogs that end up with maggots that their owners have no idea were there. A groom shop I worked at saw that quite a bit. So gross.
Wow poor Bailey. But Id say at least a babboon butt is better than maggots anyday!
Poor thing. But I bet he feels so much better despite the pain. He is healing. Yeah, I was thinking baboon, too! I wonder how much your damp weather played a part in this.
wow, poor bailey. Jax licks constantly because of his allergies and will lick a raw spot on his paw but never anything like that. Your luck has to change soon.. love you auntie
That happened to a cat of ours, but I didn't know it could happen to dogs, too.
Awww that sucks! I'm glad you caught it in time. Poor baby.
You're so lucky that they squeezed you in...what a terrible thing! Yep, just shave the rest of him...he'll be back to his hairy self by winter!
Poor boy! Glad you caught it and he will be OK
Poor Bailey! So glad you got it in time, but yeah, embarrassing to have to walk your baboon in the neighborhood. That hairy butt will be back before you know it.
You know what??? I think your year of BAD LUCK is all up!!! Just breathe...think possitive and all will cahnge for you soon....I hope!
PS my word verification on this is...OPENFEAR!!!
Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that you caught that infection in time. Poor Bailey's butt! He'll be feeling so much better in no time at all and that Baboon's butt of his will be a distant memory before you know it! Hang in there :) Yay on the warm weather, by the way! :)
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