How many people does it take to hold a 15 pound, eleven-year-old shitzu so the vet can examine his foot? Four…including the vet. And we had to use a muzzle…shitzu’s are not to be trifled with. Pete does an imitation of an alligator death-roll that is quite impressive. Why did we have vet drama in the first place? Saturday morning, Pete refused to put weight on his left foot. Due to the fluffy nature of his paws, we couldn’t see what was wrong. When he refused to eat, we knew there was a real problem. Normally he eats anything he can find. (His nickname is Hoover.)
The good news is Pete’s swollen foot was due to some sort of bug bite. The bad news is we had to sedate him to let the doctor shave his foot so we could see what we were dealing with. The meds turned him into a woozy, off-balance pup.
The vet told us Pete would heal faster if we soaked his foot in epsom salt. I’m not sure how we’re going to manage that.
Growing up, we had a cat named Princess. Somehow she injured her tail. The vet told my parents to soak her tail in epsom salt. My father put on his army jacket and a pair of leather gloves. I don’t remember the incident clearly. Maybe because there was too much carnage. Anyway, I’m just happy that’s Pete’s injury wasn’t something worse. He makes me happy every day. Dogs and cats make the world a better place.