Since I've retired, I amended my user name from iteachmiddleschool to xteacher to celebrate the occasion!
This morning, I was outside with the dogs when Maddie flushed out a bird that wasn't paying attention, then proceeded to pounce on it a few times near our fence. I kept yelling at her to stop and ran over to save the bird as it valiantly tried to get away. It couldn't fly, so it was running as fast as it could. Luckily, there was no blood. I finally got a hold of Maddie, pinning her to the ground. Mercy, the terrier prey drive is strong! The bird finally squeezed under the fence (and I never did find it later, so I'm hoping it was just stunned and eventually flew away).
I dragged her inside and put her in her crate to calm her down, and then I noticed she was bleeding! I think she must have snagged herself on a nail that had popped out of the fence, b/c I can't see how the bird could have hurt her. Anyway, her skin on her right side behind her rib cage (the stifle area) was peeled open like a banana for about 2-3 inches (laceration).
Needless to say, I called the vet and took her over there. She had to be put under and stapled back together. She's home now, with a "cone of shame" on and on complete rest (no running/jumping) for the next 2 weeks! Thank goodness she loves her crate! The staple line is about 2-3 inches long - poor girl! She was softly moaning all the way home. She's in her crate now, snoozing - still woozy from the anesthesia. She'll be taking pain meds and an antibiotic starting tomorrow.
We had a German Shepherd that used to catch birds if they flew too near the ground. Once caught, birds wouldn't play anymore (cause they were dead), so after he caught maybe a dozen or less with the same results, he gave up catching them.
He still chased turkeys, but he never caught one of those, LOL.
Anyway, maybe next time just let nature take its own way? Sure worked for us.
Chuck
Wonderful Wife
Australian Shepherd
2010 Ford Expedition TV
2010 Outback 230RS Toybox, 5390# UVW, 6800# Loaded Not yet camped in Hawaii, 2 Canada Provinces, & 2 Territories I can't be lost because I don't care where this lovely road is going
Boy have I seen lots of this type of laceration. The worst was a dog that pulled his paw back from under the fence and just about "degloved" all the skin.
Hope thing heal up well.
Congrats on your retirement
Doug & Sandy
Jill (11yr old Golden)& Charmin (16 yr old something)
Henry NOW a camping cat
2008 Southwind
2009 Honda CRV
Maddie is resting comfortably this morning, thanks to a dose of Metacam. Last night, she got her cone off twice before going to sleep - this dog is amazingly smart and dexterous! She reached up with both paws in her crate and simply yanked the cone off, even after I tightened it. I watched her do it the second time. I finally had to tighten her collar, then weave the gauze around her collar to connect the two together before tying it tightly behind her head, for her to not to be able to get it off again! I'm letting her rest, sans cone, while she's on the couch with me. So far, so good. Of course, I'll put it back on when I'm not supervising her closely.
Closer view of the wound - she has to have these staples in for 14 days on strict rest, especially since it's in a moving part area. I even carry her out to the yard to potty. I'm afraid that the skin will pull loose from the staples (esp. at the bottom part) if she walks too much, especially at first. You can see that the staples are longer down there (to allow more movement, I'm guessing?).
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