Best laid plans

Tuesday night Tuck had visitors. They liked him and actually ended up submitting an application for him. He was scheduled to be neutered on Friday, and I anticipated moving him to his new home early next week. My mistake was making plans.

On Wednesday Tuck and the others went outside early in the morning and ran around as they do. It was icy and that's always dangerous conditions for a long legged dog. Wednesday afternoon I noticed Tuck was limping and I assumed he had slid and pulled something sliding on the boardwalk that morning. I put him in a crate, gave him a Rimadyl, and told him to take it easy. He was still doing the stairs, albeit with more difficulty. He didn't eat dinner Wednesday evening and he didn't eat breakfast Thursday morning. The Rimadyl obviously wasn't doing the trick and furthermore, he obviously wasn't feeling well. I got him into the vet Thursday afternoon. He could still walk but he was not bearing weight on the right front leg. I had to lift him into and out of the van but after that he could walk on his own.

The vet's could immediately tell that something serious was wrong. We waited through a busy afternoon schedule and eventually xrays showed nothing, but the right front leg was obviously swollen from the elbow joint down to the ankle. It was swollen because it was badly infected. Much puss was drained out and one drain installed with another hole just left open to drain on it's own. The supposition is that he was bitten by something venomous, we are guessing spider, because the infection seemed to originate from three specific points, but no double mark as one would expect from a snake's fangs.

We came home Thursday evening and set him up in a corner of the kitchen, surrounded by the exercise pen, with mats, beds, and blankets covering the floor. Before going to bed that evening, about 10:00 p.m., I got a can of wet food into him along with his first batch of antibiotics.

Friday morning I was happy to find him looking more alert. Also, he had eaten the dry food I had left with him overnight. He ate another can of food with his pills and then polished off two cups of dry food as well, so it's obvious that he's feeling better. We are also doing warm compresses on the affected limb at least twice a day. He was very good about that when I did it Friday morning. The leg is still draining puss as expected but his general affect is brighter, more alert, and happier than I had seem him over the last couple of days.

He missed his Friday neuter appointment, of course, but Moo took his place. Tuck will have another appointment in a couple weeks after this leg is all healed up. This one will remain shrouded in some mystery, but what's most important is that he seems to be improving now.