.nursing Samdawg.

Samson & I took a visit to the vet on Friday. His dew claws weren’t removed as a puppy as they usually are. He’d been having some problems with them – as he runs outside and in the weeds, the dew claws catch on things. A few years ago, one tore and it had to have stitches. He’d been licking them like crazy so I figured something similar had happened again. We went to the vet to get some sedatives for the 4th of July and to check out a puncture wound he had under his chin. I asked about the dew claws and the vet said she wouldn’t object to removing them even though it’s a tough surgery to recover from as a “middle aged dog.” So, I made the appointment for two days later along with a teeth cleaning which he needed.

I felt AWFUL taking him to the vet that morning and leaving him there a happy, licking dog – he had NO IDEA what they were going to do to him and what I’d walked him into. :( So sad!

My Mom & I picked him up a few hours later. The nurse gave me LOTS of instructions, some prescriptions, and a very sedated dog with a cone collar and two bandaged front legs. He slept on my lap all the way home and barely moved from the couch all evening.

 

Did I already mention that I felt terrible about what I’d done to him?!

Look at those sad eyes!

He did fairly well with his bandaged legs. He didn’t bother them too much. He had a regimen of antibiotics, pain medications, and anti-inflammatory pills to take 2 times a day. One is beef flavored so he thinks it’s a treat – he loves it.
One looks like a pill, acts like a pill, tastes like a pill – so I hide in a finger full of peanut butter and he takes it like a champ.
The last one is a liquid that I put into a syringe to give to him. To say that he hates it is an understatement. I have to hold him from behind and literally open his jaw with my fingers to shove the syringe in his mouth. He gasps and puffs, but takes it ok. Did I mention that it's red and it stains? Yep. Lovely.

I had to take off his bandages on Tuesday morning. It was traumatic and I think we both cried. It wasn’t as easy to remove them as the nurse had described. He did really well with an incompetent-amateur nurse like me.

He’s had to wear his cone collar more now since the stainless steal stitches bother him more and catch his attention when the wires poke him. We try not to laugh too much at him running into tables and chairs with his collar on. 

Graphic photo ahead…..here’s his wounds…

 

Poor Samson….he’s been a champ and I’m really glad his recovery hasn’t been as bad as I’d thought it would be. We go on Monday to have his stitches removed and hopefully NO MORE cone collar. It’s been too hot for it!