Rubix Goes to the Vet

Rubix had a big day yesterday.  We dropped him off at the Stray Rescue vet in the morning for the following procedures:

1. Neutering
2. Dew claw removal
3. 2nd round of vaccinations
4. Skin scrape
5. Nail trim

Now that he has been neutered and received his 2nd round of vaccinations he may be adopted!  But the skin scrape showed lots of demodex mites (puppy mange, not contagious).  Though we had been treating him for the mange, he was still itching, even after a bath, Benadryl, fish oil and soothing spray.  So his medication has been increased and I'll give him special baths after his sutures have been removed. 

Some people question the necessity of removing the dew claw.  With the way Rubix plays, it is in his best interest to have it removed.  Now there is no chance that it can get caught, bit or torn while rough housing - therefore decreased risk of infections.

One would think after all those procedures that Rubix would have been tired - nope, not even a little bit!  The vet asked us to keep his activity down, to which we giggled.  Rubix got home and immediately wanted to play with Brady.  We did our best to control the play and prevent any licking or scratching near the sutures.  Eventually we had to break down and put on his E-collar (Elizabethan collar or cone). 

At first he didn't even seem to notice the collar, but then he started to chew at it.  The collar is soft and he quickly figured out how to move it around and reach his back legs, but it did reduce the chewing and scratching.  Worried that he might chew through the night, we put him to bed with the collar.  He went to sleep quickly, but woke up in the middle of the night to pee.  I took him outside, removed the collar then let him go back to sleep without it.  He didn't chew the rest of the night and so far has been good this morning too - the trick is to have plenty of toys to distract him...playing with Brady helps a lot as well.

This morning you would never know he had surgery yesterday.  He's been running around in and outside, wrestling with Brady, playing with his tennis balls.  I'll continue to monitor his play until we go back to get his sutures removed on 12/14. 

As a reminder, Stray Rescue provides all of the foster dogs vet care at no cost to me.  Although Stray Rescue received a large sum of money for their new building, it does not cover any of their medical costs.  Consider giving the gift of health to the rescued dogs of St Louis, make a donation to Stray Rescue this holiday season, www.strayrescue.org.