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The patient
Jan. 16th, 2011 12:22 amMax had his tail come off a few days early; it was staring to 'age' too quickly and it was making him ill.
Here's what he looks like ( behind the cut )
As I posted at the TalkAboutComics forums, his return home may not be quite so miraculous; more a case of stubbornness with a twist of insanity. My mother borrowed a large dog cage to keep him from running around the house bleeding from his sutures. As soon as he was in it he tried climbing the rungs of the cage in order to get out. He fell off and tried it again--and fell off again. Turns out he can climb a chain link fence after all, even with a broken pelvis.
For the first couple of days his sutures were bleeding because he was licking at the wound. The vet recommended a product called YUK that is supposed to taste horrible and keep him from licking, but it didn't stop him from licking it like it was ice cream. He wasn't wearing the cone collar he left the vet's with. In the five minutes it took him to get home he managed to slip out of it. My mother tied it tighter and he slipped it off by kicking with his hind legs--the same legs attached to his broken pelvis. Fortunately after a couple of days he left it alone; it was probably just the itching from his fur growing back in that did it.
So, to recap, he can get out of the collar, lick at the wound despite bad tasting stuff around it, and can climb with a pelvis broken in two places. The vet's office has concluded that his stubbornness and insanity is the reason he's still alive; he wasn't going to give up and die without a fight. And he may not need surgery to fix his pelvic fractures. The vet was impressed by the way he walked at a follow-up appointment and thinks that he may heal on his own. That's a small fortune potentially saved right there!
Here's what he looks like ( behind the cut )
As I posted at the TalkAboutComics forums, his return home may not be quite so miraculous; more a case of stubbornness with a twist of insanity. My mother borrowed a large dog cage to keep him from running around the house bleeding from his sutures. As soon as he was in it he tried climbing the rungs of the cage in order to get out. He fell off and tried it again--and fell off again. Turns out he can climb a chain link fence after all, even with a broken pelvis.
For the first couple of days his sutures were bleeding because he was licking at the wound. The vet recommended a product called YUK that is supposed to taste horrible and keep him from licking, but it didn't stop him from licking it like it was ice cream. He wasn't wearing the cone collar he left the vet's with. In the five minutes it took him to get home he managed to slip out of it. My mother tied it tighter and he slipped it off by kicking with his hind legs--the same legs attached to his broken pelvis. Fortunately after a couple of days he left it alone; it was probably just the itching from his fur growing back in that did it.
So, to recap, he can get out of the collar, lick at the wound despite bad tasting stuff around it, and can climb with a pelvis broken in two places. The vet's office has concluded that his stubbornness and insanity is the reason he's still alive; he wasn't going to give up and die without a fight. And he may not need surgery to fix his pelvic fractures. The vet was impressed by the way he walked at a follow-up appointment and thinks that he may heal on his own. That's a small fortune potentially saved right there!
