Poor Jake

Isn’t that the saddest looking dog you ever saw? Jake is recovering from some sort of accident that occurred last Friday night and must be restrained from himself.

On Saturday morning as I contemplated taking delivery of my new piano, I came down to find dog pee, poop, and blood all over my kitchen floor and Jake just lying there looking up at me. I was sure he was dying, probably of cancer, but the first scan didn’t show the blood coming out of any standard orifice. Then he rolled over and I noticed the 2" gash in his groin area.

I quickly called the vet and made an emergency appointment since there were no more regular slots left. I was grateful to have the old 1985 Volvo wagon with its black seats to haul him into the vet’s office in.

While he was being treated, my husband who had since gotten up called. He said when he had let him out at around midnight, Jake had barked for a while and then let out a yelp. He didn’t think anything of it, let him back in, and went to bed. This made me think the wound could have been from a bite. But what a strange place for a bite.

$275 later they had shaved him, stapled the wound, adorned him with his new collar, and sent him home with painkillers and antibiotics.

As for the source of his injury, the vet said it was too clean a cut to be a bite. But we have yet to find the sharp object that gave him such a big wound.

Although the painkillers make him drowsy, they don’t let him forget that he is wearing that collar that makes it impossible for him to chew out the staples and difficult for him to eat and drink. He is definitely not a happy camper. And this is only day 3 of 10.

I have condescended to take the collar off so he can eat and drink twice a day, making sure I watch him the entire time.

You will not see a picture of his ugly wound, because he won’t even let me look at it. I apply warm compresses a couple of times a day, but he is not about to roll over with that collar on.

As I write this upstairs, he is downstairs barking because I don’t think it’s wise for him to do stairs when his vision is so compromised. We will ALL be happy and rest much better once this 10-day healing period is over.

But for now, he is indeed pathetic!