Thursday, December 13, 2018

Danger Lurks in the Snow


Poor Finny's dear nose and ears are swollen and disfigured, and the vet says she thinks he probably stuck his nose into the hiding place of some spider or snake that was trying to escape the snow. 

We didn't go to the vet until today because, when his ears blew up like balloons on Monday, I assumed it was a reaction to the cold and that they would just deflate. But they got bigger instead. So Ed googled and we thought maybe an ear infection, so we got fancy ear drops from the pet store. No improvement, but his nose started to look all scratched up and the skin under his eyes got puffy. This morning, Thursday, I noticed sores around his mouth, and his nose, as you see, ballooned up to match his ears. 

The vet took one look at him and said it all indicated some sort of venomous bite (turns out he is also running a fever), and that the poison was circulating through and causing the various symptoms. She said he Might improve on his own, but recommended IV solutions and drugs. So they took him back and filled him full of Healing Tonic, and we will take him back this evening for another round. That and some pills ought to put him right, she says!

So, crisis averted before weekend vet rates kick in -- yay! 



2 comments:

carol said...

Poor Finn! No, definitely not a reaction to the snow. A nice long-haired dog has No reaction to the snow, except for getting little snow balls between the pads on his feet. Glad you took him to the vet! That was quite a reaction. Looks like he may have had allergic reaction with it as well. Is he doing better?

Melora said...

You are so right about the snow balls! He gets terrible big ones in his... "arm pits?" too. Between the prednisone, the benadryll, and whatever it was the vet put in him he's been very sleepy, but his ears are back down to their normal sweet floppy selves and his nose is deflating. Still some noticeable skin irritation, but he is doing much better. And once again I am So glad we took him in for proper medical care. The new animal hospital we've got here is first class.