The Dreaded Cone Of Shame

When Brutus woke up today, the sore on his foot looked even worse than it did yesterday. It was still swollen about the same amount, but one side of it was kind of white and oozy. Sorry for the gross word in there, but there was just no nice way to say it. It was definitely time to head to the doggy doctor. Ugh. :(

On a happy note, Andrew came home last night for a dentist appointment that he had today. Brutus adores Andrew, to the point that he actually slept downstairs in his crate last night to keep an eye on him. Brutus hates it downstairs. He'll typically only go down there to go outside to go to the bathroom, or if Don is down there with food. If there is food involved, as soon as it is swallowed, he's right back up those stairs. I will never know what happened to him in a basement that makes him so afraid, but our basement is warm and cozy, and it just doesn't matter. Even today, Andrew got all kinds of love and "pats". At one point Andrew was sitting on the bed doing some stuff on the laptop. Our oldest cat Princess jumped up to say "hello" to him, and Brutus about fell apart. All of a sudden he was rolling over on his back trying to get Andrew's attention, and tapping his leg. When that wasn't getting his attention away from Princess, the head in the lap had to take place. Finally Brutus had had it. He stood up and sneezed really loud at Princess. Problem solved. Life was as it should be again.....in Brutus land.

Anyway, I digress. So, as always, I call the clinic to schedule Brutus's appointment, and give the girl at the desk fair warning that Brutus may throw a bit of a "fuss". In my mind I'm thinking that if anyone touches that back foot, he'll take their head off, but I didn't want to go quite that far with my honesty. For all of you dog owners out there, you'll love what came out of the receptionist's mouth next. "Well, maybe we should just muzzle him before we even take him back to the room". That's right. Let's go in to this with a positive attitude. In her defense, I'm the one always reminding them that they may need to be prepared for a bit of trouble. Maybe I should just stop, although, it's right on the computer screen that Brutus is a "vicious dog". More like a big fraidy cat.

I am at the point in getting over the flu that when I am standing up for more than an hour, I break out in a sweat. Yes, it's been ten days. No, I have no idea why I am such a wimp when it comes to this. I have my physical tomorrow, and may ask for euthanasia. Anyway, I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to handle Brutus alone, so Don came home to help. Thank goodness!! He literally had to pick him up just to get him in the room, and Brutus weighs 90 lbs. Not an easy task. We managed to get through the Vet Tech's interview without a muzzle, and even the doctor's eyeball exam of the foot. Things were going pretty well. Unfortunately, the foot was going to require a cortisone shot, and very close to the wound. I muzzled Brutus and held his leg while Don held Brutus. The doctor put the shot in gently, but as quickly as he could. He actually got almost the whole shot in, which should help to calm down the inflammation a lot. Brutus also has to take two weeks of antibiotics for the underlying infection, and wear the cone on his head when we aren't watching him close to keep him from licking. He has another appointment in two weeks to see if we need to repeat the shot and continue with the antibiotics. The lump on his foot was pretty big.

My heart felt thanks goes out to Cori Mason, a girl who I have watched grow up and become an amazing Veterinary Assistant. She gave me great advice to follow in the interim until the time came for me to take Brutus in to the doctor. I just wish Cori didn't live eight hours away!! Any vet clinic that has her is very lucky.

So, that is Brutus's update. I also want to thank Amber, Andrew's girlfriend, for the cute little "Cone of Shame" clip from the movie "Up". It's so sad, but it certainly made me laugh a little. I will share it below. Have a happy everyone!!