But imagine a tripping 75 lb slightly gangly, highly excitable and clumsy grey with 4 long legs (that seem to have a mind of their own)--can be funny if the involved grey didn't get hurt and catastrophic if some sharp object or body part is involved--because greys have very thin skin and almost no body fat. We brought the pups with us 2 Sundays ago to visit family. As hubby and I left the pups with their grandps to meet up with our Pop, we got a phone call informing us that Louie got out to greet our newly arrived relatives, skidded the icy pavement that turned into a gravel path and sustained more than 4 cuts in his extremities. Good news was, we weren't there to witness all these, so I avoided a major freak out. Another good news: Louie, despite being off-leash and outside the house, DID NOT escape at all(greys are notorious for fleeing, despite all established bonds, I think it is the sight hound in them). Bad news was his deepest wound was in his front paw, dime-sized and there's even that glistening tell-tale sign of a digit's tendon. The dilema is to have it sutured or not. I learned from Hanna's surgery (Fall 09)that sutures in greys don't last long (they rip up the skin and therefore defeats the purpose of having sutures anyway). So for the past week we have been nursing Louie's wounds and I must say, we are doing well. There is granulation tissue growing and almost closing the wound and no sign of infection at all. What we did was, nightly cleaning with povidone-iodine (Louie can't stand hydrogen peroxide) then topical antibiotic then covered with gauze and vetwrap. Then Louie is muzzled (works better than the lampshade collar) to prevent him from licking his wound. Can't sing enough praises for our plastic muzzle, vetwrap and topical antibiotic. Oh, and we kept his wound dry by wearing a bootie on one and a rubber disposable bootie (Pawz) on the other when we walk outside.
This is a picture of Louie's wound after 3 1/2 weeks of daily wound care.
