Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Thin-skinned

With their long legs and sleek built, greyhounds are very graceful and regal-looking . They are really awesome to watch when they are running in an enclosed area. I am just amazed at the speed and the power...

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.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Hanna




Both red chairs (all 4 critters' favorite) were occupied so Hanna decided to take the blue cat bed...

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Happy New Year!




Husband & I spent our 3rd Christmas with our family in Denver. Our nieces & nephews are now mostly taller than me (their human growth chart, since my height is easier to catch up with than my husband's 6'8"). Then we went to Copper Mountain for some quality skiing. Husband & I have now polished our turns, we even ventured out to the top of the mountain where one could really feel how beautiful mother (or father) nature is when taken cared of (left alone or not trashed/destroyed). It was a great vacation which we hope to repeat Christmas 2010!

Wishing you all a healthy, prosperous & peaceful 2010!