Today Penny went for a short walk in Darebin Parklands, wearing a Pawz shoe to protect the scar on her foot where she had the biopsy.
As it says on the Pawz site, Penny was fine about wearing the boot. (We've had it on a couple of times in the kitchen, accompanied by treats, to help her see it as a positive experience.) However, walking on the rocky hillside seemed to hurt her foot and she really wanted to lick it! But she was easily distracted.
I'd vote the shoe a success. The reason we were keen to try it was that we're going to Brighton Beach tomorrow and I don't like the idea of sand getting into her surgery scar.
When I picked the shoes up, from Melbourne Veterinary Specialists, I was told to stretch the top of the shoe for a couple of hours, just to make sure it's not too tight around her leg. I stretched it on the top of a small glass jar.
Also, we need to take care not to have the shoe on for long periods, because dogs sweat through their paws.
Sometimes she licks her paws and when I put medication on her feet she attempts to lick that off, which has the pleasant result for her that she gets a Kong to lick. As we're trying to keep her weight down, so there won't be too much strain on her legs, it would be good to have little socks to put on her feet. (The shoes didn't work too well!)
Penny's obviously feeling better now from her kennel cough, and we actually went for a thirty-minute walk today. Thank goodness for that, Penny says! We were very good about staying off the streets for more than ten days, to stop infecting other dogs, and we're going to stay away from organised activities for the full fourteen days, as advised. What a boring time for Penny! However, a good opportunity to practise canine freestyle and tricks, and to get some use out of our intelligence-enhancing games from Nina Ottosson.
But now we've got our eye on another little problem - she's starting to get a bald spot on top of her head. The vet says it's a subcutaneous bacterial infection and it's no use putting medication on from the outside, so I've reluctantly agreed to give her a course of tablets. I hate using medications, but I have to trust my vet.
He says it's most likely related to her ongoing problem of inflammation between her toes, so perhaps this medication will clear that up. However, he says the foot problem will most likely come back, because she's allergic to something in the environment. (We haven't been able to figure out what.)
But today, as I was in Murphy Brothers I saw the cutest little dog shoes. I bought a pair to see if I can stop Penny's licking of her paws. She was quite unconcerned when I put one on her right front paw, the main problem foot, and I must say it was rather funny to see her mooching around with one shoe off and one shoe on, as the old rhyme goes.
When she settled down, she transferred her licking to her left paw! So I put the other shoe on.
Now I'm going to wait and see whether she licks another foot. If so, I'm going to suspect it's habit rather than itchiness.
I won't leave the shoes on for too long at a time, because I'm not sure how annoying they are.
UPDATE... The shoes weren't on for very long at all. Two cats started a fight in the night somewhere nearby, Penny shot out the doggy door, I lumbered out slowly, after finding a torch, and there she was - shoeless. I suppose it was good exercise for me, bending down in the dark, searching under trees and plants till I found them.
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Teacher, writer, dog-lover, gardener, miniaturist, - that's part of who I am. I hope through writing I can discover more about myself and more about the interesting world around me.
