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Thursday, October 13, 2011

How Sadie literally licked Hurley's Face Off

I noticed a bit of a bald spot around Hurley's eye about a week ago.  I noticed a couple days ago that it had grown and it seemed a little puffier than the other eye.  I also noticed Hurley pawing at it.  I promptly freaked out, called our vet and made an appointment for the following day.  As the Hubster and I examined his eye that night, he bet me that it was nothing.  I insisted upon keeping the appointment anyway.

The Hubster won his bet aka yes, he was right and I was wrong.  Most likely, it is nothing.  My favorite part of the vet visit came after we had done several tests with his eye involving black lights and droplets.  Our vet asked me "What do you think the chances are that he just bumped his head?"  I laughed.  Yup, sounds like Hurley. 

I had also remembered, as I was driving into the parking lot, that Sadie likes to groom Hurley.  Actually, she is obsessed with grooming him.  Every night, he gets a good once-over; some nights, she would lick his face, ears, etc for hours on end if we let her.  If I had remembered this before I was pulling into the vet's office, no appt would have been made. There is no question in my mind that she literally licked the fur off of his face.   And fur growing back is itchy, he scratched, I thought it was bothering him.  Bam! Vet visit.

Needless to say, it's a good thing my vet is the type that says "I'm not gonna charge you for that" when we do quick tests in the clinic that reinforce my likely over-reaction.  But I'm glad that my mind is at peace.  And just in case the Hubster is only temporarily right, I am going on the record that there is a slight chance that it could be ring worm or mites (aka Mange).  If it gets worse (after keeping Sadie's tongue far away from her bro), then we look into getting more tests done.  That's vet-speak for making the doggie mama feel better about wasting a visit.  He even called me after the visit to speak to me about demodectic mange and that it's on the list of what to be concerned about if it gets worse. 



In other news, it's started raining here in Portland.  Please look forward to plenty of muddy Hurley pics for the next 9 months.

7 comments:

  1. I have one of those obsessive lickers too. Brut is crazy about any cut or sore. In fact I had to keep Silver and him separated for a bit once when she had a bug bite on the inside of her ear and he wouldn't stop playing doctor!

    Glad it was nothing serious. But I know what you mean it's easy to think of a million things instead of the obvious. :)

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  2. I definitely have a tendency to make the just-in-case vet appointments. Unfortunately, our vet charges for everything - at least they're a bit cheaper than the last lot. Sigh. Big city vets.

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  3. Yes, it is always better to make the just-in-case appointments. I feel slightly stupid when I know it's likely nothing but better safe than sorry.

    We do have the best vet I've ever been to (it's actually an entire office with 5 or 6 vets, most of whom we've seen and all of whom I've liked). Hurley's on their puppy plan so all Dr visits are 20% off through year 1. How awesome is that? They are a little pricier than most but they make up for it in not charging me for absolutely everything, advising to wait on some tests rather than rack up a huge bill when it makes sense and their customer service is outstanding. I feel very fortunate to have found them!

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  4. My Lamar gives himself "lick granulomas" when he's overly anxious--big bare spots just licking from the crap out of his poor paws. So I guess it makes sense that dogs could do the same thing to each other!

    Kind of sweet that Sadie licks Hurley that much though.

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  5. I used to do a lot of those vet appointments too, but your vet does sound so reasonable. I think Sadie should go back to grooming school and learn a "different haircut".

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  6. LOL my parents have one of their doxies that takes care of cleaning all of the other doxies they have. He is the resident groomer :)
    Glad everything turned out ok!

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  7. That's hilarious but I am glad it was nothing. You have a pretty terrific vet there, I'd say. How awesome of him not to charge!
    Can't wait for the muddy photos. Hurley is just so cute. :-)

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