Bernie the Dish Wearing Dog

Notice something different about Bernie in this picture? He's sporting the latest in doggy fashion - the Elizabethan collar! Somehow he managed to tear open his neutering incision and get it very infected, and now he has to take antibiotics and wear this collar for a while so that he won't lick his wound anymore. I noticed it yesterday and took him to the vet this morning. I also had the vet examine his right front leg, because I had noticed him holding that leg up from time to time, and his elbow is very swollen. So I get to take him back to the vet early Thursday morning, so that they can put him under for a while and x-ray his leg, and while they have him under, they'll clean his neutering incision up and clear away the necrotic edges so that it'll heal better. Dog ownership is so fun. Thursday will be just under a week since I picked him up, just over a week since I went and paid to adopt him, and by the time I pay off the bill for Thursday, I'll have spent about $475 on him. Oh, the joys of dog ownership!

My vet was very worried about his elbow, though. Since we don't know his history, and are only estimating his age (she figured 2-3 years old), she can only make guesses about what is going on with his elbow. The first possibility that she mentioned was that it could have been fractured at some point and never healed properly. The second thing she mentioned was a bone tumor - cancer. But I'm not letting my mind go there. He's a little bit too young for cancer to be likely, and since he was a stray, there is every possibility that he broke his leg at some point and didn't have any medical attention. But we'll find out for sure Thursday afternoon when I pick him up.

But this isn't making me regret my decision to adopt him one little bit. He is an incredible dog; very sweet and affectionate and gentle, and you have to take the bad with the good. I would have hoped that he wouldn't start costing me this much money until I had had him for a while, but sometimes things don't work out the way you would like. And somehow I think I was just meant to find him, so that I could take care of him the way that he needs, and if that comes with bills, that's okay. My vets are kind enough to let me do payment plans if the total goes too high, and they are incredibly kind, caring people who I trust my animals with implicitly.

And I'll definitely update again on Thursday about what the x-rays show. Until then, think good thoughts that it will be just about anything except cancer!