Sunday, August 11, 2013

Poor Buddy

We've rocked along pretty good with really no trouble from Buddy. He's responded beautifully to his heart medicines and you just couldn't ask for a better boy.

Last night around 2:30, Randall got up to take him out for his middle of the night potty break. Completely uneventful. Comes back in and shines the flashlight on Buddy's pallet so he can see to climb on it, and starts screaming "Blood! Blood!"

Now I'm a very sound sleeper normally, but I also wear ear plugs which blocks out most ambient noises, and last night I had a pain pill around midnight, so I was REALLY deeply asleep. And let me tell you, hearing that screamed in the middle of the night is just NOT what you want to have happen.

I got up and Randall had the light turned on and by the time  got my glasses on and got across the room to where Buddy sleeps on his pallet I could see this wasn't just a few drops. Blood had pooled all over one side of his pallet and up the closet door. There were large drops of blood clustered every few feet, and you could see more blood coming out the left side of his mouth.

We got him into the bathroom and I started trying to track down the problem. It looked to be on the left side of his mouth, and the good news was it looked like the flow was lessening. I was able to clean him up and when I looked inside, it did look like whatever had happened had happened in his mouth and this wasn't coming from further down his throat.

Huge relief there.

So I changed the pillow case on his pallet (I have it wrapped in a garbage bag so it's waterproof), and Randall got all the blood cleaned up. Poor Buddy thought he'd done something wrong, so I had to spend some time slobbering over him and reassuring him that we loved him and there was nothing wrong.

Late this morning I got a good look inside his mouth. There was a huge abscess on the cheek on the left side of his mouth. His teeth looked good and there was no inflammation around the gum line. It looked as if what was going on was independent of a tooth, and there had definitely not been any of the visible swelling you get with a problem tooth.

So sweet Buddy is going to be on some antibiotics for the next 14 days. He may need a dental, though with his dicky heart that's problematic. His teeth were in fine shape when he got here, and what I saw last night looks like just a simple cleaning would handle it. I'm going to wait several days and see if I can't brush them. Much of what is on the teeth is simply residue from the canned food he eats. So once the antibiotics have a chance to work, I'll see what I can do.

Meanwhile, he's off is 1/2 a baby aspirin. If he does end up having surgery of some sort, he doesn't need his blood thinned.

I will keep everyone posted on the progress.

2 comments:

  1. Prayers for Buddy.....he's such a sweet dog.

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  2. Phew !!! So glad he is safe and that he is with you wonderful folks !!! Thanks Donna :) <3

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