Dog scratch fever

Prissy hasn't been feeling well for the past couple of days. She's been moving slow and has taken over laying on a pile of dirty laundry in our bathroom. What's worse, she hasn't been in the middle of all our business like usual. I even had to clean all the crumbs from The Boy's lunch myself because she wasn't up to eating the scraps. This was worse than when she was adjusting to The Boy in the beginning. When she growled at the Boy Thursday I was convinced she was dying. I prepped myself to call doggie hospice.

We went to the vet Friday. I had The Boy in his stroller and her in her crate. Of course I had the diaper bag too, since when I don't bring it The Boy throws up. Once I got all these contraptions in from the car she amazingly perked back up and started acting like her old self. Obviously.

The vet tech put her on the exam table and The Boy cracked up. The vet came in and did a once over of her mouth, ears, eyes, etc. He said she looked okay. Then he noticed a patch of matted fur on her hip and tried to investigate.

Vet: It looks like she possibly has a skin infection here but the fur is matted and it's hard to tell. (He puts his nose up to the patch and bravely smells. The Boy cracks up again). I need to shave this to really examine what's going on. Has she gotten into anything at home? Any paint or glue?
Me: No. Maybe some baby food but nothing toxic.
Vet: Let me take her back here to the procedure area and check it out. Just a minute.

Oh no! What if she'd gotten into something dangerous? What if she had something dangerous on her and The Boy petted her in the last few days? What if there were poisonous chemicals seeping into her fur and slowly killing her? No wonder she'd been feeling so bad. She was being poisoned from the outside in. I felt terrible that she was in such bad shape. How could she get into something? Had I been neglecting her such that I was unaware if she got into something dangerous?

He returns.
Vet: I just tried to wash the area, and she objected pretty strongly to that. I think it's giving her a lot of pain and discomfort. We need to sedate her just to shave the area. What's your schedule like today? Blah blah blah I'll call you. Guilt set in.

The Boy and I ran an errand and returned to get the Prisster. The vet explained that she had agitated the skin somehow, and then she probably licked it and scratched it and created a hotbed for bacteria to thrive. She scratched at the irritated skin, which further irritated it, and further itched, and so on and so forth. She was going to live! He explained that she needed an antibiotic, a topical spray, and a pain medicine. Three times a day. For ten days. Yuck. He shaved a big patch of fur off so that he could treat it and so that it wouldn't be so inviting to bacteria. "She's still waking up. Let me see if she can walk in a straight line." He said. Or what? She's not driving, I thought.


He brought her in and she was pitiful. She had a huge red, raw place on her hip that had not been noticeable when she was furry. The Boy instantly wanted to get down and touch her, and tried to fling himself floorward but I held tight. He squealed. She winced. I felt terrible. My whole body itched like when someone mentions lice.The vet said these hot spots happen sometimes without explanation. I asked if she had indeed gotten into some glue or paint. "No," he said. "That was just dried pus. Once I got in there I could tell that the area had drained, and then that dried and caused the fur to mat. It was quite pungent." I tried not to throw up right there in the exam room. $300, three prescriptions, sedation, a haircut, a catheter, and all this worry just because she had itchy skin and scratched herself into an infection? A day at the spa would be less of a production. If you need some time to yourself, next time just say so. You don't have to get all self-injurious on us to get some pampering.