Kipper and the foreign object

[HAH]

Kipper’s had a bare patch on the side of one of his rear paw pads for some time (I think months?) which occasionally looks raw or inflamed. This was it last week:
I’d assumed it was simply a bald patch he’d rubbed on granite or similar at some point, but showing OH the other day we thought hmm, not sure. His sage comment was ‘if it was on either of us, we’d get it looked at’ so I took him to the vet this morning. She stuck a needle in it and I was surprised that pus came out. She tried to find an object like a grass seed, but couldn’t; we’ve got 5 days of mild steroid and antibiotic cream, and will keep an eye. Hopefully that’s done if though - and Kipper was so good at being prodded about, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have tolerated it as well a few months ago. Fingers crossed it clears up.

 

[Ashley]

Good call going to the vet! Hopefully the antibiotic will take care of things now.

 

[Shaz82]

Yuk, poor Kipper, hope he is on the mend now.

 

[snowbunny]

How strange! Hopefully the meds will sort it out sharpish.

Reminds me of a friend of mine (I may have mentioned this story before, so just humour me if I have ) who was trimming one of his palm trees at his house in Spain without any shoes on. He stepped back and onto one of the fronds, which stabbed him in the sole of the foot. They're nasty things, cause a lot of irritation even if you get a tiny bit of sap on you. He pulled the spike out and flushed it with water, but his foot still swelled up like a balloon. A day or so later he thought he could still feel something inside, so he gave it a good digging with a craft knife (totally the sort of thing I would do ) but couldn't find anything. Another little while, the swelling still hadn't gone down, so he went to the local doctor, who also gave it a good dig and couldn't find anything. No joy, and it wasn't getting better, still very painful, so he went to his doctor in Andorra who also insisted there was nothing in there and it just needed to heal.

Time went by, it was still very sore but the doctors were just telling him he had to deal with it. Eventually, he got a lump on the TOP of his foot. He sliced it open, and a load of goo came spraying out, along with a one centimetre long piece of spike! He said the relief was instant. But, imagine that, it worked its way through the whole of his foot. Ew.

 

[HAH]

How strange! Hopefully the meds will sort it out sharpish.

Reminds me of a friend of mine (I may have mentioned this story before, so just humour me if I have ) who was trimming one of his palm trees at his house in Spain without any shoes on. He stepped back and onto one of the fronds, which stabbed him in the sole of the foot. They're nasty things, cause a lot of irritation even if you get a tiny bit of sap on you. He pulled the spike out and flushed it with water, but his foot still swelled up like a balloon. A day or so later he thought he could still feel something inside, so he gave it a good digging with a craft knife (totally the sort of thing I would do ) but couldn't find anything. Another little while, the swelling still hadn't gone down, so he went to the local doctor, who also gave it a good dig and couldn't find anything. No joy, and it wasn't getting better, still very painful, so he went to his doctor in Andorra who also insisted there was nothing in there and it just needed to heal.

Time went by, it was still very sore but the doctors were just telling him he had to deal with it. Eventually, he got a lump on the TOP of his foot. He sliced it open, and a load of goo came spraying out, along with a one centimetre long piece of spike! He said the relief was instant. But, imagine that, it worked its way through the whole of his foot. Ew.

Hoochey mama, that’s a phenomenal story!! What a massive relief that must’ve been for the poor fella, I bet he just knew there was something still there.

The vet was telling me similar dog-related horror stories; her brother’s spaniel was off colour for months, all sorts of weird symptoms they couldn’t work out - eventually after CT scans and xrays at Langford vet hospital in Bristol they discovered a grass seed that had travelled into a lymph node, and once he’d had an op to remove it he was fine! She said she knew someone else whose spaniel developed back problems which was tracked to a spinal abscess caused by a grass seed traveling to the spine. Both dogs were fine, but it was an expensive business. Apparently it’s one of the biggest causes of pet insurance claims. Scary beans...

 

[snowbunny]

I think Bramble had to have a grass seed removed from her ear canal under anaesthesia or sedation. They are horrible things!

 

[HAH]

I think Bramble had to have a grass seed removed from her ear canal under anaesthesia or sedation. They are horrible things!

I remember that, poor Bramble sausage. Darned grass seed, grr...

 

[kateincornwall]

So well done to you and yours for taking this route and biggest of well done to Kipper for being such a very good boy xxxxxxx

 

[Selina27]

it just needed to heel.

Fiona?

 

[Selina27]

Hoochey mama,

Where in the world did you get that expression from?

Well done you for getting it looked at, and to Kipper for being a good boy. Do you think the co-operative care you've done helped? I really need to start on this -- Cassie is hopeless at being touched and what not.

 

[Jacqui-S]

Fiona?

The gin?

 

[Selina27]

The gin?

Must be so !

 

[Atemas]

Hope the cream sorts Kipper’s paw out quickly

 

[HAH]

Where in the world did you get that expression from?

I think it’s another of my strange 1920s expressions; in Minnie the Moocher, Cab Calloway sings about her being a ‘red hot hoochie coocher’, it’s probably along those lines...

Do you think the co-operative care you've done helped?

I’ve been mulling this; we haven’t gone far down the road of cooperative care yet, but I have become more (gently) hands on with Kipper and have worked a fair amount on his confidence - as well as trying to build our communication, with me asking him to do things more and more (with the understanding that if he says ‘no’, I back off). So I’d say yes, it’s definitely helping. I was telling the vet about it, she was quite interested/polite

 

[Selina27]

she was quite interested

You'd think they would be really, ultimately it would make many aspects of their job easier.

 

[snowbunny]

Fiona?

Dear god alive!

Or... *waves magic wand* ... I don’t know what you mean

 

[Selina27]

Or... *waves magic wand* ... I don’t know what you mean

 

[Cath]

Poor lad hope he is soon better

 

[MrChew]

Oh dear. Hope Kipper feels better soon. Sounds like he was very brave.

I remember working in a hospital on the coast and palm fronds causing SO MANY nasty injuries and infections because the spikes really get in and are hard to remove. And yes... migrate. Yuck.

 

[Joy]

Hope Kipper doesn't have anything inside his foot and that it's better soon.