[Dailydrool] Dog bite

[Pam McQuade]

Boy, am I behind in my Drools. A few days spent in a hospital can do that to 
you.

Last weekend, when I tried to step over him, Abner decided to nosh on my 
foot. The bite didn't seem all that deep, so having been through this before 
with my hand, I started treating it the way they'd shown me in the hospital. 
For two days it seemed to be doing well, no infection. But Monday night I 
started shivering uncontrollably, then the foot got rather red. So Drew 
brought me over to the hospital. We didn't get there too soon.

I was horrified when they said I had to stay. (I do not do well in 
hospitals). I was there for about three days. But I learned something I 
would like to share with the Drool, so you don't have to do what I did. If 
you get a dog bite, flush it copiously with water just after you get the 
bite. That will clear out the bacteria. Unfortunately, I just washed it off 
a bit with soap. According to the infectious disease doc, that was just not 
enough. But maybe I would have avoided the hospital stay, if I had simply 
flushed it well..Then you can treat the wound with bacitracin. It seems that 
hand wounds and leg wounds are not the same. The leg is farther from the 
heart, and blood gets there with greater difficulty. So you need to be 
especially careful of leg wounds.

After biting me, Abner seemed confused that I was not taking him out. My 
foot hurt, but that was no excuse, as far as he was concerned. He's been 
especially loving lately, though I am steering rather clear of him. I still 
can't take the dogs out or keep my foot down more than very briefly before 
it hurts like crazy. It seems to be healing up well, but it's still very 
tender. I am hirpeling around (anyone else know that Middle English word 
that's so descriptive of someone hobbling along with a crutch?), confusing 
the hounds to no end.

I have a call into the behaviorist and am being very careful around Abs. 
It's been two years since he last tried to taste me, so I'm not sure what 
caused this. Perhaps its the hypthyroidism. I think I'll be doing a vet 
visit too, in the near future.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets, most of whom would never so much as 
snap at their mama