May 26, 2013

  • Ut Oh...My Poor Toe!

    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    The other day our dog, Baron (a 115 lb. monster...my word), stepped on my foot and primarily on the big toe of my left foot.  He really hurt me and it raised a big bloody blister on the side of the toe that he had kind of slid down.  He's lucky I didn't sling him across the room.  You try to protect the area but the blister was big and it broke.  I had it bandaged but....that really doesn't help.  THEN...I find that the damn bandage itself raised a blister on the opposite side of the toe.  I now have is bandaged with a teflon coated gauze pad and paper tape so it can *breathe*.   We diabetics have a tough time healing sore on our feet due to the decreased circulation and the fact that the neuropathy in our feet often prevents us from feeling things we should. 

    For example.  You will never guess what I stepped on in my kitchen today.  A bumble bee.  I kid you not.  It hurt me due to it's bulk and shape but it didn't sting me.  It was kind of like stepping on a rock.  No one was more surprised than I was when I went to sweep it up.  I saw it was something black and yellow so I knew it wasn't a rock but I never even imagined that was what *I* had stepped on.  I still inspected my foot to make SURE that it hadn't stung me because I just don't feel a lot of things that are sharp down there.  I was just glad that I flattened it by stepping on it.  I couldn't begin to imagine seeing it flying around my kitchen or living room and trying to catch it or even encourage it to fly out my door....LOL.

    Anyway, back to my poor toe.  Chewlee had seen my *boo-boo* and thought I should beat Baron.  She was here when this all happened.  I kind of thought I was rubbing my toe more than I wanted yesterday when I went to Chewlee's birthday party and was wearing the sandals I did.  The gauze I had around the toe was a bit on the rough side since it was really meant to go OVER a bandaged area but I was too lazy to go pull my supply box from the top shelf of my clothes closet.  That'll learn me.  At least I can have my doctor check it out for me when I see him next week.  Hopefully, it will be healing but, if not, he should know what I need to do to aid that.  When Chewlee (who you can't keep away when you want to) saw the toe today, she just went *ick!* and walked away.  But she was reacting to the loose skin from the blister. 

    In the meantime, it hurts like hell to walk around.  The toe is swollen right now...not badly but just enough to make me aware it's there and it's sore. 

    I think I've mentioned the little dog that has been hanging around our house.  I really can't make out what kind of dog it is other than a small mutt with some terrier in it (but it's much smaller than a terrier).  Chewlee can and does like to pick it up although it's legs are hanging down.  Well, today the Beast and Chewlee gave it a flea bath....just because it it DOES have fleas, it will help keep any from getting on Baron.  It really needed a bath since it was both dirty and is shedding.  It's got a double coat and winter is now over.  I was horrified at all the hair that was on Chewlee from picking it up.  Anyway, the dog really didn't act like he'd ever been bathed before.  I think he stood still mostly because the cool water felt good standing there in the sun.  He's been seeking shade out before that since it was warm out and I'm sure that double coat that is still on him didn't help. 

    Later on, the Beast went over to the owners house to see if anyone was around.  Chewlee had him on Baron's leash so that he was following them.  The people were home and, get this....they couldn't understand where he was since they had left him in the back yard a week ago when they left for a camping trip.  I know!  The Beast and I were horrified when we heard that.  All we could think of was....and how was he going to eat or get drinking water?  When it rained, where was he going to find shelter?  We know that house and it hasn't even got a deck for the dog to get under.  They had put a chair to block the only access they knew that allowed the dog out of the yard.  Yeah, like even a little dog can't knock over a folding chair?  Give me a break.  It's probably the only thing that saved his life.

    The Beast has decided that, if this happens again, that dog is going to be claimed by US and we will find a family that wants a sweet little dog.  In fact, we have a family in mind for that.  At least when they go away, they will make sure to find someone to keep it (probably us) while they are gone.  Since he and Baron get along, that shouldn't be a problem.  The Beast won't keep him mainly because we can't keep him out of the garden and that is just a big no-no here.  We think this type of neglect has happened before because the hole they tried to block was one the dog had dug to escape the yard...and the Beast said it looks like he dug a hole into the access underneath and then dug another hole out of it.  That was a lot of digging for that little guy.

    When it rained last week, we think that the dog must have gone underneath our porch out front.  That area stays dry pretty much partly because of the boards being so close together and then we have a roof over the porch, too.  If he stayed underneath and close to the house, he would have stayed dry.  He never looked drenched when we saw him.  We actually thought those people were putting the dog out when they went to work.  But we DID put out dry dog food for him and water, too.  That was just because we weren't sure about these people and he dug into the food the first time we fed him.  After that, we left the food out for him every morning and all day long.  We only brought the food in at night because we ASSUMED he was home with his owners and we didn't want any critters coming around for a late night snack.

    Love you all.  Hope you had a good weekend but brace yourselves.  It doesn't look good for us here as far as bad weather, tornadoes and rain, rain, rain.  Say a prayer for everyone in their paths.