Bare Bum

Geez, I didn’t realize it has been so long…

Hi. My name is Kristen and I have been slacking on my posts. Life has calmed down a bit and you will hear from me more often. I promise!
 

Today I tell you about my poor, poor puppy. Over the past week and a half he has had an itchy spot on his bum/base of his tail. He has this same problem every fall so we are used to it. We have been applying hydrocortisone and pumping him full of benadryl hoping to avoid the vet. Some years this method works, others not so much.

Friday I woke up and he was miserable, this year was one of the not-so-much years.

Rudi at the vet is hysterical. He isn’t one of those dogs that cries and becomes outraged. Instead, he tries to become invisible. He doesn’t make eye contact with anyone or thing and he hides behind anything he can. The vet enters the room and there is Rudi hiding behind me, sneaking peeks at him from between my legs, almost knocking me over in the process. Need I remind you that he weighs 116 pounds (as of Friday) and is 4 feet long?! 

 

The vet takes a look at his bum and says that he needs to shave the area to let it breath and heal.

Five minutes later Rudi is back looking like this:

 The white stuff is a numbing/antibiotic powder. It was a lifesaver (and it should be for $40). It numbs the affected areas and applies an antibiotic and steroid for healing.

Seeing his bare bum (and sores) brought tears to my eyes. At that moment I felt like I horrible mom. He had two quarter-sized sores and probably a dozen smaller ones. No wonder he was so miserable for a week.

 

An empty wallet, two prescriptions and a bare-bummed pup later we were on our way home.

Let me just say, he was not happy about his new haircut, but it seems to have grown on him. The steroids have kicked in (along with his hellacious appetite) and he is feeling much better.