Trouble for Dugan the Dog!

I had written in an earlier blog about Dugan’s treatment at the Vet for allergies. Things went terribly wrong. We had taken him to the Vet because he had itchy front feet and he had started to lick and chew them. The Vet gave him a cortisone shot; that was a mistake! Dugan developed an abscess in his loin from the shot. This abscess didn’t become apparent until after more than two weeks after his shot, and then it appeared suddenly. It was so large that it looked like someone’s large hand was hidden under his hide on one side of his back. When it suddenly appeared I feared the worst and thought of cancer. Then it occurred to me that the vet may have given him his shot there, so I called the vet and asked if his file showed where they injected him. They said he was injected in the loin and leg. We hauled him down there and they drew fluid out and it was pus and blood. He had lost 13 pounds and was looking gaunt and was still licking and chewing his toes. Dugan took antibiotics and prednisone by pill form and the abscess disappeared within two weeks. He is fleshing out again and is livelier. I have taken some Aloe Vera we have growing here and made my own salve, and put it between his front toes a couple of times and he has quit chewing so far! Anyway, things are about back to normal for everyone. We are waiting out Summer for cooler weather. The thermometer read 110F a few minutes ago, so we don’t exercise Dugan except in the early morning when temperatures have plummeted down to 90F.

Here are more fun pictures and a video of Dugan digging for a gopher.


Master gets a juicy kiss.


"Hey Master, why don't you cut out the deodorant, you could smell a little stronger!"


"OK Master, what is it you want to talk about"


"Oh Master, I wuv you!"


Dugan has a little dirt on his snout from gopher digging.


Dugan sez: "I think my noggin is a little longer than a foot".


"Master, I don't know how I keep up with everything!"


"Lets see now, where is that gopher hiding?"


"Ahh, nothing like a stretch in the cool grass to sooth the savage beast."