Hiya,
Hanging up the phone I was excited for my little Step-Pooch to get her nails clipped at the groomers as she does enjoy day trips out to new places. Always rushing to try and see everything, smell everything and generally be in everything. Always nosey and forever our little star when she goes anywhere with the Vet or Groomer they always tell us how good she is and how lucky we are to have such a well behaved dog. Or maybe that is just what they say to every owner?!
However, as we did our weekly "pretend" vet check where we get her up for cuddles on the sofa and pretend that she has her teeth checked, her eyes, her paws and her ears. But something was wrong.
"What on earth is this" Mr Warehouse exclaimed as I turned to him he showed me. Not seeing clearly I allowed him to guide my hand over the inflamed sausage-shaped lump in our pup's floppy ear. Shaking us off it was obviously uncomfortable but not sore to the point she cried. I looked at Mr. Warehouse and we wondered if it was something serious.
"If we need to go to the Vets we should go now," I said panicked as I looked at the time. It was early evening so confident we may get seen that night, so I dialled the number for our local vets.
Without saying what it may be or telling us an educated diagnosis they seemed concerned and worryingly said that there were no appointments for that evening but instead, could we instead bring her in tomorrow morning, first thing. I agreed and ended the call with little more than being told it was a possible aural haematoma - a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues. But with the prospect of a £45.00 fee just to examine her properly, I shuddered at the true cost once medication and extras had been added.
Wanting to make sure that our Vets were correct, and find a cheaper consultation fee, I called another vet closer to where we have now moved to in the countryside. They explained that yes, similar to a blood blister in humans, that animals can get these too, most commonly after an ear infection or, in this case, smacking a soft floppy ear off of something hard. Bursting the blood vessels and, unlike humans, dogs and other animals struggle to regulate this natural occurrence and thus rather than the body automatically absorbing the excess blood back into the tissue surrounding the area it creates a pocket that fills up and then starts to process and drain away the fluid into the body. However, this process could take days, weeks or even months in many cases and we discovered after Googling it (I know I told him not to but Mr Warehouse was on it before I came off the phone to the Vets) most dogs and cats are left with a cauliflower ear, crumpled and disfigured from the trauma.
Booking an appointment for Monday we kept an eye on our grumpy pup all weekend and made sure that sausage was not filling up too much. I was concerned that the following morning we would come down to a bloodbath scene with splattering's up the new white carpet and walls following the blister bursting overnight. Thankfully we had nothing of the sorts and instead she was fine if only a little irritable. And so this evening after work I arrived home and, bundling her into my little Fiat, Clifford, we went round to the new Vets. Pulling into the small car park and walking in, I felt happy with the practice and could see just how much they cared and loved animals from the photos and thank you cards on the walls.
"This feels like a proper country bumpkin vet's," I said to my fiance, who laughed and made some comment about not being in the 'real' countryside.
Soon we were called through and looking over her the petite blonde lady took another look at her ear and quizzed us both on our dog's habits and traits. I explained that following our Pyometra scare in February of 2016 she was operated on to save her life and spayed and that other than this she is as healthy and fit as a fiddle.
The lovely Veterinary nurse said that most likely it was an aural haematoma and that this would be easily fixable. She explained that it’s typically caused by overly aggressive ear scratching or head shaking that resulted from an ear infection. To try and make our fur baby feel better the Vet suggested a drain to draw out the fluid with a needle or syringe under general anaesthetic. A steroid and medication would then be injected into the pocket to reduce swelling, inflammation and to stop it from happening again. However, she also explained that it is very common for an aural haematoma to return and on the next time, we would need surgery.
Going into more detail, The sweet lady said confirmed that a surgical repair is often considered the most effective treatment for ear hematomas. Looking online at vetstreet.com, Mr Warehouse has seen that, along with the Vets advice the surgery will be carried out under anaesthesia and an incision is made along the length of the aural hematoma on the inner surface of the ear. Once the fluid and blood clots are removed, the inner surface of the ear is tacked down to the outer surface of the ear with sutures. The sutures hold the inner and outer surfaces against each other so that when scar tissue forms, the two surfaces are smooth and not lumpy. The sutures generally stay in place for a few weeks while the incision is left open so that fluid will continue to drain as the ear heals. Eventually, the incision will heal on its own.
Taking the lead the kindly nurse took our pooch to have her aural haematoma drained and returned with a rather bloodied dog. Bleeding stemmed, her fur and coat were smothered with bright red claret. We must have looked worried as the vet went on to explain that whilst she has attempted to drain all of the blood (and apparently there was alot) there may still be a little amount that will continue to come in the next few days, and, coupled with the steroids and medication to prevent it filling again we may have a little spillage here and there.
Told to keep an eye on it and being given our first lot of ear gel, we booked in for another appointment next week to see how pup gets on. Looking at it now as she sits at the foot of the bed, on a towel and looking sorry for herself, I remind myself about how complacent I can be sometimes, about how we can all be sometimes, when someone we are around all the time becomes ill or poorly and you remember just how much they mean to you and this is no different when it comes to our dog.
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
Hello Dears!
So after returning home after Dreamboys last week to my very own Dreamboy, I decided to spend my weekend with him and his family celebrating the dead and dressing up for a frightful night of goblins and ghouls! Why its Halloween of course!
Another big change was my hair colour this week and after quite frankly years (with the odd ginger phase thrown in for good measure) I had been blonde since probably the Mr. Workaholic days. And as scary as it initially was looking back at myself sitting in a top London salon (I had gone there as I had scouted out a girl looking for some training in colour correction to pass her hairdressing exams) I was nervous about what other people would think of my new luscious shiny brown locks. But my reaction has been mostly good, in fact better than I anticipated. Brown has been a big change back to something somewhat more normal, even if it does remind me of the mother!? All day today at work I was being told how sexy, mature, grown up and attractive I looked now I was Brunette. Even caught the eye of some of the lads from the warehouse - Next to my very own Mr. Warehouse, who, after tugging at my head for several moments realised that this was for real and not just a wig. And so I am now Brunette and boring - I can safely say that four days into being a brownie; Blondes definitely had more fun. Or maybe it was that I can still have the same fun, just Blondes can get away with more!?
One reason, but not wholly, why I wanted to go to the dark side was simply that I didn't think my Halloween costume looked right with Blonde hair. Brunette Little Red Riding Hood certainly looks more a part than Blonde Little Red Riding Hood which made an appearance at a club Halloween disco one year. Mmm, yes definitely think I will be showing off the naughty Brunette do for a few months yet, might even keep it for summer too!?
But yes this week in the UK and I am almost certain the rest of the world it was Halloween! This year I went as Brunette Little Red Riding Hood, or as I liked to put it, Little Dead Riding Hood completed with scratched face as if from a mysterious werewolf. Now if I could get away with it, and not upstage completely my other-half's family, I would throw a hum-dinger of a partay. But unfortunately Mr. Warehouse's cousin already beat me and is now such a mainstream tradition in the family that even if I threw a small one it would look as if I was trying to out-Halloween-party-him. But don't you worry, give me a few years, maybe a family of my own and I will start to throw some crazy parties around here! No dinner parties allowed - Boring arses!
But it got me thinking about Halloween in general because in Britain, unlike in the States it is a very small, almost insignificant holiday. Well in fact its not even given that title here. In Ireland I know for sure they celebrate it as the Eve of The Day Of The Dead which is held on the 1st or 2nd of November to celebrate the dead and their lives - But in England, we don't. I think, or at the very least it is an old South American thing but I like it and the The Day Of The Dead is a celebration and the costumes and make-up, whilst scary are very much beautiful and artistic. I am seriously considering this as an option for next year already! Although I am not really sure if this is something Mr. Warehouse would feel comfortable in ...
Halloween is also the time for little snotty nosed kids and spoilt brats of teenagers to walk around houses, pumpkin indulged or not and knock on the doors until sweets, money and any other piece of materialistic value appears to have been plonked in their buckets. I suppose its like a poor man's backwards Santa Claus. Now I myself would have loved to go Trick or Treating. My parents had explained it to me that in the olden-times children would knock on the door, someone would answer and after screaming joyfully "Trick or Treat" the home owner would ask for a trick. The child, or children, would then perform a trick - Singing a song, doing a magic trick or telling a joke or a poem. I knew the values of this sacred day in children's calenders, but alas I never got a chance to. My father, but mainly my mother, found it as a form of begging and as a result whilst my friends called round to my door and everyone else's on the street, I was forced to shamefully open that said door and hand out the years supply of sweets and chocolate no-body had eaten since the last time they came a-calling.
This in turn I think made me more determined to go all out when I was old enough to not listen to them, opting for going out out and staying late to parties I didn't know the host of. I still have yet to this day to throw a banging party or go trick or treating, but I know that when I have my own kids they will be able to have those opportunities I did not. Heck, I will probably even dress up with them! Probably in something cliche and cute like a Franken-family or a cool family get up like The Addams Family or a Twisted Batman inspired clobber! As for my pre-mommy stage of life though, the standard anything-goes Sexy Halloween Costume will have to do. Since turning seventeen I have been as a Bat, Witch, Goth, Fallen Angel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cat, Snow White, Wolf and a Dark Fairy. But what will I be next year?! That is the question?! Maybe a freaky take on a couples dress up like Disney's 101 Dalmatians, or Corpse Bride?! Maybe Something different like a Broken China Dolly, a better version of Kim K's Poison Ivy or Sexy Skeleton! Hmmm ...
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
