You better hope your little ratdog pulls through.

The BBQ Pit
61

I had a chow chow for a number of year. We put him down in January after his kidney’s failed.

He suffered from separation anxiety. When we went to the vet, I was the one to hold him so he could be examined. As he got older, he got worse about others handling him. Let me tell you though, the vets that handled him were really great about his disposition. He was not a vicious dog, but I would never leave him anywhere unattended. The vet wouldn’t take him unless he was muzzled. Actually, he was always muzzled when he was dropped off but never muzzled when I would pick him up. I guess once he settled in he was fine.

The point is that responsible is responsible and I really have very little patience for pet owners who are not responsible - and that includes socializing dogs so the vet can handle them.

But I digress - CCL you know I can sympathize with your pain and trama involving your bite. Take care and here’s hoping you don’t need to start the rabies treatment. Keep us posted, please.

62

Oh, I’ve been bitten and scratched by a big ol’ tom cat my parents had. Got infected, but nothing on the magnitude of CCL. I had, for many years, the honor of escorting him to the vet. The vet and I both suffered thru these visits. Never had to cut the cat’s head off. He lived to be 20 years old, due in large part to the love he found at home and the excellent care of the vet.

But that’s not why I hate cats. And I’ve never started a cat pitting thread because of it. I still don’t like cats. I never felt compelled to punt one across the yard.

By the same token, I’ve never taken up employment where I would have to, on a daily basis, interact with sick cats.

Then strike up a post on a message board bemoaning this fact.

I bad mouthed CCL because I find her offensive, much as I imagine she finds me and my dog. Like I care.

63

Duke of Rat, I think you are missing a point.

I don’t think that CCL hates all ratdogs, just the ones who are nasty and ill-tempered. And I think she blames the owners more than the dogs for the bad temper of the dogs.

She didn’t come here to pit all ratdogs. She came here to pit the one that bit her hand so badly that she doesn’t know if she’s got nerve damage yet. Just that dog. (And any dog like it.)

On the other hand, it seems like you hate all cats. Even the cats who won’t bite you, won’t scratch you, won’t do anything to you. CCL dislikes nasty dogs who bite and hang on and possibly cause nerve damage. And I’m sure she’d dislike any cat who did that too.

What? You wouldn’t?

I mean, what’s so wrong about having a problem with a dog that does that? Not all dogs, but dogs like that?

64

Howyadoin,

The real reason the ratdog attacked was jealousy!

What, you don’t think dogs would like to have thumbs?

-Rav

65

My beloved CatLady could come in here and start up a thread every time she sees a particularly cute puppy at work, but 1. that would be really annoying, and 2. this particular forum is devoted to the fine art of bitching, so when one comes home and needs to vent (and one’s husband is asleep), it’s a fine venue for doing so.

Loving what you do–and being good at what you do–doesn’t mean never complaining about it. If you’re put off by a vet tech who gripes about especially troublesome dogs, I would encourage you to never make friends with any doctors. Bitching about patients is what gets us through the damn day.

Dr. J

66

And we all thought the phrase “stitch & bitch” originated with sewing circles.

67

How expensive are those chainmail gloves (like the ones used for high-risk autopsies) for handling snappish canines?

The thought of a multiheaded poodle chills my blood.

68

I have no idea how much something like that costs, but I would think they’d be too inflexible to allow effective restraint, especially of little dogs like a min pin. It’s awfully easy for those little matchstick legs to slide between your fingers as it is, you know.

69

I imagine the majority of the owners pay for the costs themselves. In my family, we don’t get pets unless we’re prepared to shell out quite a bit of cash if the pet needs it. We won’t ask for heroic measures, but we do consider our pets to be truly part of the family. For instance, a couple of years ago my immediate family was getting ready to pay at least a couple of grand so that our 19 year old cat could get operated and treated for cancer. She wasn’t a purebred, we got her off the street, but she was ours. However, her kidneys were starting to fail, so she couldn’t be effectively treated. We took her home and made her comfortable until she couldn’t eat, and then we had her put down.

Our priorities might not be your priorities. We don’t go on fancy vacations, or do a lot of other stuff that many people seem to take for granted. But we’re comfortable and happy knowing that our pets get the care they need, when they need it. Our pets give us a lot of pleasure, and we recognize that they’re our responsibility, too. A pet can’t get to a vet on its own.

70

I’m another not-very-rich-at-all person who has spent quite a bit on vet bills. I have some equally not-rich friends who feel the same way.

71

ditto. I think I’ve paid more in vet bills and procedures for my dog in the past eight years than I have for myself…surgery, x-rays, medications, blood tests…

I would do anything for her that I possibly could afford.

72

Only dog that ever actually bit me hard enough to draw blood was a chihuahua. Now, I don’t hate chihuahuas or other small dogs, but the incident left me with a scar and slight nerve damage in my left hand, so naturally, I avoid the anklebiter types.
I have a Siberian and a mixed breed, both medium sized and extremely lovable. What I don’t have is any idea what my point was going to be when I started this…

73

I h ope you are alright CrazyCatLady
Good thoughts coming your way from the South.

74

so…when do we find out if the ratdog kicked the bucket or not? and ** CrazyCatLady **who gets the pleasure of choping off the head if it doesn’t pull through?

75

CrazyCatLady woke me up early this morning and asked me to look at her hand. “Why? What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s draining green pus,” she said.

“Uh, that’s bad,” I said. “Go to the emergency room.” (Four years of med school, folks, right there!)

Once there, she was pumped full of IV antibiotics and sent over to a hand specialist. He decided to take her to the OR to drain the wound and make sure the infection wasn’t in the joint capsule.

He got it cleaned up and drained, and she’s now in Happy Post-Op Dilaudid Land. The hand is going to be fine. No word yet on whether the punting dog in question has finally sailed through the goal posts of existence.

Dr. J

76

Good floaty thoughts to ya CCL…how does that ceiling look anyway… :slight_smile:

77

[homer] mmmmmm Happy Post-Op Dilaudid Land [/homer]

78

Hell, I didn’t even finish college, and I could have told her that green ooze is a Bad Sign.

Seriously, I hope she heals up quickly and thoroughly.

79

Yikes! I won’t tell you to feel better soon, CCL, since you’re probably feeling pretty good right now, but I hope that pretty soon you feel better than you will when the meds wear off, and that your thumb will be fine.

80

Of course I already knew that draining green pus is never a good thing. I just wanted to know if I needed to have it looked at right away, or if I would be as well served by waiting a few hours and trying to get in to see my regular doctor (who probably wouldn’t get me in till Monday). I really hate to take up the time of already overworked ER staff with something my regular doc could take care of just as well. I already knew what he’d tell me, as it’s what he tells me about just about everything I ask him about: You ought to go see a doctor about that. I just wanted to know how soon I needed to see a doctor about it.

And happy post-op dilaudid land is more like Damn, That HurtsZZZZZZZZZZZ Land. It still hurts, you’re just too sleepy to notice that much. Actually, the pain meds they’d given made me feel a lot like I do before a seizure, and I can’t imagine why anyone would take that shit for recreation.

As for the dog, he’s still alive. He’s settled down a bit, either because he’s too weak to carry on with that crap or because he’s figured out he always loses anyway. They were even able to take his basket muzzle (one of the rigid ones that completely surrounds the snout, but allows the dog to open its mouth) off long enough to feed him. It was the first time he’s had it off since we fished him out after he bit me. Now they just put it on to actually work on him.

If he dies or the owners put him down in the next week, one of the vets or a vaccinated technician (I’m not vaccinated, as I’ve never really had an extra $600 kicking around to have it done) will cut his head off, double-bag it, and pop it in the fridge till a courier from the state lab comes to pick it up.

As a side note, he’s a miniature pinscher, not a rat terrier. Rat-dog describes the size and temperament, not the breed function. (Not that minpins ever had a function, of course.)

I apologize if this post doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. I have, after all, had three shots of demerol, some fentanyl, and two doses of Vicodin today, on top of the inhaled anesthesia.