Thursday

 

We made an unplanned trip to the veterinarian this morning. We’ve noticed that Toby’s been flapping his ears a lot, but we were so focused on his skin issues that we ignored it. When I bathed him the other night, he yelped when I tried to use the towel to clean the inside of his ears. I noticed one ear was red. This morning he was scratching his ear and he cried out in pain as he scratched. His ear was red and irritated in two places. So we made an appointment.

Toby’s looking for the treat jar. 

The doctor swabbed his ears and determined there was a small yeast infection. Since it was slight, his first recommendation was to clean them by squirting some fluid in them. We asked a lot of questions, so he decided to demonstrate. He and the vet tech got Toby up on the table to show us how to do it. Chaos ensued. The doctor squirted fluid at the tech, on my glasses, in John’s hair, at Toby, and at the window. Some might have gotten in Toby’s ear. It definitely got in the vet tech’s ear. Toby was having none of that nonsense. There was no way we’d be able to do that several times a day.

The doctor decided we needed a different plan. He prescribed medicine to put in Toby’s ears once a day using a syringe, instead of trying to squirt fluid from a bottle. The medicine had antibiotics, steroid, pain and inflammation ingredients. 

He wanted to show us how to administer. I asked if we needed goggles this time. He was not amused. 

He summoned the tech to put a muzzle on Toby which had a remarkably calming effect (once the tech was able to secure it). The doctor was able to inject the medicine easily. The leather muzzle looked strangely handsome on Toby with his brown eye patch.

Toby already feels better. No head shaking or biting his skin. I think the yeast infection was driving him nuts. The doctor believes the skin and ear outbreaks are related. Toby’s skin continues to heal. His allergy trigger is uncertain, but likely seasonal and not related to food. The doctor said there’s stuff everywhere that could be the trigger, and normally dogs and humans are able to fight it off.

This is Toby at the checkout desk, asking for more treats. The tech took his picture to put on their website.

We had lunch at home and took a go cart ride to Highlander Park to walk Toby.

Then we played fetch in the backyard.

He had an adventurous day, while we stayed close by to monitor him.

Calm and relaxed, ready for bed.

Miles walked: 4.4

Miles biked: 0