Hotspots. I wish I was writing about a fabulous resort or a good sale. The hotspots I am referring to are on my dog. Would that make them a vacation spot for fleas? Or a $99 dress sale at Rover’s Bridal? Alas, no. Apparently when dogs get stressed, they can start an itch-scratch cycle causing an infected sore or sores requiring medical attention. Wonderful.
Jersey is our 10 year old Golden Retriever. She has a very sweet temperament, but has her moments of being a nervous nelly. I am the parent that has to take her everywhere, not my husband, her favorite human in the whole world. Jersey does not like riding in the car. She cries, pants, and her eyes bug out of her head. One time she got herself so worked up she pooped in the car. But that is another story.
This all started back in December. We had just gotten back from a quick week-end trip to Virginia. My girlfriend watched Jersey for us and had said that she was super nervous and had trouble settling down. Got the old girl home and she seemed happy to be there. The next Saturday, I noticed little tufts of hair about the house. Later on that day, my husband said the dog had chewed a small raw spot on her back leg, looked to be about the size of a quarter. Off he went to Petco for the cone of shame. We gave her doggie tranquilizers for the rest of the week-end to help calm her down. I called the vet on Monday and of course, they wanted to see her.
I was lucky that my son was home from college. He helped me get the nervous nelly in the car and off we went. In the waiting room, Jersey was ill behaved as per usual, trying to sit on my lap, crying, and straining on her lead. Finally we get called back. Vet comes in, takes Jersey out, and brings Jersey back in with half her leg fur shaved off. Oh My Gosh, I am the worst dog owner in the world! My poor dog had the biggest hotspot ever!! (well, I had never seen one before but I am assuming it was the biggest one on record) I can’t even describe to you what it looked like. You just have to see one, or not. My son was gob smacked, totally without words. When he finally collected himself, he noted it looked like a brain, a bloody brain on her hind quarter/hip area. Poor thing, I felt so bad for her. I am guessing Jersey got herself all worked up between us leaving for the week-end and all the commotion going on in the house with the holidays approaching she started gnawing on herself. The vet gave me a script for some antibiotics, and sent us on our way. I stopped at the local pharmacy and was met with a “Huh? It’s for a dog, we can’t fill this.” The pharmacist spoke over the partition and corrected the girl at the counter. Not only did they fill her prescription, the antibiotics were FREE!! I was very excited since my dog has a $200 yearly cap on health care and I had just spent pretty penny at the vet’s office. After a few days of treatment, she was on her way to recovery. All was well, or so I thought….
About the middle of January, I came down the stairs to see Jersey chewing her bum again and the familiar tufts of hair are found about the house. Great, get the cone out. This time I am ready, got the Benadryl, calming pills and doggie anti-itch spray. That should hold us over till Monday when we can see the vet. Unlike last go round, I don’t have my strong son to help me get the dog in the car and to help me manage at the vet.
Fortunately the car ride was pleasant. I walk in with Jersey straining on the lead, choking herself and gasping for air. The sweet girl behind the counter checks us in and on we go to take a seat. There were quite a few people in the office that day since it was a day before a big snow storm. The only spot for us was next to one of—gasp--our parish priests! He also had a golden retriever, a big, beautiful, CALM golden retriever. I was absolutely mortified sitting next to them. Jersey tried to jump onto the priests lap more than once. She also slobbered all over him and his beautiful dog. Good grief! They finally call her name and back we go. The vet and I decided that Jersey was all stressed out about the snow. She didn’t have anything to sniff and had to do her business in the driveway. We got our prescription and then we were on our way.
Jersey is finally done with all her meds, the snow is melting and she has grass to sniff. Since the last round of hotspots, there has been a big life changing event in the Gallegos household. Older sister has moved out and Mom & Dad are quasi-empty nesters as her brothers are still at college. Jersey has taken to this rather well. No indications of anxiety so far although she has been crying, yes literally crying for attention. As I am writing this essay, she is trying to put her nose under my hand for a quick scratch. In a few weeks, my husband and I will be traversing the globe to visit my brother and his family. Jersey will be staying with a friend from work who has a golden the same age. Since they get along famously and my girlfriend treats Jersey to people food, I have a feeling our Jersey will have a blast and not want to come home. And hopefully, this ends the hotspot happenings.
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