Our "puppy", Bax, will be 10 this year which equates to 78 in human years (1st year is 15 for large dogs and then 7 for every year thereafter). Despite his age, he still acts as if he is a puppy. Needless to say, at that age, there's a few things aren't going so well for him. Bax groans whenever he lays down or gets up, as if to say, "oh, this hurts" or, "it's a long way down" or, "I've fallen and can't get up." His eyes are also experiencing a "hardening of the lenses" which make his eyes look like they have cataracts even though he can see just fine.
The worst part about getting old, for Bax, is he got a staph infection. He has "staph legions" on his belly, chest, neck and nose. Bax hasn't been sleeping on his back lately so no one really noticed anything was wrong (plus his hair is really long this time of year). We did, however, notice that he had been chewing and licking quite a bit, but thought that maybe it was time for another bath. So, when I finally saw him sleeping on his back yesterday, I saw this legions and immediately called the vet to get him in. I got an appointment for Bax and Adam came and took him to the vet.
Bax will be fine, but in the meantime, he's taking Cephalexin (yes, the same anitbiotic that you and I take for infections - I got it filled at Walgreens) 2 500mg capsules twice daily for 30 days, and we have to bathe him 2-3 times per week, let the shampoo soak for 10-15 minutes and then rinse him. This bathing routine goes for 3 weeks. How did this happen? The vet said it is very common for Golden Retrievers to have this on their skin (just like approximately 30% of the human population) or it could've been an allergic reaction to something and then got out-of-hand. No way to know for sure.
The vet has reassured both me and Adam that this is not contagious between canine and human and then from canine to feline. I even checked with my dad and he said the same thing. In other words, it won't cross species.
This picture above is of the legion on his chest, which is about as big as my fist.
4 comments:
Hey, Thanks for leaving a note on our blog site. What a small world... you being in the same ward as Stacey. I'll have to drop her a line too. As for your dog, Make sure to scrach his itch for him...He's old, it's hard to reach. HAHA! We love dogs too. Tell all of your Fam HI for me. By the way It's supposed to be 15 below tonight. Enjoy that AZ. sun.
That is soooooooooooo GROSS! Are you sure he didn't hook up with that hoochie dog down the street?
Poor Bax! I'm glad no one else can catch it from him!
Oh my Gosh. Poor Bax. What caused it? I hope he is better now or at least on his way there.
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