Ouchy Dog update, and a Quote of the Day...
"Beautiful? It looks like a possum fucked a Dustbuster!" -- Penn Jillette, on the Toyota Prius
Last night's "Penn & Teller: Bullshit" dealt with nukes, hybrid cars, and lesbians. Great show.
It's been a little while since I've posted much of anything, so I'll bring y'all up to date on, well, some of what's been going on.
My dog Kit (pictured in the "iWoof" icon above) got injured last month when he stepped on something that tore deep into his leg. The good news is, he's almost entirely healed from that injury. He had a very swift and uncomplicated recovery from that.
The bad news? Last Friday he discovered a raccoon in my backyard, determined the raccoon to be an intruder, and set about whipping its ass. My mom's big dog (Bosco, who regularly hangs out here during the day) joined in, and they used the poor raccoon as a tug-of-war rope for a few seconds. The coon turned and bit hard into Kit's side, causing my dog to yelp like mad hell and whip around trying to free himself from its fangs. Quickly enough, Kit had freed himself of the raccoon and ran back into the house.
Because it wasn't quite dark yet, I suspected the raccoon might be rabid. We don't see many rabid critters in my neck of the woods, but I didn't want to discount the possibility. I kept the raccoon quarantined at the bottom of my basement stairwell, where he screamed in fear and agony for 20 minutes, and eventually died of his wounds. Even if I'd known he was absolutely *not* rabid, about the most I could've done would be to get a gun and unload a round or two into his head to end his suffering - and with his proximity to my basement door made of glass, that would've had BAD IDEA written all over it.
Still, I treated the raccoon as "likely rabid" and kept a good distance. Made arrangements with Animal Control to collect the carcass (and test it for rabies) and also to get our dogs in for a vet visit the next day. When it was clear to me that the raccoon wasn't moving much at all and any threat of him getting the drop on me was minimal, I took the top of a cat carrier and placed it over him - I don't know if it helped to ease his fear at all during his last moments, but I'd like to think it did. Raccoons and other scavengers live on their fear, and I wanted this one - even with a scrambled brain - to go as peacefully as possible.
ONLY because my dogs are up to date on their vaccinations, am I not facing a 6-month quarantine of both of them. ONLY because we got them to the vet for routine care beforehand, can my dogs lead normal lives right now. And they'll never EVER be late for a shot, as long as I'm looking after them. On Tuesday, I got a call from Animal Control:
THE RACCOON WAS POSITIVE FOR RABIES.
Thankfully, veterinary science seems to be winning here, and neither Kit nor Bosco is showing any signs of illness. We're keeping a close eye on them for the next few weeks, but so they're looking good. Kit's bite wound is healing nicely, and he seems as happy as ever to be with us.
I'm still a bit haunted by the sight and sound of that raccoon. The fear he must've had with a big dog coming at him, and then TWO attacking him... the pain he suffered, because of a disease that took his instincts away and turned his brain to mush. It had to have been hell.
As much as I wanted to scold Kit and Bosco, they were doing their jobs. Their programming worked - they defended the yard against an intruder. I'm just damn glad they won't pay the same price as that poor raccoon.
More stuff to come, when I wake up later...
Last night's "Penn & Teller: Bullshit" dealt with nukes, hybrid cars, and lesbians. Great show.
It's been a little while since I've posted much of anything, so I'll bring y'all up to date on, well, some of what's been going on.
My dog Kit (pictured in the "iWoof" icon above) got injured last month when he stepped on something that tore deep into his leg. The good news is, he's almost entirely healed from that injury. He had a very swift and uncomplicated recovery from that.
The bad news? Last Friday he discovered a raccoon in my backyard, determined the raccoon to be an intruder, and set about whipping its ass. My mom's big dog (Bosco, who regularly hangs out here during the day) joined in, and they used the poor raccoon as a tug-of-war rope for a few seconds. The coon turned and bit hard into Kit's side, causing my dog to yelp like mad hell and whip around trying to free himself from its fangs. Quickly enough, Kit had freed himself of the raccoon and ran back into the house.
Because it wasn't quite dark yet, I suspected the raccoon might be rabid. We don't see many rabid critters in my neck of the woods, but I didn't want to discount the possibility. I kept the raccoon quarantined at the bottom of my basement stairwell, where he screamed in fear and agony for 20 minutes, and eventually died of his wounds. Even if I'd known he was absolutely *not* rabid, about the most I could've done would be to get a gun and unload a round or two into his head to end his suffering - and with his proximity to my basement door made of glass, that would've had BAD IDEA written all over it.
Still, I treated the raccoon as "likely rabid" and kept a good distance. Made arrangements with Animal Control to collect the carcass (and test it for rabies) and also to get our dogs in for a vet visit the next day. When it was clear to me that the raccoon wasn't moving much at all and any threat of him getting the drop on me was minimal, I took the top of a cat carrier and placed it over him - I don't know if it helped to ease his fear at all during his last moments, but I'd like to think it did. Raccoons and other scavengers live on their fear, and I wanted this one - even with a scrambled brain - to go as peacefully as possible.
ONLY because my dogs are up to date on their vaccinations, am I not facing a 6-month quarantine of both of them. ONLY because we got them to the vet for routine care beforehand, can my dogs lead normal lives right now. And they'll never EVER be late for a shot, as long as I'm looking after them. On Tuesday, I got a call from Animal Control:
THE RACCOON WAS POSITIVE FOR RABIES.
Thankfully, veterinary science seems to be winning here, and neither Kit nor Bosco is showing any signs of illness. We're keeping a close eye on them for the next few weeks, but so they're looking good. Kit's bite wound is healing nicely, and he seems as happy as ever to be with us.
I'm still a bit haunted by the sight and sound of that raccoon. The fear he must've had with a big dog coming at him, and then TWO attacking him... the pain he suffered, because of a disease that took his instincts away and turned his brain to mush. It had to have been hell.
As much as I wanted to scold Kit and Bosco, they were doing their jobs. Their programming worked - they defended the yard against an intruder. I'm just damn glad they won't pay the same price as that poor raccoon.
More stuff to come, when I wake up later...