Month: October 2023

Cooper Curtis is home!!!

As agreed, we left yesterday morning to go p/u Cooper from the vet. Along the way there, we received a call from them. The gist of their message was they wanted to keep him an additional couple of days but encouraged us to stop in and visit with him and learn what they are doing. So we stopped in and got to see him. What a shock! But, ignoring the initial nervous pee, he was SOOO happy to see us.

Then, they explained how they were making good progress with his healing UNTIL… They let him out to go potty (unattended again) and returned to find him dragging his swollen sack across the ground. And where do the kennel animals relieve themselves you ask? In a GRAVEL lot behind their storefront. THAT combined with the fact the kennel was noisy (maybe 20 dogs?), chaotic and not very calming, we decided we could do better at home and got him out of there.

Insisting on keeping them overnight “for observation”
loses its appeal when they don’t do any observing.

It’s usually always a struggle getting him into any vehicle. But this time he leaped right in and was eager to get the hell away from there. Sherry sat in the back with Cooper’s coned head resting on her lap and he let out the loudest heavy sigh you’ve ever heard.

On the way, we discussed what to do with him at home and were planning on making a quiet space in Sherry’s office. When we got home however, Cooper had his own plans and IMMEDIATELY made his way back to HIS bed in the corner of our room and laid down. It’s actually a perfect situation for him. Quiet, calm, comfortable and he feels safe.

Medically, his offended organ is about tennis ball sized and very raw (from the gravel) as well as patches on his back legs that were also worn away. He is getting some oil treatments to his wounds as well as a hot compress 4 times a day. Now seeing him so much more relaxed, I think we made the right move. With the treatments, drugs and the fact that we will actually keep an eye on him, I’d say he’ll pull through just fine.

It’s nice to have him back with us.

Epilog (Nov 2023): After a week of sleeping on the floor with him (with my hand inside his cone to detect when he’s trying to get at the offended organ), he finally healed up nicely. Unfortunately, he’s gotten too used to the extra attention and now can be demanding at bedtime when he stretches out in (our) bed.

Has anyone EVER had a pet that was spayed/neutered and did NOT wear the “cone of shame”? We went to p/u our Cooper Curtis on Friday morning after the procedure was done – only to learn they left him alone overnight in his pen without a cone.

Being the licker he is, by the time morning came, his scrotum was severely swollen and they now needed to keep him a few more days to treat it. Luckily, they aren’t charging us for the extended stay and treatments but something the vet said has me questioning their mindset.

She stated that less than 5% of dogs lick their wounds post-surgery. If that’s the case, we must have had quite a line of exotic dogs as I’ve never seen one go through that WITHOUT the cone.