Smudgie's Sad Birthday

Smudgie turned one year old on the 13th, but he didn't have a very happy birthday for two reasons. Just a couple days beforehand in the morning, I discovered that he had licked a spot on his right front leg raw.

I didn't know what it was, but I knew I had to stop him licking somehow so I tied one of Adam's socks around his leg.

I hate this sock.

He surprisingly let the sock be on his leg the whole day. But when I got up the next morning, the sock was off and the leg was relicked. So it was clear we were going to have to buy a cone. I was worried that Chinese pet stores wouldn't sell them and we'd have to go to a vet. But they did have them!

Crap, not the cone again.

When Smudgie got neutered he had to wear the cone for a week and he hated it. Now that he's older, it doesn't bother him as much. He's actually much better behaved with it on. He barks less, he doesn't steal Adam's kleenex and rip them up while we're not looking, and he asks to go outside less often. It's pretty sweet! Though I do feel bad for him because he can't play as much as he can without it. Anyways, without the sock around his leg, we were able to put some bacitraycin on it, which is like a neosporin type stuff. We were hoping that would make whatever was bothering him go away and then the cone could come off. That's one reason his birthday sucked. The other reason, was that I was on a business trip to Shanghai on his birthday, so Adam had to take him to work with him all day. And he had to stay in Adam's office because the room downstairs is too cold for him. And he hates Adam's office. He just sat in there scared and anxious all day long. Poor Smudgie. Well, after a week of wearing the cone, I felt bad so I thought I'd fashion him some homemade clothes that would keep him from licking his arm, and we could take the cone off. I took two socks of mine that I knew I wasn't going to wear anymore, sewed them together at the top on one side, and cut them open a little on the inside. Voila! Doggy socks!

He let me put them on, no problem. And there was no way for him to take them off so he didn't even try. He looked so hilarious with them on, I was loving it. Until I discovered that he refused to go to the bathroom with them on. That was his way of telling me he preferred the cone. So back to the cone we went.

Yesterday, it had been two weeks with the cone, and he was in dire need of a bath. So we decided to bathe him, and then see whether he would lick his leg or not. We played with a birthday toy and I hoped that a new toy would distract him from licking. Smudgie never could resist the urge to chew a new toy's apendages off.

So Adam and I watched a horror movie on my laptop, then checked on him afterwards. He had licked his leg raw again. :(

So the cone is back on. I shaved his leg so we can better moniter the red spot and if the bacitraycin thing doesn't work this time, we may have to consult a vet. Scary!! (We have not located a vet yet!)