Pink bandage AND a trip to see the vet!

Apparently several miles of tape and bandage with dressings thrown in for good measure, not to mention half a tube of fusciderm are not sufficient when it comes to clobbered tails. We changed the dressings this morning and it wasn't looking -or smelling- too good. An hour of open air and more disinfectant scrub and anti-everything gel before a lighter, to let the air in, dressing which seemed ok. BUT twenty mins left unattended one Friday afternoon and Finnegan had not only ripped the dressing off but chewed an enormous hole in his tail gushing blood all over. I know a little blood goes a long way but this was more than a little and required a pressure bandage to make it stop. Mum was recalled from an afternoon "tea party" and off to Eastgate we went. Favourite vet Katie greeted him with a "what have you done now, Finn?" before clipping all the hair off the bottom half of his tail. Cleaned again, lathered in chamomile cream and more dressings, which unfortunately didn't last the journey home. With a bag full of 'shopping' and a few pounds lighter in the wallet we came home. Stupid hound is feeling sorry for himself, partly the trip to the vets, partly a bit on infection, partly the antibiotics and antinflamatory but also that he's still careering about like a crackpot and belting the great long appendage on doors, walls, chairs, people, tables - pretty much anything that happens to be vaguely within range.
A weekend of feeling sorry for himself and having his tail grabbed everytime it went anywhere near any hard (or even soft) surface / upright and it's looking loads better, a few hours of no dressing to let it dry out helped enormously too.  A check up on Tuesday and he gets signed off, we have another bag of 'shopping' to keep him wrapped up until it's healed.
Nearly two weeks later and he's bandage free.

The answer is? Lots and lots of bandage

Remember the question? How to bandage the bottom third of a nearly 3 foot long tail.
Like this:

First cut your dressing to size and in pieces so it will flex with the tail, next tape it in place with several metres of microtape. then cover it all with multiple layers of vetwrap.  As you can see it's Hebe's favourite colour - PINK!  It was the threat when the tail licking was going on, "if you don't stop, I'll wrap in in a pink bandage!"  Well the threats didn't work but so far the bandage is.  I'm amazed that it's not been wagged off or ripped off or battered off against cupboards, tails or people. Although some of the tape is coming off, but that's easy enough to replace.
The addition of the dressing has made an already painful weapon into an offensive one!  Everyone has bruises of varying degrees and differing locations  - all except Finnegan who is oblivious to it all.  It's wound check and redress tomorrow morning; fingers crossed it's healing well under there but regardless of the mendedness it's staying covered until it's skinned over again.  Remembering the hock injury this could take a while.  The spare bandage is violent cat sick green, not sure if that's preferable to day-glo pink.  I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.  But not too soon please Finn.

And Custard cried for a nice safe cage

Whilst all Hebe wanted was to get out.

Last week Finnegan clobbered his tail on a table causing a small fissure.  Unfortunately as he's in the middle of his 'spring rash' pyoderma phase it became very itchy and he nibbled it from a small nick to larger wound.  On Thursday red splashes were seen in the hall prompting investigation and the raw patch was discovered, cleaned up and treated with fuciderm gel.  He carried on nibbling, under cover of paw and out of sight, increasing the raw patch. Cries of "Finnegan, leave", and "Finn, no" were heard for days on end and the tail began to dry up. But then mysteriously the patch began getting bigger and red again, the girls sniffed it and Hebe thought about having a lick, Finn didn't seem in the least bit bothered, but then he's not as green as he's Irish looking. Monday morning and it's red raw dripping blood and looking like fresh steak.  The suspicion fell on Hebe.  So the puppy cage (wolfhound sized puppy I hasten to add) was hauled out of storage and erected in the dog house.  Hebe was very happy to hop in and out having slept in it for months as a puppy and then again when Finnegan was too big for it but not big enough to share the dog house sensibly without wreaking havoc.  Bedtime came and Hebe hoped in, she looked a little worried when Maia didn't join her and then more than a little worried when the door was closed but her bedtime bonio distracted her.  Tuesday morning and Hebe was a liberated prisoner having been in solitary confinement all night what joy unconfined (at last).  Finnegan's tail? Red raw again.  Hebe has been exonerated and now we have to find a way to bandage the bottom third of a nearly 3 foot long tail.  Elizabethan collars don't work on long nosed, long tailed wolfhounds.

Finnegan's revenge

OK, if you've stolen my birthday triangle, I'm having your Christmas penguin.

I guess that's fair so Hebe don't look so mournful. And anyway, I'm sure you'll filtch it back again soon enough.

Finnegan is two.

Happy Birthday to my bestest mate says Hebe.
This is what I bought him

I quite like too. And following the Labrador Property Laws it's MINE too.

Water

Wet stuff, nice for plodging in.  I wish I could do this:

But I fell in the pond when I was very, very little (about 4 weeks old, Bean says) and now I'm not that keen if I can't have a foot on the ground.  Stop sniggering at the back, I know I'm a labrador and I'll plodge and plowter all day and love to cover you all in wet, green, partially solid wet stuff.  But, well, you can't help it can you? things that happen to you when you're a puppy scar you for life, same with fireworks. Oh well. Maybe one day, in the mean time I'll just keep on losing things at the bottom of ditches.

(more underwater dogs on The Guardian website)

Oh, Finnegan, you would choose today

The mercury dropped to almost -10 last night and, so far at least, hasn't got above -1. So, this morning Finnegan decided it would be the perfect day to wash teh dog house and back steps by standing in and then when he relaised it was a little chilly kicking over the neraly full water bucket. Half a gallon or more of water flowed, slowed and then stopped, sticking to the steps. eer helpful Mum brushed and mopped the water out of teh dog house and off the side of the back step - to deal with alter - dropping a towel on the top of the big puddle, overflowing and dripping down the steps onto the yard. Five minutes the towel is frozen solid to the step, the dog house is a skating runk and Finnegan tried a double salko onto the yard. Canines confined to the kitchen and armed with multiple towels, half a bag of rock salt, a couple of brushes and woolly gloves we tackled the rink. It took nearly half an hour to make it safe to exit the building even if the rink still had edges!

(Should have been posted on Saturday but the 'wonderful' ipad app refuses to work - technolcy ain't it wonderful? Ho hum.)