Laika did really well in the hospital. Two days later, she seemed like nothing had happened. One if her greatest qualities was that her joy of the simple things in life gave her strength and resilience to recover quickly without missing a step. But, this wasn't always a positive thing.
The Monday morning after her relaxing homecoming, she was due for a checkup. She started the morning by trying to chase a flightless fledgling bird in the backyard, which I was able to usher under the fence to avoid any mishap. The spark in Laika's eye had returned!
Her appointment went well. I was told that her back was healing and she should continue with the topical herbs and the antibiotics and herbs with her food to help with the slight infection on the surface of her tumor. We returned home pretty quickly, which was nice as I was able to go to work earlier than planned. Before leaving, I noticed that they had wrapped Laika's back a bit differently than usual, but considering their professional expertise, I didn't think much more of it.
As usual, I came home during the day to check on Laika. She was still getting used to the new house and didn't yet have a set routine, so she was fast asleep upstairs when I opened the door. There was a slight odor in the house, but it was hard to place what it was immediately. As soon as Big Baby woke up and cavorted down to greet me, I knew what it was...blood! While I was gone, her bandage had parted to give her a clear path for directly scratching the irritated center of tumor...and she had scratched out the infection all over the freshly painted living room wall and new curtains my mom had made for the house!
It looked like a horror scene, honestly. I didn't see it at first because of the placement in the room. Despite her bloody back and bandages, Laika paraded around, happy to see me. After examining her quickly to make sure the bleeding had stopped, I covered her in a shirt and put her in the backyard. Only, she wasn't alone there. The nosey baby bird had returned and a clash with it and Laika was imminent. Luckily, I had a lot of latex gloves around and put one on to pick up the bird and move it out of harm's way. As soon as I gently lifted it, it started screaming and pooping simultaneously! To make matters worse, the mother bird was in the area and responded with a semi-divebomb attempt to protect her baby. Laika watched intently as I deposited the baby bird safely out of the yard, while fearing for another protective strike from the mother. Never a dull moment, right?
Next, I called in the calvary (a.k.a. Mom). She arrived quickly with more cleaning agents and elbow grease. Together, we scrubbed the wall, chair and all surfaces that had been stained during Laika's back scratching frenzy for over an hour. It was nice to have help again, because, well, it had been a long week of cleaning up after a bloody hound (not the British use of the term), who was lounging happily in the backyard all during the cleanup.
Finally, I cleaned and rewrapped Laika's wound and called the vet. They were, of course, unfazed, but still asked if I needed to bring Laika in to be seen. I assured them that she was ok, and had actually removed the entire area of infection by her scratching. It was some type of self-care, I think. She knew what needed to be done, but could have been more patient! I did however request some meds to help Laika relax a bit, just to get over the hump for the healing. I only gave her less than half a dose for a few days, but they were very effective. The tumor, therefore, healed pretty quickly throughout the week under my constant supervision and care. Still, it was recommended that she start the silver ointment the following visit to help heal it even more, which of course led to slippery gauze for the story of a few days ago.
As luck would have it, this episode of having a freshly cleaned house after the bloody wall coincided with the first time I met my new landlord, who was working a few houses away on another of his properties. We had rented through a management company, so I hadn't met him before. Laika was happy to make a new friend. I was happy he didn't show up two hours earlier!
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