Cankles, Claws and Calamities

Well, last week turned out to be slightly more eventful than I had originally planned.  You may have read my Agility Diaries post - Mina meets the A Frame and seen that I fell over (a rather ungraceful swan dive) and hurt my ankle...

The rather glamorous sounding hospital

As it turns out, my ankle quickly became very sore and swollen necessitating a quick trip to the A&E of the rather grandly named Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.  After a bit of a wait in A&E I eventually hobbled my way to a doctor to be told that my ankle was badly sprained and that I was lucky not to have broken it!

This has meant that on my non dog-related work days I cannot wear my high heels to the office and have had to resort to my flat shoes (thank heavens for Skechers - a memento from my London commuting days - and my range of ballet pump type shoes).  It's also put a spanner in the works when it comes to Mina's agility training and general walking of the dogs. Thankfully, my poor long-suffering hubby has been walking the dogs whilst I've struggled (yes, hard to believe I know) to put and keep my feet up.

So, although I haven't been able to walk the dogs I have been able to play with them in the garden.  I can sit and throw balls and toys whilst the hounds hare around generally having a good time. Now, you may know that Mina has the nickname of canine catastrophe. She is, in my opinion, the reason pet insurance was invented (see a previous post about her catastrophic ways here) and a good example of why pet insurance is necessary. Stevie and Jasper (touch wood) seem to have escaped most of this until Saturday evening (after all the vets had closed).

Whilst enjoying chasing Mina, Jasper suddenly pulled up with the GSOD.  For the uninitiated, the GSOD is the 'Greyhound Scream of Death' and you'd know it if you heard it. I'm afraid to say that when it comes to minor pain, Greyhounds are the 'big girl's blouses' of the dog world. (Major pain, on the other hand and they seem to become a very stoic breed).

Jasper's GSOD was enough to send me hobbling at a fast pace across the garden and hubby hurtling down the stairs to see what had happened. Lord knows how Jasper did it (I was videoing him and Mina at the time and can't see what he did) but he ripped his dew claw in half, right at the top. Dew claws bleed like jiggery and trying to keep Jasper still whilst I put on a melolin pad and some vet wrap was no mean feat.

Mina counts her blessings she's not injured (for once)

As the claw was broken so high up, I ended up taking him to the emergency vet who cut it off (cue another GSOD - my poor ear drums), gave Jasper an antibiotic jab and then bandaged his whole paw.  The instructions were I was to take off the bandage on Sunday. Ha - fat chance!  I couldn't get near the bandage without more GSOD, which meant a visit to my normal vet on the Monday.

No wonder, poor Jasper wouldn't let me near him. When the vet removed the bandage (using a scalpel to slice through it), the remaining part of Jasper's dew claw came off with it, leaving him with a very bloody stump/quick.  This time the vet only bandaged part of his leg, finishing with some rather funky leopard print vet wrap, and leaving me with instructions to give him some metacam and to take the bandage off on Wednesday (today).

Jasper channels a 'flashdance' vibe

I have to say the leopard print vet wrap looks rather dapper and made it look like Jasper was channelling a 'Flashdance' vibe with ankle warmers.

So, the time has come to take the bandage off... fingers and paws crossed there'll be no more GSOD but if your windows happen to rattle around 2130 GMT you'll know why!

Mina - the canine catastrophe

I'm beginning to wonder if Mina is just exceedingly unlucky, or one of the most accident-prone dogs I know.

Today, the hounds and I were all set for a lovely autumnal walk in the local woods.  Just as we were pulling into the car park, I heard a yelp from the back of the car.  I couldn't determine which hound had made the sound and thought no more about it.

All three jumped out of the car and seemed OK, but then I noticed some spots of blood on the bedding.  I checked all paws and couldn't see a thing, then Mina moved and I spied some drips of blood by her. On closer inspection I saw that she'd somehow cut her tail through to the tendon.

I then started a frenzied look in the car for something to stop the bleeding (boy, can tails bleed) and to bandage the tail with.  Unfortunately, the first aid kit was in the other car. Thankfully, I managed to calm myself and get my brain working and went to the little café, thinking they would have a first aid kit. They did, and they saved the day.

After bandaging the tail, I called the vet and bundled all three hounds back into the car, vet-ward bound. 

Mina's tail injury, is the latest in a long line of incidents this year. I'm seriously considering retraining as a vet, as I seem to spend so much time at the vet practice with Mina.

This latest visit to the vet cost over £120 and as you can see, poor Mina's tail is completely encased by bandaging. She's feeling very sorry for herself and will be back on restricted exercise until her tail heals.

I am beginning to wonder whether I should wrap Mina up in bubble wrap before I let her venture out of the house, as she seems to be so accident prone.  She's just so full of life though, and I suppose her injuries are the price she pays for this.


What this latest incident has made me realise though, is how invaluable good pet insurance cover is. Mina's tail injury will be the sixth claim I've made this year on her policy. The insurer, More Than, has proven to be a good choice for us. With three hounds, we couldn't afford  lifetime cover, and opted for cover which provides up to £7,000 per new illness. This has been a godsend with Mina. This year alone, we've had to claim for:

• Keratitis treatment, following her operation last year
• Operation to remove caruncular mass from each eye
• Hypothyroidism diagnosis and on-going treatment
• Broken nail
• Cutting her back leg through to her Achilles tendon

If we hadn't insured Mina, we would have had to find over £2,345 to pay for the cost of all these treatments.

I don't work for an insurance company and this isn't a hard sell to fellow dog owners to insure their pets, but I hope it does give food for thought. Lots of people I speak to don't insure their dogs, or have stopped the insurance - only for the dog to become ill and then be faced with expensive vet bills.

Working with a greyhound rehoming charity, all the hounds that are homed leave the charity with four weeks' free PetPlan insurance.  We strongly advise all our owners to take out pet insurance, but many don't and on occasion, come back to the Trust when a dog has injured itself and ask for the Trust to pay. As a small charity, this puts significant strain on finances.

What's more, a lot of people don't realise that if their dog causes an accident or damages someone else’s property, then you, the owner, could be held liable and sued/prosecuted. Most dog insurance policies provide liability insurance to protect against this.

I dread to think what the premium will be on Mina's policy when it comes to renew next year, but one thing's for sure: with Mina's track record, I'll be renewing the policy.  And, if anyone has any tips on how I can prevent Mina having further accidents, please post a comment.