Blossom Update No. 2

Blossom 8-24-09

On Friday we went to the vet for Blossom’s last Class IV laser treatment. The treatment seems to have helped her quite a bit for it looks like her tail will be saved. The laser is not painful at all but rather very warming to the deep tissues of her body. When we arrive at the vet’s the technician places a towel up on the cold steel table and I lift blossom up there. Next the tech opens a box about the size of a brief case and takes out an instrument that looks like a black wand with a clear shield at the tip. The other end is attached by a cable to a meter which has various settings. After donning special glasses to protect our eyes the tech turns the machine on and it whirrs and hums while a thin beam of light emits from the other end. The tech passes the wand back and forth and up and down over the area to be treated. In this case she is treating Blossom’s rump and spine, so the wand passes over her back in steady rhythm. She cannot linger in any one area too long or the beam could burn Blossom’s tissues instead.

Blossom has no fear of the machine and after awhile she usually lays down and relaxes. The treatment only takes about 3 to 1o minutes and the theory behind it is that the warmth of the laser stimulates the tissue and brings blood to the area which promotes healing. The rays emitted are in various frequencies and the settings are determined by what type of animal you have and what you are trying to accomplish. There are different settings for wound healing than for muscle soreness and different settings for a horse than for a small 15 pound dog!

Blossom with her happy tail curled over her back 4-5-2008

Blossom with her happy tail 4-5-08


Blossom with her tail as far as it will go now 8-24-09

While Blossom’s tail looks like it will be saved, a new issue has arisen. Small wounds have started to open on her rump from the impact of the other dog’s teeth. At first one appeared last week, then another. Right now there are about 5 of them and the vet says it is because the tissue is dying from the impact and pressure of the attacker’s teeth. As a result Blossom is on her second round of antibiotics to keep her from infection. She is also on a daily laxative to prevent any pain when she has a bowel movement. At first you could tell this was a problem for her and it was painful to eliminate but now things seem to be normal. She will be on the laxative for at least a month and she may have to be on it for the rest of her life. We go back to see the vet this Friday so he can check on the wounds on her rump. For now she is mostly normal and her tail goes higher every day. She still likes to go for walks, but we are so wary and our hearts clench whenever we see another person walking towards us with a big dog or small. Blossom could not withstand another attack and neither could we.

One side affect of all of this is the guilt we feel for not being able to protect her. Gus constantly recriminates himself for not protecting her but I remind him that he saved her life. If her had let go of her for even an instant that dog would have shaken her and she would be dead. As for me, I chide myself for being so useless. All I did was scream like a girl. I am usually good in a crisis and can think on my feet. I am usually the one who reacts first and falls apart later, but this time I just screamed like I have never screamed before. I frequently have dreams where I am in grave danger but I cannot scream. I have often wondered what would happen in real life. Well, now I know that I CAN scream, but I wish I had done something a bit more useful.

For more information on the use and science behind Class IV Laser go to the

K-Laser Website

They have an excellent demonstration video as well as in depth information on how this therapy works.

Blossom Update

Blossom 8-13-09

Blossom is getting around and starting to act more like herself. Initially she was afraid to go outside, but now she even wants to go for walks again. She has started to bark whenever someone comes to the front door and she is greeting Gus when he comes home from work by jumping up on her hind legs and digging at his pants. She is wagging her tail in greeting, which is good, but she still can’t hold it over her back and wave it like a flag like she used to. Every day it goes higher though, and we still have hope. She has now had 3 class IV laser treatments which the doctor recommended to promote healing. It seems to be doing her some good and she now relaxes and lays down for her treatment. She has 3 more to go. Next Friday we will have a recheck with the vet and hopefully he will give her the all clear. I just want everyone to know that the owners of the other dog have taken full responsibility and have paid all of Blossom’s bills. We have no malice towards them. They did not want this to happen any more than we did. As for Gus, he is sore and tired but healing up just fine. I think that he will be okay, though he still hasn’t seen a doctor. Right now he is just happy to see Blossom acting more like herself.

Blossom 8-13-09

Attack of the Gray Ghost

It is a pleasant evening for a walk as Gus and I step out the front door with our little dog, Blossom. A few clouds have rolled in and the wind has picked up, dropping the temperature from 106 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit. We walk casually up our street towards the new neighborhood that is going in. I want to see the new house they are building that I first noticed when I took a walk in the wash last week. As we draw near the neighborhood I notice the gate is closed. A couple around our age and a little girl are coming towards us with two large dogs. They must skirt the gate to get back out to where we are. We check to see if their dogs are on a leash, because poor little Blossom has been attacked by larger dogs before. All is well and we keep on walking, but we keep our distance. As they pass the stone monuments that support the metal gate I am looking off into the desert for birds, but Gus is focused on them. Suddenly I turn and see a gray ghost coming straight towards us dragging his leash, head low and silent.

Gus tries to grab Blossom but she panics and bolts to the end of her leash. Gus slips as he grabs for her and lands on his butt. I interject my body between Gus, who now has Blossom, and this large 85 pound dog. I have no weapon to use of any kind. I tell the dog “NO” loud and firm and it crouches slightly and looks at me out of the corner of its eye, then it darts around me and clamps onto Blossom’s rump with a vice-like grip. I turn to see the dark muzzle wrapped around Blossom’s butt. All the upper teeth are exposed as they dig into her flesh. Gus is holding onto Blossom for all he is worth. If Gus lets go I am sure the dog will run away with Blossom in his jaws, shaking her until she is dead. The owner comes running and grabs his dog by the rump and sits down. Me? I am screaming for all I am worth. I am screaming like I have never screamed before in my life!

Meanwhile, Gus has his right arm wrapped around Blossom keeping her from being carried off by the much larger dog. At only 15 pounds, the other dog grossly outweighs her. Gus is punching the dog with all his might with his left hand, the hand that he just had surgery on. He is punching and punching and punching. Blow after blow falls unheeded on the gray monster. Still the dog grips tight. My mind is racing wilding now. When will this nightmare end? Why won’t someone come to help us? Why won’t this dog let go. I am afraid that Blossom is dying as her eyes bulge out of her head. I am afraid Gus is going to die in his attempts to rescue her. And all I can do is stand there and scream.

Suddenly Gus switches from pounding on the dog’s ribs to punching it in the face. The new attack works and the dog finally releases Blossom. The male owner of the dog scurries to his feet and takes his dogs home. The little girl goes with him and we are left with the woman owner. She immediately volunteers to pay the vet bill for our dog. Amazingly, Blossom appears to be unscathed in that we can see no blood and she is walking. The woman gives us her phone number and address and we walk home shaking and near tears. Already Gus’s hand is starting to swell. It isn’t until we are home that we discover the full extent of his injuries. As he washes his hands he wisely removes his wedding ring. His hand is bleeding and swelling and turning black and blue. Both his elbows are scraped, as are both his knees. Meanwhile Blossom is hiding under the bed.

We try to coax her out with food but she is not interested. Gus just wants her to act normal again, but she cannot. She is not normal. I decide to give her a bath to wash off the fecal matter from when the dog first attacked her and she evacuated her bowels. But it hurts her too much and I quickly give that up as a bad idea. It takes us all quite awhile to unwind and go to bed. It is after 1:00 a.m. when we finally fall asleep. Gus sleeps through the night, but I can hear Blossom's pitiful whimpers from underneath the bed. I get up at 3:30 to try to comfort her but she crawls back up onto her pillow. I fall asleep and dream of mutant humans with partial metallic faces and silverware growing out of their upper jaw pointing straight out. At 5:30 Blossom starts whimpering again and scratching on the bed. It is her way of communicating with us. I think she wants to go out. Gus and I both get up and I have to drag her from beneath the bed. We carry her outside to the garden and set her down. It is now that we discover that she can’t raise her tail to relieve herself. I come inside and find the vet’s phone number and soon discover his office does not open until 8:30. It is a long wait. It becomes an even longer wait when I find out the doctor is in surgery all morning and the soonest he can see Blossom is 2:30 PM. Later on I get a call that someone has cancelled and we bring her in at 1:00. After x-rays and an exam, we have our verdict.

Apparently the dog did puncture Blossom’s muscles as I can see the teeth marks on the x-rays. In an area above her colon a golf-sized pocket of blood and interstitial fluid has collected. But worst of all is that 3 vertebra in her tail are broken and 1 is fractured. These are not the vertebrae that hang down off her butt, but rather they are the vertebrae that connect the tail to the pelvis area. One of the dog’s teeth pierced in this area right near the artery that supplies blood to the tail. If that artery is severed, her tail will die. If it dies, she will need surgery to remove it and any dead tissue surrounding it in her lower back.

For now the doc has given her a shot of doggie morphine along with steroids for the inflammation and an antibiotic. He also gave her a rabies shot, which she was due for. Then he sent me home with more drugs for the dog and a hefty bill which we will be taking to the other dog’s owner this evening. Yes, we did call the police and animal control and we are waiting to hear from them still.

Meanwhile, all we can do is wait and see if the tail will live or die. It’s going to be a long two weeks.

Update 8-7-09: This incident happened on Monday, August 3. Animal control was called and they are involved in the situation. The owners of the other dog felt just awful and they have stepped up to pay Blossom’s vet bills. Today Blossom went back to the vet for a recheck and some laser therapy. She is eating well and starting to act more like herself, but her fever is still up and she still can’t raise her tail over her back. However, she did attempt to wag it for the first time today. The vet says her tail still feels soft, so that is a good sign. We go back for more laser treatments next week.

Introduction

I came to this desert in April 2007. Having come to the Sonoran desert from New England by way of Utah, it was quite a change. I entered a world of cacti unknown to me before. Everything has prickers and thorns! Even the bushes and trees have spines. I had to remind myself not to grab onto a branch for support.

After a world of maples and oaks, of sage brush and marshes this desert world is a whole new discovery, an alien place of dangerous beauty. As a bird lover, this world is alive with exotic species. We moved into our home in the Sonoran desert at the end of April and I started to experience what my new life would be like.

One of the first things to take into consideration is our little dog, Blossom. She is a Japanese chin mix and only weighs about 12 pounds. She is black and white like a Holstein cow with a tail that curls over her back whenever she is happy. Her nose is short like a pug and she has the same bug eyes like a pug. Here in the desert are dangers unknown to us before. We have to protect her from coyotes and rattlesnakes, but being in a fenced yard isn't enough, for eagles can strike from above during the days, and great horned owls would dine on her at night. We always walk her on a leash to keep her from snakes and cactus spines. Plus, when she gets the scent of a lizard, she turns into Blossom the Dragon Slayer! Her tail goes up, her tongue comes out, and off she goes! The lizards are in no danger, however, as they run much faster than she does and disappear into the rocks.

In the house we have two cats; Breezy, a 4 year old fluffy white male with blue eyes, gray ears and a gray tail, and Sweet Bonnie Blue Eyes. She is short haired, a year younger, and the juvenile delinquent of the two. Her favorite pastime is shredding paper. Both of them like to watch birds out the windows.

I am an avid bird lover and have set up feeders in my yard. My yard here is quite small-more like a courtyard than an actual yard. Still, I've managed to plant one velvet mesquite tree and put up my bird bath as well as numerous feeders. Since this is a new development, I thought it would be awhile before the birds showed up, but it didn't take long at all! So far I have had cactus wrens, curved-billed thrashers, Gila woodpeckers, white-winged doves, and canyon towhees along with the usual mourning doves, house finches and house sparrows. Come join me as I discover life in Sycamore Canyon!