Last Tuesday evening, D and I noticed Sparkles had a giant hematoma on his left ear. He has a history with ear infections/problems and has had to take meds for it on and off since I've had him. I was actually giving him some meds for his ears, but apparently they were not strong enough. I've had pups my whole life and had to deal with many different illnesses/injuries, but I've never dealt with a pup hematoma. Human? Yes. Pup? Nope. I was at a loss.
Cut to that evening and calling our vet to get him in asap. They informed me that they couldn't see him for two-three weeks, but this was something that needed handled asap. Like, the fuck? My baby needs medical attention and you can't see him for that long? I know I sounded like a real pain in the ass, and I really try not to be "that person" but when it comes to my hubby or one of my babies, all bets are off. I'll quite literally sit there with my arm hanging off my shoulder by tendons, but I want the four of them handled as quickly as humanly possible. It's insane, but it's honestly just how I feel on the daily.
I continued to freak out and we decided to take him to an emergency vet. The first one we took him to informed us that there was an 8+ hour wait before someone would even be able to look at him. So.... off to the next emergency vet we go. Two hours later the vet tech informed us that while this was considered an "emergency" it was not considered a "life threatening emergency" so there would be an 8-10+ hour wait, but if someone came in after us that was more "serious" he would get bumped. I know they were just doing their job and everything they could with their current situation, but I was livid. I didn't take it out on them (as I said, there was nothing the vet tech could do about the situation), but I'm fairly certain I had steam coming out of my ears and nose. Probably looked like a psychotic bull of some sort.
I'm not even gonna lie, y'all. By the time we left that vet I was in tears. I honestly just wanted my baby to have some help and the fact that I knew he had to be in pain made it worse. We decided to go home, med him up and try again in the morning (because at that point it was past midnight and there were no other emergency vets open around us).
Wednesday I got up and came to work and proceeded to call and track down any and every vet around us that could possibly help. On my eighth (yes, eighth!) phone call a new vet (well, he's new to us, not a new vet) finally set an appointment for me for that morning at 9:30. I was so relieved that someone was going to help him that I was quite literally in tears.
Honestly, this entire process has had me in tears. Apparently, the older I get the more emotional I get? Fuck.
Once we were in the appointment and went through the rundown of his history and what was going on with him now, it came to the conclusion of he has a double inner ear infection and from shaking his head or something due to that he ruptured the blood vessels in his ear.... hence the hematoma. He was tested for allergies and heartworms (just in case) and they gave me six different meds that he has to take.
I was informed that while his ear would eventually reabsorb on its own (as with most hematomas) that it would take ten-twelve weeks and he would be in excruciating pain the entire time. After that, he would have "cauliflower ear" and it would just add to his excruciatingly long list of ear problems. I couldn't stand the thought of him being in so much pain for that amount of time, so it was decided that he would have surgery to repair the damage.
I dropped him off on Thursday morning for his surgery (and can I just say that having to leave my baby anywhere and the thought of him thinking I may have abandoned him made me break down? seriously, what is with all of these emotions?!) and got to pick him up that afternoon after work. He was completely out of it and the poor thing couldn't even sit up right or at all without help. I had to load him into Doug Judy and unload him and carry him in the house when we got home.
We set him up on the futon and the poor thing was just so loopy. After carefully carrying him in and out about four times to use the bathroom (he's on steroids, so lots of peeing, but he couldn't get upright or stay stable long enough to go on his own without some assistance), I finally got some food, water, and meds down him and he passed out.
I stayed home with him on Friday and honestly, that was a really good idea. My poor buddy couldn't really do anything without some kind of help until Saturday afternoon. Apparently, he and anesthesia don't gee haw too well.
He's still in recovery and has to wear a cone when someone's not home with him. Something that he is very unhappy about, might I add. He just can't seem to figure out that he has to hold his head up to hold the cone up and continues to trip and flip over it, or simply just sits down until you come to help him.
His stitches get removed on 7/15 and hopefully he is and will still be feeling a whole lot better. So.... one serious round of meds (spanning a week and a half) and one surgery (for a hematoma) later and our baby is plum wore out. 🥺
But, his brothers (and parents) are very happy to have him back home. (Side note: we've decided to switch to this vet full time, because we really like him and he's super nice and helpful.)
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