Dingle had a vet visit on his birthday... he got to see his buddies at the Downtown Animal Hospital on his special day. That was probably the highlight of his day (I'm surprised I didn't do presents... but he's got so many treats and toys already it would have been unnecessary)... he loves the staff there.
Dingle had a grooming appointment on Saturday and Monday night he was scratching his ear like crazy. I couldn't keep him away from it. His nails were just cut at the grooming appointment and so they were very sharp. Dingle made his ear bleed... a lot. I figured his ear was probably itchy from an ear infection. We had Surolan at home but I didn't want to just use it without checking with the vet. I thought I'd just end up taking him to the vet for an overall check up because he was supposed to go in for a dental next week and I wanted to ensure he was healthy for the anesthesia.
So we were able to make an appointment for 9pm Tuesday. We went in and the vet looked at his ear, which was full of dried blood... full... it was black everywhere. The vet said that it looked like ear wax build-up and seemed hesitant to believe it was blood. He took multiple q-tips and was just scooping out the dried blood and scabs. Dingle was yelping the whole time and it took me and the vet to try and hold him still. After the vet determined that it was dried blood Dingle shook his head and a big scab came out and hit me in the face. Ew. Dingle, you're lucky I love you... because that was disgusting.
Dingle has an ear infection and I was given the go-ahead to use the Surolan we had. I also asked him to check his temperature and listen to his heart. Temp was normal and the heart was perhaps normal - there's always been some question as to whether Dingle has a heart murmur. Some instances the vets say no, others say maybe grade 1. This appointment he said there may be a murmur, but its only heard when Dingle was spazzing out trying to get back into my arms.
After the check-up the vet saw my pet insurance form and said there was actually no charge for the appointment - since we were just there Saturday for the grooming and it was likely the grooming caused the infection (maybe water/shampoo got inside). I was thrilled. It was so nice for them to say no charge. The receptionist said it was Dingle's birthday present but then corrected herself and said that's more of a present to me.
Dingle was supposed to have a dental this coming Monday, but we had to push it back a week and a half while we allow his ear to heal.
Dingle had his first 'camping' (in a backyard) experience this past weekend. On Saturday night we went up to a friend's place and stayed in a tent. Did we sleep well? No... and not just because it felt like we were sleeping on rocks, but because Dingle and my boyfriend's 1 dog (we left the other home with a neighbour) would yip, growl and/or bark at every little noise during the night. It was pretty cool at night and so Dingle slept on a folded towel (for padding) wrapped in a fleese blanket. Then we moved him into our sleeping bag (we had 2 zipped together). I wish I got to take a picture of Dingle in front of the tent, but my boyfriend took it down early in the morning before I could.
Not only did Dingle have his first tent experience, but he had his first experience with being an outdoor dog. I don't know how they got me agree to it, but Dingle and my boyfriend's dog stayed chained up in our friend's backyard while we went out for a few hours. Their parents were there checking on him, but I was still so nervous. When we came back Dingle was fast asleep by the deck, in the shade.
A pic from this weekend's camping adventure:
