*So* Proud of Puppy

Nikita's had a tough week.

She was attacked Tuesday evening by Kody, a shepherd mix in our neighborhood, and got what turned out to be an incredibly nasty bite-wound just above her tail out of it.  I didn't find it initially under all that fur, and didn't think anything major had happened.  We had an appointment first thing Thursday morning to have her spayed at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital though, so I figured the doctors there could take a look at it just incase.  

"Just incase" turned out to be a severe bite, with an even more severe pocket under it.  (Dogs apparently carry so much bacteria in their mouths that even minor bites are prone to infection -- fortunately this one hadn't spread yet.)  So, after shaving a four-inch by four-inch area of her fur, they cleaned up and stitched up the bite-wound, then made a clean incision about an inch-and-a-half over; drained the pocket under the wound; and left in a slim plastic tube about as wide and as thick as a drinking straw, though much softer and more bendable, to help with follow-on drainage.  She got to come home late Friday.  

(The spaying operation, by the way, was a piece of cake in comparison, requiring no follow-up visits, tubes, or antibiotics -- ironic that *that* procedure was what I'd been so nervous about.)  

Her energy level and spirits have both been higher than I was expecting, which is generally good -- the only bad part is how frustrated and stir-crazy she's been.  After our follow-up appointment today, during which she had the tube removed as well as the stitches from the bite-wound, she's allowed to start taking semi-normal walks -- as in, short, slow, excitement-free ones -- which should help alleviate her boredom and thus hopefully her frustration, anxiety, etc.  When I told the doctor how generally aggravated she seemed and asked if there was anything else I could be doing for her, I was told, "It's just really tough with the Arctic breeds."  That's my little monster =).  

It'll be good to start spending time outside again with her, and really good to get a break from her bashing the cone into the walls.  She definitely hasn't been loving it...