Sore Pawed

Its one of those days, the kind of day when I maybe having a good day but poor Rocky isn't. Some how he has damaged his claw and now his whole paw is tender. So as soon as hubby is home we are off to the vets for some treatment.

I am writing about this as a comparison to me and my illness. When I am in bad pain I can scream, but usually don't as it solves nothing, Rocky how ever can only scream with the pain to let us know he isn't well. Trust me when a dog screams we know its bad, but Rocky the biggest member of the animal family is actually the biggest baby with the lowest pain tolerance, he will yelp if a cat waves a claw at him, so its always hard to work out just how bad it is. But as he lays pitifully on my bed it is obvious we need to see a vet. So like doctors appointments I battled to get one and we are now waiting patiently for him to go and get repaired.

It is times like this that make me realise how lucky we humans particularly in the western world are, we are able to pick up a phone if not to a GP but to some medical assistance, 24/7 and receive advise, and if necessary, medical treatment sooner rather than later. If you are a family pet you are reliant on being able to convince your owners that you don't feel well and hope they can find you the right kind of help. I think my lot are quite lucky that way as we have always had animals small or large and this goes back beyond my mother. There is a family tale of how my grandfathers mother whipped an owner of a horse for his mistreatment of the horse. Unfortunately the horse was beyond saving but she paid for him to suffer no longer. So it may be down to genes, or just common sense but we have always attracted animals over the years. We have the ones no one wants for one reason or another, but yet we seem to have little problem with them. If they are sick someone will stay up all night to provide the needed medication and in some cases spoon feed them. I am not saying it comes easy, there have been times I have been so tired doing it, but the outcome has been worthwhile. The unconditional love you receive in return is worth tiredness 1000 times over.

Animal care isn't for everyone, as in many ways it is harder than raising children, because they reason things out in their own mysterious way. Like trying to explain to Cheyenne that his 4th paw will never be what it was, and to Apache that her tail is better of not being there anymore as the pain would have driven her mad literally. You can't just leave an animal for hours alone when you go for a day out or to work, if it is a dog you need to take it with you and if its a cat, well that depends on the cat. We have a simple rule if we can't take the dogs with us on a long day out then one person stays at home with them. We choose to have animals so it is our responsibility to make sacrifice. I also make a point every day of checking in with each animal on it own. Handling them, talking to them and so on. It is their personal one to one for the day and it creates my closer bond with them. It is during these times that Garfield has his ear scratch or Branston his tummy rub and is on top of the daily attention they get. I find it is this way I get to know the animals so well I can spot problems in health before they become anything too great with the exception of accidents.

So as I sit here typing I have a poorly Rocky next to me upside down all paws in the air, waiting for the last 30 minutes to hurry past so we can go get him better, On the other side I have Rosie looking concerned for her playmate, and on various levels different cats are observing the situation. They all know something isn't right but they don't understand what comes next or how to deal with it, so we are gently talking to them and hoping they understand or take comfort from my voice. To us Rocky's injury would translate to a split nail that is infected, and would mean maybe a nail removal and antibiotics. To him it is so painful he can't put his paw down and is making him feel wrong. Anyway shortly all should be better and one sore pawed dog should be feeling a little better if not bouncing yet.