The Pup

 D. E. Larsen, DVM

I slid my chair back from the dinner table. It had been a long day at the clinic, and Sandy, who also got home late, had made tomato soup from the can and toasted cheese sandwiches. It was a quick and easy late dinner but adequate for us at this hour.

The phone rang as I stood up from the table. I looked at Sandy, hoping she would say to let it ring.

With no response from Sandy, I let it ring until it went to message. It was Leon calling about a pup. I picked up the phone.

“Doc, I’m glad I caught you,” Leon said. “I know it’s late, but we have this new little pup. He is six weeks old and got his head shut in a car door this evening. He ain’t looking so good right now, Doc. We were hoping you could get a look at him tonight.”

“I just got up from a late dinner and was heading to my chair, so you caught me just in time,” I said. “How long will it take you to get to the clinic?”

“We can be there in about twenty minutes,” Leon said. “We are living on Whiskey Butte now, but we will hurry.”

“Okay, but drive safe. A few minutes won’t make any difference for the pup,” I said. “I will be there when you get there.”

I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. “No rest for the wicked, I guess,” I said as I looked at Sandy.

“Do you need me to come with you?” Sandy asked.

“Not really,” I said. “If this is a head injury, there is not much to do. I guess it will either be a euthanasia or a big dose of dexamethasone.”

The night air had a bite to it as I unlocked the front door. It was going to be cold tonight. Maybe even the first frost this fall. I turned on the lights, pulled Leon’s file, and looked up to see Leon pull up out front. He must have flown down the hill.

I stepped out the door as Leon opened his car’s back door. Shana was sitting in the back with the pup.

“The door didn’t close on his head, but it banged him pretty hard,” Leon said. “He really wailed. Shana is feeling pretty bad about things right now. He can’t stand up, and his head sort of spins, and then he falls over.”

“This guy doesn’t look like much of a hound,” I said.

“He’s a Mini Aussi and Mini Beagle mix,” Leon said. “We need a regular dog in the house.”

“Let’s bring him in and get a look at him,” I said. “Have you put a name on him yet?”

“Let’s call him Cash,” Leon said. “We had to buy him, and now this, he is consuming his share of cash.”

We tried to lay Cash on the exam table, but he was so messed up neurologically that he would lie still. We ended up doing sort of an exam with Shana holding the pup.

“Do you think we should be talking about putting him to sleep?” Leon asked.

“I don’t think we should do that tonight,” I said. “I think I should give Cash a big dose of steroids, and we can see what morning gives us. He could just have a bad concussion. We can always put him to sleep if he doesn’t improve with medication.”

“Okay, Doc, whatever you think,” Leon said.

“One of my favorite professors in vet school, Dr. Annes, always said that no patient should die without the benefit of steroids.”

“That sounds good to us,” Shana said. “And maybe something for pain.”

I gave the pup a big dose of dexamethasone and tramadol for pain.

“You can leave him here tonight if you want,” I said. “But he will be all alone. It might be better to just take him home and make him comfortable.”

“My guess is he is going to sleep on Shana’s chest tonight,” Leon said.

“Give me a call in the morning, or just drop by. We will be here at eight,” I said.

Leon was on the phone a couple of minutes after I got to the office.

“Pup is doing great this morning, Doc,” Leon said. “I can’t thank you enough, or maybe I should be thanking that Dr. Annes.”

“Sounds good, Leon,” I said. “You want to give him plenty of rest and no vigorous activity for a couple of weeks. It takes some time for these head injuries to heal. If you have time today, drop by the office, and I will have some pills to keep him on for a few days. And Leon, we all stand on a bunch of shoulders. Dr. Annes was one of many who helped me in this business.”

Cash grew up without any residual effects from his head injury. Sometimes, we see seizures following a significant head injury, but Cash is fine. He has the run of the place. And to top that off, he has a big fan group and his own Snapchat following.

Photo by Shana Olson.