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Ouch...UPDATED

My dog’s going under the knife today. Or, more accurately, the emory board. She’s being put under anesthesia…to have what amounts to a glorified pedicure. We don’t normally go to these extremes for her general grooming; she’s not that kind of dog. She’s terrier tough, not poodle priss. However, even scrappy terriers, in their haste to scramble for the critters in the backyard, can rip up their do-claws (the little extra, thumb-like nail on the insides of their front paws that some breeders have removed when the pups are just days old to avoid these kinds of issues). Maggie tore hers to the quick, and now it’s rough and tender and bleeds without warning. She won’t even let us touch it, therefore, the trip for Emergency Salon & Spa Care.

I’m nervous for her. I hope she handles the anesthesia OK. You know, you hear those horror stories of the beloved new pet going in to get neutered and dying on the table. All of this headache for a torn toenail. It’s our fault, really. If we learned to cut them (and she learned to LET us cut them) in between her grooming appointments, they wouldn’t get so abnormally, dangerously long.

We’re considering buying one of those gadgets being advertised online, an electric file of sorts that is safer and easier – if you believe the ads – than regular clippers. I’m not sure how she’d react to the noise, like a tiny buzzsaw. She attacks the vacuum cleaner so fiercely, we have to toss her outside when we clean. But it might be worth a try to avoid this mini-drama in the future. And avoid what I’m guessing will be a ridiculously high “surgical” bill from the vet.

She’s lucky that she’s adorable and we’re big, softhearted suckers.

UPDATE: When I showed up at the vet to collect my pooch yesterday afternoon, I heard a dog barking wildly and scratching against the kennel door. Yep. That'd be Mags. The vet said she'd been that way, raring to go, since she woke up. No one's feeling too sorry for her now. She's a tough girl. Like a pit bull with lipstick? Anyway, she lived. And, while they had her out like a light, she had a little dental cleaning, too. No extra charge. A pedicure AND pearly whites...score!

Comments

AnneR said…
If you do get one of those "peticure" gizmos, let me know how it works. Harry and Maggie have similar temperaments (and attitudes toward the vacuum cleaner)--if it works for her, I may have to try it for him!
How did it work out?

My canines and I are hoping that Maggie is A-OK!!

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