For her unhappy foot, Cookie got antibiotics and we were to do 20 minute foot soaks in Epsom salt, twice a day.
Sometimes things are easier said than done.
Administering the medication was easy, Cookie does accept pills hidden in food. We utilize the method recommended by Dr. Marty Becker, of using three treats, with only the middle one hiding the pill. Cheese did the job just fine and the whole experience was enjoyed.
With the footsie soaks, though, it was not such easy going.
Cookie, half-wild girl she is, has trouble with some of the things civilization brings, such as foot soaks.
First we tried putting her foot into the Epsom salt solution in a jar. Fail. Cookie was quite freaked by that idea.
Then we tried applying a poultice with Epsom salt paste in a freezer bag. Fail. This lasted a bit longer, but all in all about one minute.
What were we to do?
Doing it in the tub would probably work fine, except she's never seen a bath tub, never mind getting into one. And because we do want to be able to give her a bath when she needed in the future, we wanted her to get used to that idea slowly, so it could be a positive experience. Kiddie pool probably wouldn't be any different. We considered all kinds of ideas.
We didn't want to freak Cookie out too much, being new to our family and urban living but we did want to take care of the foot.
We figured that maybe if we just drenched the foot with the solution for 20 minutes, she might be ok with that and perhaps this would do the job. We knew that Cookie didn't mind having her foot sprayed, as we did try using DermaCool on it the first day.
After confirming with our vet that this should do, we needed to figure out how exactly we'd do this.
A bunch of towels to soak up the excess liquid?
Then I got the bright idea that maybe we could use the puppy pee pads instead.
We could have just done it outside but we needed to be able to be comfortable enough to do this for the whole 20 minutes. Indoors seemed like a more sensible option. So the decision has been made to try to work with the pee pads and see how it works.
They were nice enough at the pet store to sell us individual pieces, as we didn't need the whole huge package. The product we got is called Puddles Puppy Pads.
I can't really tell whether they are better than other similar products, as we never use any of these for their intended purpose and until now for anything else either.
But I can tell you that the amount of fluid these pads can hold is enormous.
The whole idea worked well and we were able to drench Cookie's foot for almost the 20 minutes without getting anything wet. The pads held their own. And we could take care of Cookie's foot without freaking her out.
Yay for creative thinking and puppy pee pads.
***
Related articles:
From The End Of A Lead Line To Casa Jasmine: Meet Cookie, Our New Adoptee
And So It Begins Again(?) Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie
I Didn't Know I Could Fly: Why Cookie Wears A Harness Instead Of A Collar
C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Chews For Dogs CAN Be A Choking Hazzard
Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie: The Knee Or The Foot?
Sometimes things are easier said than done.
Administering the medication was easy, Cookie does accept pills hidden in food. We utilize the method recommended by Dr. Marty Becker, of using three treats, with only the middle one hiding the pill. Cheese did the job just fine and the whole experience was enjoyed.
With the footsie soaks, though, it was not such easy going.
Cookie, half-wild girl she is, has trouble with some of the things civilization brings, such as foot soaks.
First we tried putting her foot into the Epsom salt solution in a jar. Fail. Cookie was quite freaked by that idea.
Then we tried applying a poultice with Epsom salt paste in a freezer bag. Fail. This lasted a bit longer, but all in all about one minute.
What were we to do?
Doing it in the tub would probably work fine, except she's never seen a bath tub, never mind getting into one. And because we do want to be able to give her a bath when she needed in the future, we wanted her to get used to that idea slowly, so it could be a positive experience. Kiddie pool probably wouldn't be any different. We considered all kinds of ideas.
We didn't want to freak Cookie out too much, being new to our family and urban living but we did want to take care of the foot.
We figured that maybe if we just drenched the foot with the solution for 20 minutes, she might be ok with that and perhaps this would do the job. We knew that Cookie didn't mind having her foot sprayed, as we did try using DermaCool on it the first day.
After confirming with our vet that this should do, we needed to figure out how exactly we'd do this.
A bunch of towels to soak up the excess liquid?
Then I got the bright idea that maybe we could use the puppy pee pads instead.
We could have just done it outside but we needed to be able to be comfortable enough to do this for the whole 20 minutes. Indoors seemed like a more sensible option. So the decision has been made to try to work with the pee pads and see how it works.
They were nice enough at the pet store to sell us individual pieces, as we didn't need the whole huge package. The product we got is called Puddles Puppy Pads.
I can't really tell whether they are better than other similar products, as we never use any of these for their intended purpose and until now for anything else either.
But I can tell you that the amount of fluid these pads can hold is enormous.
The whole idea worked well and we were able to drench Cookie's foot for almost the 20 minutes without getting anything wet. The pads held their own. And we could take care of Cookie's foot without freaking her out.
Yay for creative thinking and puppy pee pads.
***
Related articles:
From The End Of A Lead Line To Casa Jasmine: Meet Cookie, Our New Adoptee
And So It Begins Again(?) Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie
I Didn't Know I Could Fly: Why Cookie Wears A Harness Instead Of A Collar
C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Chews For Dogs CAN Be A Choking Hazzard
Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie: The Knee Or The Foot?
Good thinking! I remember with Titan's nail incident and we had to soak it. He was fine the first few days then he started getting disgruntled about it and growling. Actually muzzled him but sure didn't meet that 20 minute threshold. ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah ... 20 minutes is a loong time. Once she's used to the tub, something like that should be easy enough with sufficient amount of treats. But with her being so new to so many things, we wanted to find the path of least resistance, so her new life didn't start more miserably than it had to.
DeleteWe were managing about 16 minutes this way, which I think was pretty good.
I hope the soaking works! Good luck!
DeleteNone of my puppies ever peed on the pads but I never leave home without them... They make great underwater bowl pads for travel and accidentally muddy feet seat bed covers. Thanks for yet another great use for them!
ReplyDeletePads under water bowls it a great idea too! With our guys the bowl doesn't stay full long enough to spill, though :-)
DeleteClever, clever.
ReplyDeleteThank you :-) Just happy it worked.
DeleteAwesome idea! Beautiful pup!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jeanne.
DeleteClever idea. Rita had to have 10 minute soaks inthe tub when we first got her (she had mange) and she did not enjoy it, but I kept a steady stream of treats coming her way for each 10 min soak. Every 30 seconds I'd give her a little piece!
ReplyDeleteHope Cookie's foot is better!
As long as they're accepting treats, all is well. Cookie's stress level with the actual soaking or poultice was high enough she was not accepting food. So to me that is too high. That's why we came up with an alternative, which was acceptable to her.
Delete