Bruises, Itches and more Bruises

It has to be fairly warm for me to switch to wearing shorts and summer 2013 was warm enough. There was just one problem, bruises.

Holly's wheels are fantastic, they give her independent mobility and allow her to enjoy walks. But there is a downside to the wheels, it may sound silly but Hollys desire to be near me has turned out to be quite painful since getting the cart. We went to obedience classes and she learnt to walk at my heel, on either side depending on which side I asked her to walk on. She still tries to walk to heel, but doesn't like being that little bit further away from me so tries to walk closer. The side bars on the cart are just a few inches lower than my knees and when Holly tries to walk to heel I get bashed in the back of the calf. Frequently enough that both sides are more or less permanently bruised.

It doesn't matter how smooth or rounded something is, if you bash it against something else hard enough you can do some damage. For one week this summer, in addition to the bruises, I also had a graze where she had run past me fast enough to be damaging and close enough for impact.

I can also report that the hub caps are ankle bone height and while having your toes run over doesn't hurt when in walking boots or a pair of sturdy trainers, sandals do not offer any protection or padding at all!

Occasionally in the past Holly has developed an itchy tummy, probably an alergy to whatever plant life she has run through when we are out and about. A few baths in some shampoo from the vet and everything is fine. Spring and Summer 2013 she got itchy again, but the shampoo was no help. If you put your hand on her, her back legs would start to scratch furiously. Off we went to see the vet, he tried an injection and said it would calm things down and wanted to see her again in a couple of weeks. One week later we were back, the injection had helped but was starting to wear off and I didn't want her getting that itchy again. Some investigation later and the conclusion was that she wasn't suffering from her normal itchy skin, but the nerves as part of their degeneration were mis-firing and making her legs think that physical contact was very very itchy.

We started her on Prednoleucotropin (plt) tablets which stopped the itching and manic scratching response. A little experimentation with the dose and half a tablet once a day was a suitable maintenance dose. Ever so often I would take her off them altogether, when the itching started again I would start the tablets again. Sometime around late September I stopped the tablets and the itching never returned. Whatever had been the cause, either exposure to a specific plant or a degenerating nerve, had stopped.

Like all dogs Holly dreams when she sleeps and when it's a deep sleep and a good dream her feet, ears and nose twitch and sometimes she makes small woofing noises as well. Like all owners I wonder what she dreams of, chasing seagulls or rabbits? Or just running as fast as the wind over the beach or the moors?

She still dreams now and I wonder if she has her wheels in her dreams or not.

What has changed is the twitching. her front feet, nose and ears all twitch the same as normal. The back feet no longer twitch, they kick! Imagine a kangaroo on it's side in fast-forward. It is a strange sight to watch and I discovered that there is still some strong muscles in those legs. I have mentioned before that Holly sleeps on the bed next to me. Normally she wedges her back against my side so when she dreams and kicks I can feel her rocking. Sometimes she turns over and sleeps with her feet against my side. Now dreaming is dangerous as I end up with a pair of feet being slammed into my ribs over and over again until I can untangle myself from the bedding and move out of range. It might not have been too bad if it had been a cold summer, the duvet would have provided some protection. But in the nice hot summer I was sleeping under just a sheet. So while the weather was hot I had bruised ribs to go with the bruises and grazes on the calves, ankles and toes.

Hooray for arnica cream is all I can say!