Back to the Vet

This time it was for Max. He hurt his neck at either the second or third vertebra. Poor baby, I could tell he was in a lot of pain. He's doing a lot better today, thanks to a pain pill and as of this morning, a steroid to help with the swelling. He still doesn't want to jump off the landing though, so he may be afraid of it hurting again if he does.

That may have been the way he hurt it the other night. The way he usually goes dashing out the door, others in his way be damned, he pushes right past them and then leaps off the landing to chase after that chipmunk he thought he saw in the backyard. We don't have squirrels anymore, now we have chipmunks. Anyway, he loves chasing after them, so that may be how he hurt his neck because it was yesterday morning as soon as I got up that I noticed something was wrong.

Terriers have thick necks anyway, but Max's was so swollen that he looked like a linebacker for the Steelers. He's doing his "butt scratch boogie" right now with my slipper, so I know he's feeling better. For this who don't know what the "butt scratch boogie" is, this is it.

 

Max likes the new vet too. Of course he likes anyone who gives him attention, but I think he liked her because she was very gentle with him during the exam and afterwards gave him lots of attention. Two pluses as far as he and I both are concerned.

We're supposed to alternate hot and cold on his neck, but it's hard when he won't sit still for very long. The little guy has been moving constantly this morning, only staying in one place for a few minutes. But I did notice that the swelling in his neck has gone down some, so at least he doesn't look so much like a linebacker anymore. And he isn't walking stiff like he was yesterday, so both are good signs that he's on the mend. Since the vet said that this may be a recurring problem, I guess we'll just have to keep an eye out for it happening again and get him treatment when it does. In the meantime, The Max, aka Zoomer is back, almost.