In the Blood

Does bad luck comes in fours? It should maybe. About 10 days ago we had the run of explosive diarrhea, then Raimi injured himself with a twisted foot, then yesterday we were attacked by wasps and today ... well, poor Raimi has really had just about enough of being damaged.

We went for our walk, just like always, came home, they were fed, everyone flopped on the couch to relax, I had a shower and got ready to go to work. At precisely 9:59, just as I was taking my book to the front door to put in my bag, I glanced to the right and saw an actual pool of blood on the hardwood.

I did an honest to goodness double-take. The pool had footprints leading away from it into the kitchen and there was Raimi, standing with his hind leg dangling and under his rear paw oozed bright red blood. Seriously, I just stood open mouthed for a moment. Then I looked at the time and knew there was no way I was going to make my shift start. 

Paper towels, water, more paper towel, a call into work, more paper towels and at last I had a handle on the culprit. A centimetre long cut in between Raimi's toes. I dabbed it dry, put some liquid bandage on it, I reached over to put the lid back on the bottle and glanced back at the paw to find almost the whole gap between his toes filled with blood again. What the hell?

I dabbed that dry again, jammed some paper towel between his toes, wrapped it in electrical tape(oh yes I did) and then put a bootie on his foot which I secured with, what else, electrical tape. He stood looking forlorn and lame as a one legged bird. I headed to work and told him not to bleed to death.

When I got home I took off the bootie and the paper towel to find the cut sealed and the blood stopped. It seems to have oozed throughout the day but is no longer actively bleeding. This morning my house looked like a crime scene with globs of blood across the hardwood but now I think, despite the lameness, Raimi will survive. He is feeling sorry for himself but that is not new and I'm sure he'll be right as rain by morning.

What I can't understand is how he could come in, eat, go and lie on the couch, and 2 hours later get up to walk across the carpet, hit the hardwood and explode with blood out of his foot. There is nothing on the couch or carpet to cut him, he wasn't lame when he came in, he didn't bother the foot while he was on the couch ... it just doesn't make sense. I suspect that he cut himself, it stayed sealed somehow as he walked around, then he got on the couch and it started to bleed. When he stood up to walk the clot stayed put until he stepped onto the hardwood which spread his toes a little more than the carpet does and voila ... release the blood clot.

This better be the last injury to the dogs for a while, really .... they've had enough.