A Minor Injury Could be Fatal!
Contents
- Saffy's got a sore paw
- Watch an English Springer Spaniel Run
- George H.W. Bush & his Dog Millie plus Puppies
- There's an infection in the wound
- More surgery
- Epilogue
- Give Money to Wild Animals
- The Power of the Dog
- Like This Lens?
- Have you had good or bad experiences taking your pet to a veterinarian?
- Stazjia's Social Networks
- Please Vote for this Lens
- About Me
"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face."
Saffy's got a sore paw

Saffy doing what she does best - running
Saffy, our English Springer Spaniel, was lively happy dog, just over a year old, and as crazy and active as most springers. One evening in early July I noticed she was limping but I couldn't see anything wrong with her paw or leg. The next morning she was still limping so I made an appointment with the vet.
Saffy was a great favourite with the vets and nurses at this practice and they always made a big fuss of her so there was no problem taking her or for the vet inspecting her paw. The diagnosis was a seed had worked its way in and was embedded. An operation to remove it was necessary. I took her back the following day for surgery and picked her up in the late afternoon.
Once she had completely recovered from the anaesthetic, about 24 hours after the operation, she was back to her old lively self.
I was told I had to keep the dressing on her paw dry so bought a special boot from the vet in a very smart silver and black. She hated it. Every time she went in the garden, she pulled it off and abandoned it. I always found it again and replaced it. Finally, she decided to get rid of it once and for all. When I wasn't looking, she pulled it off again and then tore it to pieces! She knew what she'd done, she stood there with a big doggy grin! After that she had to make do with plastic bags held on by an elastic band.
Watch an English Springer Spaniel Run
"I've caught more ills from people sneezing over me and giving me virus infections than from kissing dogs."
Barbara Woodhouse
Dog Trainer

George H.W. Bush & his Dog Millie plus Puppies
There's an infection in the wound
She told me I had to use a syringe to pump antiseptic into the wound. As it happened, this was just before an official holiday weekend and I was going to visit a friend who used to be a nurse. She did all the syringing, also hot poultices to try to draw the infection. We did it regularly morning and evening for five days.
None of this helped. The infection continued. By the end of September, after yet another course of antibiotics I was getting very worried and upset. Saffy, a dog who could run continuously for hours, was reduced to walking for maybe 30 yards then lying down to have a rest. Instead of chasing her ball, she was carrying it so nobody could throw it because she didn't want to run.
Back at the vet's, I insisted on an x-ray. The results, they said, showed nothing and that Saffy was 'putting it on' and playing for sympathy. My reaction was, what a load of rubbish. It was obvious that the paw was still infected. At my next visit, I insisted on a second opinion and a referral to a specialist. The vet told me that it would be very expensive (unfortunately, Saffy wasn't insured then but she is now!). My answer was "What am I supposed to do, let her carry on suffering?" They thought I was mad and that Saffy was play acting.
Books about English Springer Spaniels
"Dogs are wise. They crawl away into a quiet corner and lick their wounds and do not rejoin the world until they are whole ..."
Agatha Christie
More surgery
We were lucky that there was an orthopedic specialist vet, Mr Mac, just 7 miles away. If he hadn't been able to see us, the other closest one was over 100 miles away. We had to wait a month for an appointment and we finally saw him in November.When we went I took the x-ray that had been done at the end of September, the one that our regular vet had said showed there was nothing wrong. Mr Mac pointed out tiny little white spots on it and said that showed there was still infection. The problem was that paws have so many bones and tendons, it is difficult to operate there and not something to be undertaken lightly. He said he would operate and take a closer look, though.
Saffy stayed there for surgery that day. I had a phone call in the afternoon to say we could pick her up at 6pm which we did. Her paw was heavily dressed and the vet had prescribed a 10 day course of antibiotics. Later that evening Mr Mac phoned to tell me exactly what he had found. He said there was necrotized tissue alongside the bone. He had cleaned it all out and given her an injection of strong antibiotic.
From the following day, when she had recovered fully from the anaesthetic, she was much more like her old self. Over the previous few weeks she had become depressed and snappy, quite out of character for her. Within a week she wasn't lying down for a rest on walks and was running again. Within two weeks she was completely back to normal, able to run for hours, chasing balls, birds and cats. Best of all, she was her usual cheerful happy self.
The next time we visited my friend, just before we were going to bed, Saffy lay down in front of the kitchen door and waved her paw at my friend. She absolutely insisted it had to be looked at and inspected. My friend looked at it carefully, told Saffy it was fine and so Saffy jumped up and was totally happy.
Books about Sick or Injured Dogs
Read about the English Springer Spaniel
The English Springer Spaniel (Terra Nova Series)
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/21/2009)![]()
This book covers all aspects of the English Springer Spaniel from their personalities, training, care, feeding and health care.
Springer Spaniel and a Stick
English Springer Spaniels Love Stick!
Turn up your speakers. This one features Winston enjoying a good romp with stick at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, NYC. Nothing puts a big ol' smile and motorized waggy tail on him like a good game of stick! Awww!
Runtime: 107
24536 views
32 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
"The dog has an enviable mind; it remembers the nice things in life and quickly blots out the nasty."
Epilogue

Saffy running again, no ill effects from the injured paw
As a postscript, some months later I heard somebody on the radio talking about gangrene and necrotized tissue. It was then that I realised that if Mr Mac hadn't resolved the problem when he did, Saffy could have lost her leg and maybe even her life.
I have never forgiven the first vet for their ignorance and negligence and now we no longer go there even for anything as simple as a booster injection. I feel that they are more interested in the money made from animals than in their welfare. Luckily Mr Mac also has a normal practice as well as being a specialist and that's where we go now. At that practice all the vets put the welfare of the animals above financial considerations.
Take this story as a warning. If your pet appears sick to you, insist that your vet treats it or refers you to a specialist. Don't let it go on as long as I did just because I thought I could trust the vet. If I had trusted my own instincts more, Saffy could have been saved months of needless suffering.
Outstanding Savings on Dog Supplies. Order Your Dog Products Today!
Give Money to Wild Animals
Doggy Products
The Power of the Dog
by Rudyard Kipling

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English Springer Spaniel Dog Photographic Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie -
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find - it's your own affair -
But . . . you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone - wherever it goes - for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve.
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long-
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
"It is fatal to let any dog know that he is funny, for he immediately loses his head and starts hamming it up."
P.G. Wodehouse
Like This Lens?
Have you had good or bad experiences taking your pet to a veterinarian?
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Reply
- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Aug 9, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
- You know, the foot or paw is such an important body part to not ignore if there is an injury or wound. We've got a raccoon out back who has such an injury, but we are not prepared to help it out. Recently, we thought Pug had a broken back leg and we were told over the phone that they would amputate rather than fix it! Oh my.
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Reply
- GrowWear GrowWear Apr 4, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
- Welcome to the Memoirs Group. Glad Saffy is doing fine. :)
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Reply
- Treasures-By-Brenda Treasures-By-Brenda Nov 5, 2008 @ 8:15 am
- A beautiful page, very well done!
Brenda
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Reply
- kathypi kathypi Oct 28, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
- our dogs rely on us to care and protect them, i've had a few good and bad vet experiences,
it is good you went with your intuition for a second opinion for SASSY, I'M HAPPY SHE IS BETTER, enjoyed your lens, kathy
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Reply
- poddys poddys Oct 28, 2008 @ 8:17 pm
- My cousin had a springer spaniel too, lovely dogs. 5***** for a great story and thankfully all turned out well.
- Load More
About Me
Lensmaster Stazjia has been a member since September 26 2006, has rated 1,418 lenses, favorited 856, and has created 129 lenses from scratch. Carol Fisher donates their royalties to Dolphin Communication Project. This member's top-ranked page is "Classic Funny Poems for Kids". See all my lenses
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I am English and I've spent the last 11 years writing freelance for UK magazines, a couple of books and online. More on my Lensography.

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