Barbie Perkins-Cooper, Author

Suppose I’ll share a strange, interesting story about my giant schnauzer, Prince Midnight Shadow. A few days ago, I noticed him limping on his front left paw. I phoned the vet early Wednesday and off to the vet we go. Shadow is a rescue, abandoned at an animal shelter in Georgia. Needless to say, he detests anything related to an animal hospital. The vet checked him, letting me know it could be a fracture or maybe he hydro-planed his foot. Later, after they gave him something to relax him, simply because he refused to sit still for X-rays, they discovered his left front paw toe was missing the first joint??? They showed me the X-rays, saying this had to happen recently. I found it interesting he just started limping. Now, he is on antibiotics.

The question at hand is — how and when did he amputate the first joint of his toe? Never did I see blood, nor did I hear him scream in pain. Only a limp. Today, he is putting weight on it a bit, so it is getting better. I suppose the morale of this story is – we must really watch our beloved family members.

My Shadow obviously has a strong pain tolerance, just like I do. I’m home with them daily since I work at home. Taking it one day…one step at a time!

Update today – Friday, February 8, 2019 — Shadow is now able to walk on all four paws. He is not limping nor is he favoring his paw. He thought he outsmarted me when he refused to take his meds willingly, so I placed his meds in his food, giving him less food than normally. When his bowl is empty, he looks at me, as if to say, is this all I’m getting? I’m still hungry!

Silly guy! I gave him more food each time. He returns to the vet next week to check his paw, then I will be able to get him groomed again.

My credit card aches from the money I spent. Shadow is worth every penny and dollars spent! So happy he is feeling better. He actually jumped up on me yesterday. Baby steps…One day at a time!