A Dog Is Family Too

Brandon, recuperating from an infected hygroma (photo courtesy
of m00nchildr0cks)

Been nursing our ten year old family dog Brandon for about a week now. His hygroma, those callous you found on big dog's elbow, knees and behind has gotten worse. It has already turned into an infected open wound with pus thus we rushed him to a veterinary clinic so he'll get the proper care for his wound asap. The good thing is, this happened on time whilst my sissy and I are both on hiatus thus we are able to attend to Brandon as he is already a senior dog (10 years is equivalent to 70 years in dog years) and he absolutely needs ample TLC (tender love and care) at this very moment.

I made this DIY pill holder out of egg container to store Brandon's medicines
and even labelled them :)

Brandon, was named after Brandon Boyd of Incubus since we name all of our dogs after rock stars because we're into rock music since during our adolescent years (we have Fiona named after Fiona Apple, our dearly departed long coat chihuahua dog Harriet from Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays, her also departed son Jack, after Jack of The White Stripes and his sister Jill after Jill Sobule. Then, a relative of Harriet also a long coat chihua, Bruce from Bruce Springsteen, Kurt from Kurt Cobain of Nirvana obviously and so on). Going back, Brandon is our Dad's dog and he bought him all the way from Cavite way back 2005 with my sister and nine year old niece. According to them it was a hearbreaking story because Brandon was up for sale along with his sister and a Doctor along with his little kids took care of them like their own from puppyhood until they're up for sale. When my Dad took Brandon (he cost less than 10k) his Doctor owner and kids seemed heartbroken thus they already hid inside their house prior to Brandon leaving the compound because they might've felt like a they lost a family member that's why my sister assured them Brandon would be in good hands since our family treat our pets like family members so just imagine our rage when we heard about the Yulin Festival crap.

Anyways, Brandon is a German Shepherd and is PCCI (Philippine Canine Club, Inc) certified thus my Dad even enrolled him to this fancy canine academy where he learned basic tricks and even earned a certificate afterwards (kinda like a Diploma). We supplied him with vitamins since he's not an ordinary dog and provided extra care but like any other animals he's become susceptible to illness as he gets older. He once had worm infestation I think wherein my Dad even needed to rush back home whilst on his way to the south to send him over to a vet because there's already blood in his stools. All went well and he's been healthy until lately because he might've scratched his callous too far that's why it got infected. I mean what to expect with animals right? They scratch haplessly if there's an itch. Brandon was really behave whilst at the vet, he didn't even growl nor displayed any aggressive behavior towards the veterinarian that's why they were able to clean his wound well, prescribed some anti-biotics, anti-flammatory meds, wound cleaner and a liver supplement to possibly help in healing his wound fast since he's a senior dog.

DIY hygroma pads made from a couple of large dog muzzles and hand
sewn leather strap. 

My sister and I even made this DIY hygroma pads for Brandon but he seemed uncomfortable so we were left with no choice but get rid of the pads since he already chewed on it. It was made from leather car seats by the way which have been long discarded and kept somewhere in the house. I even hand sewn it but it did not last very long for a huge and strong dog. He even ate some of his gauze good thing my other sissy caught him.

So far his wound on his elbow seemed to be closing, a sign of healing which is absolutely a good thing. He's temporarily wearing this Elizabeth collar aka collar of shame for animals because he couldn't keep his teeth away from his wound, munching and ripping his bandage. We have been giving him his anti-biotic as prescribed and we'll see how it goes after this week. I hope the wound gets better within this week so surgery won't be an option anymore. Who wants surgery anyways right? I personally don't having gone through one because he's a ten year old dog and same with humans, as you get older the risk is high once you're placed under the knife. Brandon is a mighty dog despite his wound and he even gets to guard our house at night whilst recuperating. He's our very own stay in security guard actually.