Hi Everyone!
It's been a busy time for us lately, and I haven't been on YT much, but I try to pop in once a week or so for a few minutes at least. I miss you all. We have some good things going on. My oldest son is getting married on
Dec. 6th and it's mostly a DIY wedding, so I'm helping where I can. And some bad things going on. John (my husband) has received a possible diagnosis of progressive MS. We're still in the evaluation phase, but at least we have some answers to what's going on and can begin putting together a treatment plan.
Anyway, our biggest challenge lately has been with Gizmo. He's now a year and a half old and a precious joy for us. We thank God every day for bringing him into our lives.
Lately, we've felt like his grooming had been neglected due to everything going on, so we scheduled a full groom for him about a week and a half ago at a groomer I have recommended on YT in the past. They have always done a great job with him. This time there was a problem.
When we picked him up he was lethargic and just "out of it". He slept a lot and didn't want to be touched. This is very unusual behavior for him. This lasted for a day or so and he started to bounce back. We were just beginning to breathe a little easier when he started getting bumps all over his body. They were little bumps that didn't look too red, but obviously itched badly. I bathed him in a hypoallergenic shampoo and put on a lot of conditioner. That seemed to help him but only for a day or so. John took him to the vet the next day.
Here's the disturbing part. As soon as the vet's assistant heard that he had just recently been groomed, she said, "Oh, let me give you the name of a different groomer." This was alarming because this vet's office recommended the groomer we used. John asked if there had been other reports of problems with the groomer and she said, "Yes" but wouldn't go into any details.
The vet then examined Gizmo and said that he had a staph infection possibly caused by an allergic reaction to something the groomer used like a shampoo. Luckily, we caught it early. He gave us antibiotics for him along with prednisone for the itching. He's healing well now. Most of the scabs have dried up and are coming off on their own. He's not itching anymore.
Obviously, we are NOT returning to that groomer. Not because we can prove they actually did anything wrong, but just because of our "gut" feeling. If you live in Waco and would like to know the name of our groomer, please ask and I will gladly let you know.
Here's my question. How long should we wait to bathe him? I've even avoiding brushing him because I didn't want to disturb the healing sores. Has anyone had an experience like this? How do we do the followup care for him now that he is healing?
Thank you in advance.
