My Paw is Injured

I think injured paws are going around because another one of my doggy blogger friends had an injured paw, I saw two doggies at the vet with injured paws, and now I have one. I started to limp last night for no apparent reason. Mommy and daddy inspected my paw and didn't see any stickers or cuts so they were confused. I wouldn't even walk on the grass to go potty so I had to be carried to the yard.

This morning my limping was gone and it turned into a full fledged hop - on three legs. Mommy took me to the vet where we wound up waiting for an hour. I've never seen the vet's office so crowded. Finally it was our turn and mommy warned the vet assistant that I might bite if my injured paw was touched so they muzzled me just in case. I didn't like that at all. I looked like a racehorse.

The vet and his assistant tried to flip me so they could see my paw better and I liked that even less. I cried but the vet continued to touch my paw. Didn't he know that I was in pain? It turns out that my injured paw has a swollen digit. I don't know what a digit is but I wish it wasn't swollen.

Mommy doesn't know how it happened since I was perfectly fine yesterday but the vet said I probably jumped wrong or something like that. Mommy said it must have been caused by chasing squirrels because that's when I'm most active. I can't help it, it's in my nature.

The vet wanted to take X-rays but the machine is in the same room as the surgical room and a doggy was having an operation in there so we couldn't go in. The vet told mommy to come back later for my X-rays. So we went home, mommy took me on a walk - yes, I can walk, well run actually on three legs. Then I got some awesome treats: eggs and carrots. Finally it was time to return to the vet. We wound up waiting and waiting once again only to be told that there was another doggy in the X-ray room. Ugh!

The doctor apologized and suggested I take some special medication and see how I do over the next week. He told mommy to come back for that X-ray if my paw doesn't get better in a week, but he said I'd most likely heal on my own. Doggies are cool like that.

The good news is that I lucked out because I was supposed to be groomed tomorrow but mommy had to cancel because of my paw. So I guess I have to look a bit scruffy for another week or so but don't worry, mommy is still brushing me at home. I might look a bit "fluffy" but I'm still under 30 pounds so I'm actually perfect. Well, that's what mommy says anyway.

You can see a short video of me trying to hop along. This was before I became comfortable walking on just three legs. Don't worry, I'm much faster now although I think it still breaks mommy's heart to see me hop. Shh! Don't tell her I know.