Emergency Room

Ricky was home, and Jacko was outside. I got home and saw him leaning against the side of the house, looking somewhat dazed and confused. It's really cold today, so I figured he was just cold and wanted to come inside, so as soon as I went in the house I went to the back door to let him in. And that's when I saw it.

Blood. Everywhere.

I was actually on the phone with my college roommate when I walked in the door and immediately said "Amy, I gotta go." Then I hollered for Ricky. He had no idea there was anything wrong with Jacko. J hadn't whimpered or barked or given any indication whatsoever that there was something wrong.

Thank goodness our kitchen is tile! We pulled him in the house, Ricky got a rag wrapped tightly around the paw that we'd determined to be bleeding (there was so much blood that the only way we knew which one hurt was that it was the one he was licking) and I called the vet (is it strange that I have them on speed dial?). They told us that, judging by the tone of my voice and my description, we needed to go to the emergency vet hospital.

By this point Jacko was starting to freak out, and Ricky and I were too. There was so much blood, and it wouldn't stop. Ricky picked up J, I grabbed my purse and we headed out the door. Ricky held Jacko while I drove, both of us reassuring him the whole way, Ricky cuddling him and trying to keep him calm.

The bleeding hadn't slowed at all when we got to the hospital. The vet tech came to the car to help us bring him inside - he seemed to be starting to go into shock - and they took him directly back to an operating room. The doctor came to talk to us a while later. Don't ask how long, it could have been an hour or 20 minutes (I think it was closer to the 20 minutes though). She had us authorize them to work on him and put him under general anesthesia. For a total of 2 hours, Ricky and I sat in that waiting room and waited. It was scary, especially since we didn't know what was going on, and at that point we had no idea what had caused his injuries and were blaming ourselves.

When all was said and done, he had 3 major lacerations with a severed tendon. Not good, at all, but he's going to be ok. I'm fairly certain at this point that I know what caused it (and I will tell you I saw red when I realized it was neither Ricky's nor my fault). It's too dark right now to be sure, but Ricky will poke around in the daylight tomorrow to verify that my theory is right. Jacko lost a lot of blood, including a large puddle outside that helped guide me to what I think was the cause of his injuries.

So the good news is that, after 2 hours (and a tidy sum) he is ok. Whiny and in pain, but ok. Now if only I knew how to keep him from being active for the next 6-8 weeks!