Our dog, Beauty, has been bedeviled by problems since the day we got her.  You name it, she’s had it. Fleas, dewormings, more fleas, more dewormings….she’s generally a mess at all times.  Our current problem began way back before Scott brought her here, but got bad in recent days.  She has had issues with ear infections and mites, beginning, of course, when she used to swim in our pond back in Florida.  We’ve been treating it forever, and it always seems to come back.  In the past month things have taken a turn for the worse, and the antibiotic ointment we got from Florida no longer was working.  Things got out of hand, and it was not a pretty sight.

So, obviously, something had to be done.  I have found only 1 vet since we arrived, so this morning that is where I headed for.  Appointments aren’t made here in India, from what I can tell after taking Ender in (more on that another day), so Mujeeb just arrived at 8am and we loaded Beauty in the car and drove over there (quite close to the children’s school).

We were the first ones there and were therefore taken first, luckily.  The veterinarian was gentle and kind, and she looked her over thoroughly.  The ear, of course, was the first concern, but she was also deemed to have a skin rash that needed some intensive treatment.

Beauty was poked and prodded and injected and wiped, and then the BIG BATH.  An all-over bath with some horrible, sticky, brownish, antibiotic paste.  It left her sticky and stinky (even stinkier than before!), and made her almost unbearable to drive home with.

I’m sure that if Beauty could talk, though, she would tell us that the worst part is the indignity that she is currently suffering.  Due to her constant scratching of her severely inflamed ear with her rather sharp nails, she has to wear “THE COLLAR”.

Beauty is not handling this well thus far.  Attempts to put it on her at the vet’s office were met with absolute terror on her part, so I saved it until we got home.  At home, I got it on her ok, but then she proceeded to walk forward, bump headfirst into a wall, and then stand there whining pitifully because she didn’t realize that she had to back up to get out of her predicament.  I managed to get her up the stairs, but it was quite a chore, as the “collar” kept hitting on each step as she walked up, stopping her in her tracks. She got stuck on the wall several more times getting into Addie’s room, and I had to lead her around by the top of the collar to get her where I wanted her to go.

I put her in the “cat room”, gave her a blanket and her food and water, and blocked the door, so that she wouldn’t be sleeping with her sticky, stinky fur on all the beds.  The cats came to watch, and stood on top of the kennel jeering and laughing.

I now have a course of antibiotics and treatments and baths that I have to try to keep up.  That, coupled with the treatments for Ender (like I said, more on that later) is going to keep me busy the next few days.