We left camp early, and arrived at
Gunnison at about 5 minutes to 8. We dropped off Max and they advised us that the injury would require
surgery and
anesthesia. We would have to leave him the whole day. I could think of better places to have a down day, but this would be the first day we didn't hike, bike or drive all day. We were shopping while the vet called. The branch pulled a huge portion of skin away from the body wall, called
de-gloving. The vet said an incision would have to be made much larger than the original torn skin. All the torn skin was devitalized and had to be removed. The remaining skin was stretched and stitched. Two drainage tubes were installed and would have to be removed after a week or so. Total Price = $560.00. And I couldn't pick him up until 5 pm. So, we just went to the river to hang out for the rest of the day. We had some beers, read some magazines, then went to a pizza parlour. At 5 we picked up Max. Boy, was he glad to see me. He jumped up and licked my face, like he was feeling no pain. Dogs sure are
resilient. They gave me some dressing to tend to his wound on the road, and bid me farewell. We continued on our way. Back to Lake City. The real lake at Lake City was our destination. We had to drive through town to get to it. Boy was it beautiful. There were dispersed campers camped all around the lake. Apparently there was a campground, but we took the road less traveled as usual, and sure enough there was a dirt road that went up hill to access some power lines. It had a beautiful view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.
It even had a fire ring. Best of all it was free. We had some more beers, left over pizza and watched the sunset. Our trip was winding down, and now we had a gimp dog. So we were lamenting having to return home. We thought of all the things we could have done for $560. We could have stayed in 5 hotel rooms, had 5 gourmet meals, bought 5 pieces of Patagonia clothing, rented a Jeep for 5 days etc... Oh well, at least Max was going to be okay. It would have been horrible if it were a life threatening injury. Especially since I lost Gina just a month ago. Not a good year for my dogs.
We left camp early, and arrived at Gunnison at about 5 minutes to 8. We dropped off Max and they advised us that the injury would require surgery and anesthesia. We would have to leave him the whole day. I could think of better places to have a down day, but this would be the first day we didn't hike, bike or drive all day. We were shopping while the vet called. The branch pulled a huge portion of skin away from the body wall, called de-gloving. The vet said an incision would have to be made much larger than the original torn skin. All the torn skin was devitalized and had to be removed. The remaining skin was stretched and stitched. Two drainage tubes were installed and would have to be removed after a week or so. Total Price = $560.00. And I couldn't pick him up until 5 pm. So, we just went to the river to hang out for the rest of the day. We had some beers, read some magazines, then went to a pizza parlour. At 5 we picked up Max. Boy, was he glad to see me. He jumped up and licked my face, like he was feeling no pain. Dogs sure are resilient. They gave me some dressing to tend to his wound on the road, and bid me farewell. We continued on our way. Back to Lake City. The real lake at Lake City was our destination. We had to drive through town to get to it. Boy was it beautiful. There were dispersed campers camped all around the lake. Apparently there was a campground, but we took the road less traveled as usual, and sure enough there was a dirt road that went up hill to access some power lines. It had a beautiful view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. 
It even had a fire ring. Best of all it was free. We had some more beers, left over pizza and watched the sunset. Our trip was winding down, and now we had a gimp dog. So we were lamenting having to return home. We thought of all the things we could have done for $560. We could have stayed in 5 hotel rooms, had 5 gourmet meals, bought 5 pieces of Patagonia clothing, rented a Jeep for 5 days etc... Oh well, at least Max was going to be okay. It would have been horrible if it were a life threatening injury. Especially since I lost Gina just a month ago. Not a good year for my dogs. 
1 comment:
Gee Wade - that sure was a graphic description. Thanks for NOT including a photo of his wound! Poor Max!! Hope he is all recovered at this point. You are pretty handy with a handkerchief and some butterflies and a first aid kit!
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