Thursday, July 14, 2022

Pillow Ear


Last Saturday, I noticed that somehow, Olga injured her ear. It was substantially swollen, with a fluid-filled blister -- like Olga was carrying her own little pillow at the side of her head. It didn't seem to hurt her and I left it for a couple of days thinking it might go down on its own, but when it didn't, I called the vet for an appointment.

Normally we go to a vet right around the corner from our flat. But the receptionist there said they had no doctor on duty because the vet was out with Covid. If I wanted an appointment right away, I would have to go to their sister practice in Belsize Park.

So that's how Olga and I wound up walking 45 minutes each way to the vet yesterday morning. It's not even that far -- 1.2 miles, according to Google Maps -- but Olga walks slowly and does a lot of sniffing. The doctor seemed unbothered by the ear and said it's actually pretty common -- dogs scratch their ears or knock them against something and break a blood vessel, causing an internal hematoma. She drained the blood and said it might come back, and if it did, I should just leave it to slowly heal on its own.

The vet used a tiny needle to drain the blood, but there was still a pinprick wound and then Olga's ear was bleeding. Every time she shook her head she'd smear blood on her white fur. She looked like some kind of trailer park fighting dog. I asked the vet for a Band-Aid (or "plaster," as they say in England) to stanch the bleeding, and she fashioned some ridiculous thing out of a gauze pad and yellow tape that made Olga look like Pikachu, and that flew off the minute she shook her head. So, no Band-Aid.

Fortunately, the bleeding stopped on its own pretty quickly.

As long as we were in a new neighborhood I figured I'd stop for coffee before the long walk home.


We went to a cute little outdoor cafe where everything seemed to go wrong. First, I took the dog inside when I ordered, and even though I said I was going to sit outside, I was chided for that. "I cannot allow that dog in here," the counterman said (no doubt noticing the fierce and deadly Olga's blood-streaked fur). I told him again that I intended to sit outside, and he took my order and eventually brought my coffee out. But then there was no sugar, so I had to go find that, and then later I had to track someone down in order to pay my bill --  the whole thing seemed a bit star-crossed. Let's think positive: it was nice to sit outside, beneath the fluttering flags and the blue sky.

After dropping Olga back at home, I had another dental appointment -- this for a very minor filling to cover the top of a tooth where there had been some gum recession. It wasn't a cavity so there was no drilling, and I was out of there pretty quickly. Today I go back for a cleaning, and then hopefully I'm done with the dentist for at least six months.

The weather has briefly cooled, thank goodness. Even so, I watered the heck out of the garden last night. Watering takes a surprisingly long time. Temperatures are supposed to spike again in a few days.

On Netflix, Dave and I watched "The Girl in the Picture," which I thought was very good, and now we're on a promising documentary series about the mysterious '70s airplane hijacker D. B. Cooper. What is with our human tendency to turn certain criminals into folk heroes? Jesse James, Bonnie and Clyde, and yes, D. B. Cooper -- these people deserve prison sentences, not idolatry. And yet people think Cooper was a courageous mastermind to be admired. It's bizarre.

24 comments:

  1. One of those days when nothing seems easy. My gums have been so much better since I started using a soft brush a few years ago.

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  2. I'm glad you took Olga to the vet even though it turned out to be something minor. It's always best to know for sure.

    I haven't been to a dentist since before covid. Every time I think I'll start going again soon, there's a report of another wave of covid so I stay home, even with being fully vaccinated and double boosted.

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  3. I hope that Olga's ear sorts itself out. I am about to phone the vet, (waiting til they open at 8.30) as Alexi has woken up with what is probably an ear infection. He is shaking his head all the time and drooping his head!

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  4. I can imagine what blood splattered Olga looked like. Interesting that we too say Band-Aid and not plaster. Plaster is the white stuff that is used for broken bones and has to set.

    We have the same with our bushrangers who were thieves using guns and murderers. Some how many think they are folk heroes.

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  5. I think it is our depressing news cycles that force us to invent things that never were, i.e. turning D.B. Cooper into a hero.

    My former dog was always getting things lanced and drained too.

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  6. Glad you got Olga treatment. I've been to dentist about 4 times during the last COVID 2 years (had shots, wore masks) and was glad the clinic immediately had put protocols in place...no dentist breathed on me!

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  7. I think people consider D.B. Cooper a hero because he got away with everything! No matter what he did, he never be got caught!
    Glad you got Olga's ear checked out ... better to know what's going on then not and you can always wash her coat ... spot clean the dog!

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  8. We had a Seneca Indian named Bucky Phillips. He was in Prison for killing police officers. He escaped and was on the run for months. He was breaking into camps and living off the provisions there. When he ran out, he broke into another one. All the papers were talking about how he would never be caught because he was an expert at "living off the land". Ridiculous because he was not living off the land at all. He was a murderer and a thief and I saw no reason to turn him into a folk hero.

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  9. I'm glad Olga's ear issue was minor and not serious.
    I've been to the dentist a couple of times these past few months. Everyone is masked up and there are air filters in the rooms. Still it is a little bit scary, especially with covid cases on the rise again.

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  10. You had quite an adventure yesterday. Your coffee shop story reminded me of a place I had lunch over the weekend. The service was incredibly slow and no one seemed very happy to be there.
    I'm glad Olga was okay. I bet she enjoyed the long walk in spite of getting stuck with a needle.

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  11. Glad you got things sorted out with Olga. Ear wounds bleed like crazy and are tough to staunch. (I had to have one dog's cauterized) For future reference, it sometimes works to put some baking powder on the wound to stop the flow. (you can actually buy a product called "wound powder", but average folks don't keep that on hand)

    Your last part is why I don't believe all these shooters should get the media coverage (with photos, websites they visit, their "sad" stories, etc) they do since they're nothing more than criminals. State their names for the record, then focus on the victims and survivors.

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  12. I should have said baking SODA, though I guess any type of powder would work.

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  13. I read " I WANDERED the heck out of the garden last night," & I thought, go Steve, enjoying the garden! Ha!

    The latest Pendergast book has an excellent fictional resolution to the DB Cooper mystery. However, it's the one where I was making the disgusted face (excellent book, but ewww!).

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  14. I am so glad that Olga is okay. When I first started reading, I was worried that it wouldn't turn out well. Thanks goodness!

    The coffee shop experience was something else!

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  15. Glad Olga's ear problem wasn't serious and your trip to the dentist went well.
    I have The Girl in the Picture on my list to watch but is it very scary? The trailer made it sound a bit scary and I don't like scary movies...

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  16. I agree with you about the very strange custom of putting nasty criminals on pedestals. In Australia there's Ned Kelly and in England there's Dick Turpin. Here in Sheffield we have got good old Charlie Peace. They were all bad men and their memory should not be romanticised.

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  17. The mystery of DB Cooper allows us to glamorize him and imagine him still alive somewhere when in reality, his corpse has rotted into bones somewhere in a Northwest forest.

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  18. I've had a couple of dogs who had ear abscesses and needed minor surgery. Then they wore large bandages wrapped around their heads. They looked as if they'd been in nasty accidents. I hope Olga's ear isn't too painful. I watched The Girl In The Picture. What a twisted story! It seems silly to idolize D.B. Cooper. I'm sure he's dead, his corpse chewed up by animals who then dragged his bones around. He didn't get to enjoy that money.

    Love,
    Janie

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  19. You've been busy. Sometimes simple things like Olga's ear can get complicated.

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  20. I've said this before but I'll say it again: your titles crack me up much too often :D I'm glad Olga's okay. I'm insulted on her behalf that she was not welcome even for two minutes inside that coffee shop. Sheesh. There are a whole lot of dogs who are better behaved and definitely less rude than many people are.

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  21. Tasker: That's exactly it! Everything was a challenge! LOL

    River: I really hadn't either and this is my attempt to get my dental care back on track.

    Frances: Oh no! Poor Alexi! I hope he's OK. The vet asked me if Olga likes to roll in grass, because apparently dogs can get grass seeds caught in their ears? I didn't realize that was a danger.

    Andrew: Yeah, Ned Kelly is another good example of that phenomenon!

    Ed: It's a thing with dogs. They're always getting skin and fur problems.

    Barbara: When Covid first began I was thinking about the dentists and how that was possibly the worst job to have!

    Marcia: I think you're right. He's seen as an individualist, someone rejecting authority. Never mind that "authority" is what gives us a civil society!

    Debby: Exactly! Your example sounds a bit like Eric Rudolph.

    Robin: I just feel like I have to start going again, regardless of Covid. Gotta take care of my teeth!

    Sharon: Yeah, I think she liked it, though she certainly moved slowly!

    Kelly: Good tip about the baking soda. I guess that helps the blood clot. Fortunately, after a few minutes, Olga's wound clotted on its own and didn't need intervention.

    Bug: I don't think I want to read a book that prompts you to make a disgusted face!

    Michael: It definitely made me think, "WHY is everything so difficult?" LOL!

    Ellen D: I mean, it's not a PLEASANT story, as it involves child abuse, but I didn't find it scary -- just interesting.

    YP: Yeah, I've never understood the appeal of Dick Turpin as a folk hero, either.

    Margaret: Even if he miraculously survived his parachute jump, he'd probably be dead by now, as it happened 50-plus years ago and he was said to be in his 40s at the time!

    Janie: I suspect you're right. I think he died somewhere in the forests of the PNW.

    Red: Well, fortunately the treatment itself wasn't much. Just getting her there was the hard part!

    Jenny-O: I felt the same way. I think the guy could have simply taken my order and let me go back outside. I didn't need to be scolded.

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  22. The cafe looks charming. Too bad it wasn’t an entirely charming experience. But Olga looks happy. Hope she’s doing much better now. I’ve read about D.B. Cooper, but haven’t seen the documentary; will probably skip it. Will have to check out The Girl in the Picture. Have been meaning to for a while. Right now we’re hooked on a Schitt’s Creek marathon.

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  23. It sounds pretty productive and apart from blood on that fierce fighter Olga (!) not a lot of horror. Maybe the cafe had its horror moments ... ah well, a lovely day. Glad the filling wasn't too bad!

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  24. Our old boxer. Pearl, used to have an ear that did that. I had forgotten.
    Netflix has started running a docu-series made from the Michael Pollan book- How To Change Your Mind. We started watching it last night. Pretty good.

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