Pixie Goes to the Vet
Introduce These Words:
| against worse infection |
exam waiting medicine |
Do you remember Bobby and Pixie’s bath? A few days after the dogs’ bath, Pixie’s left ear began to look pink. She rubbed her paw against it. She tossed her head. She scratched it. Susan looked at Pixie’s ear carefully, but didn’t see anything. The next day it looked worse. There were little bumps around the inside of her ear, and Pixie looked unhappy. She shook her head and rubbed her paw against her ear. She put her tail between her legs. She lay on the floor and looked at Susan with big sad eyes.
“Oh dear,” said Susan. “Pixie needs to go to the vet. Something is wrong with her ear.”
Pixie was happy to get into the car. She was happy to go for a ride. She was happy to get out of the car at the vet’s office. But she was not happy in the vet’s waiting room. She smelled other dogs. She smelled cats and other animals. She smelled strange soaps and medicines. She wanted to go home. Her ear hurt and she wanted to take a nap.
Susan and Pixie waited and waited. They watched other animals come out from seeing the vet. Some animals looked sick. Some looked healthy. They were all happy to be going home. Soon it was Pixie’s turn to see the vet. Her name was Dr. Kirk.
“Hello Pixie,” she said. “Hello, Mrs. Carter. Please come into my exam room.” Pixie and Susan went into the exam room. Susan lifted Pixie up onto the metal table. It is lucky that Pixie is not a very big dog!
“What is the problem?” asked Dr. Kirk. “Why have you come to see me today?”
“Pixie’s ear is all red and bumpy. It seems to itch and hurt her. She wiggles her head and tries to scratch it,” Susan explained.
“Let me have a look,” said Dr. Kirk. She tried to look into Pixie’s ear. Pixie pulled away. She did not want this stranger to look into her ear! Dr. Kirk tried again. Finally she said, “I don’t think there is anything stuck inside Pixie’s ear. But it hurts her a lot, so she won’t let me look carefully. I think she has an infection. I will give you two things for her ear. You must clean her ear two times a day. Use this bottle of medicine for cleaning. Then put a little of this in the ear.” She gave Susan a bottle of blue cleaning medicine and a little tube of oil.
“Bring her back in a week,” said Dr. Kirk. “Then I will look more carefully to be sure there is nothing in her ear. Sometimes dogs get foxtails stuck deep inside their ears. Foxtails come from some kinds of grass. If Pixie has been in a field with tall grass, she could have a foxtail in her ear. That could hurt her and cause an infection. We need to be sure there is no foxtail.”
Susan said, “All right. I will bring her back. I hope she will let me clean her ear twice a day! She had a bath last week. Could that have made her ear get infected?”
“Yes, it could,” said the vet. “Pixie’s ears are long and they flop over. Water can get trapped inside and start an infection.”
“I’ll do my best with the medicine,” said Susan, “and we’ll see you again in a week. Thank you for helping us.”
Pixie was happy to say goodbye to Dr. Kirk. She looked out the window on the drive home. Her long tongue hung out of her mouth. She looked like she was smiling. But she still didn’t feel well. When she got home she went right to her bed and went to sleep.
That night Susan tried to clean Pixie’s ear and put the medicine in. Pixie didn’t like that. She was very fast and very strong. Susan didn’t get the ear very clean. She got only a little medicine in. “Maybe I’ll do better in the morning,” she said.
But she didn’t. Pixie did not want her ear to be cleaned. She did not want the medicine. Finally, Susan put the leash on Pixie so she could hold her down. Pixie tried to get away, but Susan got a little of the medicine into Pixie’s ear. Every day Susan took care of Pixie’s ear. Every day Pixie tried to get away. But by the end of the week Pixie’s ear looked a lot better.
They went back to the vet. Dr. Kirk looked at Pixie’s ear. “It looks a lot better,” she said. She looked deep into the ear. “There is no foxtail. That is good news! If you will keep taking care of Pixie’s ear for one more week, I think the infection will be gone. You do not need to come back and see me unless the ear is not better. But next time she has a bath, be sure the inside part of her ear is dried well so this doesn’t happen again.”
“It has been hard to make Pixie hold still,” said Susan. “She is very strong and very fast. She does not like me to touch her ear at all. But I will keep taking care of her ear every day. I want her to get well.”
This week Susan got Tara to help her. Tara and Pixie are special friends. Sometimes Pixie even sits in Tara’s lap! Every day Susan and Tara held Pixie tightly and cleaned her ear. They put the medicine in her ear. They told her what a good dog she was when she held still. Every day Pixie’s ear got better.
At the end of the week, Susan looked in Pixie’s ear. She said, “I think we can stop the medicine now. I think Pixie’s ear is all well.” Pixie wagged her tail gently. Then she wagged her tail more. Then she jumped and wiggled, and starting running in circles. Pixie was so happy she was chasing her tail!
Susan and Tara started laughing. “I think Pixie is glad that her ear is all better,” said Tara, “and so am I!”
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