Sugar Lake Challenge: Casey’s Hotspots

Ok, so it’s not all been sunshine and roses.

Don’t get me wrong – we are happy to be doing what we are doing, and we didn’t think it would be fully pain-free. However, we have definitely hit some rough patches this week.

As you know, if you read my previous post, our truck broke down on the way up here. My step-dad, Joe, pulled the trailer up for us and dropped us off. Fortunately, we do have our SUV here, so we aren’t without means of transportation. It’s a good thing, too, because I’ve spent more time running into Vernon than I have reading, napping, writing, or meditating (yes, those were my romantic notions about how I’d be spending my first days at Sugar).

Good thing, too. I drove into Vernon (1 hour from Sugar) on Monday, to do a grocery run and to go to Canadian Tire for some important supplies we had forgotten.

I thought that would be it for a while, but I was wrong there too. Here I am, back in Vernon again today. Why? Dog supplies. Casey, our yellow lab, has always been very prone to hotspots – a skin affliction that tends to re-occur in dogs who are affected. So far, we have identified a couple of possible causes for Casey: Swimming, insect bites, and anxiety seem to be her top causes.

Well, coming to Sugar Lake involved all three of the above. Her anxiety was at its peak on our way up here – not only was she in the car for a very long ride, we broke down and had to sit on the side of the road for quite some time while a cat strutted back and forth, mocking her through the car window. Then, sleeping in unfamiliar territory, with none of her usual routines, also added to the trouble

Within an hour of our arrival at Sugar, Casey had dived in and was happily charging around the off-leash. beach, in her glory. Later that day, she made quite a game of snapping at flying insects, including some bees. Yes, we think she was stung multiple times, though her immediate reaction was minor.

But yesterday she developed a whopper of a hotspot, right under her chin. It’s a bloody mess – she’s losing her hair, scratching constantly and can’t lay down without pain. I’ve called all of the vets within driving distance, and can’t get her seen in any timely fashion. So I’m here in Vernon, picking up a cone (to keep her from worrying it) and some hot spot treatment. It will be a couple of quiet days in the trailer to see if we can get the poor girl healed.