Wednesday, December 16, 2009

BUSTER JETSON / DECEMBER 2,2009 =D

Hay, stress! And people think having pets is a sure-fire way to de-stress.

Buster J, to be fair, is a bundle of joy. The moment I walk through the door, he runs to and fro. He jumps up and down. If I do not attempt to hold him down, he would probably be on the verge of a serious heart attack every night from over-excitement. Happy, happy. Joy, joy!


Which made it more difficult for me to hear that he was being particularly gloomy the entire time Hubby Sweet and I were in Marinduque (the Hubby’s home province) for a 4-day “long weekend” trip. We usually bring them with us, but decided to take the plane (instead of the roro) this time so the pups had to stay behind at House Better.

Every night, we’d check on them. Every night, my mom would tell us that Banzo was being his usual disaster-generating self, but that Buster J seemed to be missing us terribly and that he has hardly eaten anything since we left. In an act of desperation, Ate Inday had actually taken to spoon-feeding him just so he’d eat. Even then, he'd walk away after a few bites. No mas, no mas.



You can therefore imagine my excitement when we finally got back to Manila, Monday morning. You can also imagine Buster J’s excitement when he saw us again. Hala! Happy, happy. Joy, joy! =D

The excitement was pretty shortlived. On the way home to House Pioneer that night, we passed by the Vet for Banzo’s 5-in-1 shot. I decided to just stay in the car with Buster J (because he pretty much tries to entice every single dog that he sees to play, and most dogs in the vet’s clinic are not exactly up to playing). As he watched Hubby Sweet walk in with Banzo, Buster J started to whimper. He doesn’t like being left out.

“It’s OK, Sweetheart,” I reassured him as I reached out, “They’ll be back.”

I reached out to stroke his ear. He likes it when I stroke his ear; it calms him down. Thing is, as soon as I held his ear, I realized instantly that something was wrong. It was swollen. I put on the car light, trying to check if Banzo accidentally bit or scratched him during one of their rough plays, but there were no bruises. I tried to check if maybe a bee stung him while he was prancing around in Mother’s garden, but there were no bite marks. I decided to follow Hubby Sweet and Banzo inside to have Buster J checked.

The diagnosis was quick; the solution dire. Ear Hematoma. Buster J had a mild case of earmites and because he has big ears, every time he scratches his ear and shakes his head, his ears flop around a lot. It’s probable, Doc Dennis said, that the small veins in his ear burst which led to the almost instant swelling of his ear. Think Manny Pacquiao, post-Cotto. Hay……It’s not life-threatening nor is it painful. It is, however, uncomfortable and Buster J would feel like he has something heavy hanging on his ear—which, in turn, would make him scratch his ear even more. We can either wait for it to subside, but the recommendation is surgery to drain the blood out. Otherwise, the swelling may just get bigger. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

“Bring him back Wednesday evening,” Doc Dennis said, as he gave us temporary meds to relieve the earmite problem. “If it gets worse, we operate then.” WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

Wednesday came with no improvement. The hematoma on his left ear was bigger; a small one had started on the right. I went through the entire day—meeting after meeting—with a heavy heart. I just wanted to stay home with Buster that day, but work awaits and so I must go. I texted Mother. I texted Sister Pusjing. By 5:00 p.m., I was out of the office. We need to give Buster a bath before we bring him to the Vet at 9:00 p.m. (it was a 24-hour clinic). Goodness knows how long it would take before he is finally allowed to take a bath again.

I got home and walked through the door with Buster J being his usual self. He ran to and fro. He jumped up and down. He did not even know what was in store for him that night.

“We would have to sedate him,” Doc Dennis explained, “and he would have to stay here until he wakes up.” Hubby Sweet wanted to take him home after the procedure, but Buster J would have to stay with the Vets until he wakes up.

“I’ll call you as soon as he wakes up,” Doc Dennis said. It was way past midnight when we left the clinic. We stayed with Buster J until he was asleep.

We received a call at 2:30 a.m. The operation was done. It went well. “Buster’s still groggy,” Doc Dennis said, “It would be best to just pick him up in the morning.”

Banzo slept on Buster J’s pillow instead of his that night. Hubby Sweet and I barely slept.

What if he does not wake up? What if he ends up maimed for life? What if he wakes up without us there…..What if……..I tried my best to push all the “what-ifs” from my mind. It would do me no good, I reminded myself. I was not too successful.

By 5:00 a.m., Hubby Sweet and I were at the clinic’s door to pick Buster J up.

He was awake! Thankfully, except for the fact that he looked like an alien dog with his bandage and protective cone, he did not seem the worse for wear. He rushed over when he saw us. He ran to and fro. He jumped up and down. I guess he was too happy to see us to even remember that he ought to be mad at us for leaving him with strangers in a strange place for an entire night.

Happy, happy. Joy, joy!


It’s been a long two weeks since filled with ear cleaning, bandage fixing, trips to the vet for check-ups and stitch removals. Oh, yes. It’s also been a long two weeks filled with efforts to stop Banzo from playfully swatting and biting Buster’s ear. We have been pretty successful for the most part. Except for one time I had to go down to lobby, only to come back up to find Buster’s protective come with bite marks all around the perimeter. It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. From Day One, Banzo has made it his life’s mission to help Buster J get rid of the darn plastic cone. Haha! =D

Buster J still wears his cone to this day, but the bandages have finally come off last night, and his wounds have almost healed. From long gashes, they’re now very short, scratch-like shallow wounds. He has learned to maneuver with the cone as well—except for a few comic takes when the door opening is smaller than the diameter of his cone and he just stands there “stuck” until someone notices. Haha.


We’re all looking forward to the day we can finally get rid of his protective cone. Maybe we’ll celebrate by burning it. =)

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P.S. – It just occurred to me that I have not written about Banzo yet! Naku! Next post. =)