POOR SABAKA, POOR CAP!

Our dog Sabaka, has learned to open the slider on the french doors that go out to the deck (and then beyond) with his snout, and then run outside. He lives for this now. It is as if he spends his sleeping hours plotting out each day's attempt at freedom. He just started doing it this a few weeks ago and has managed to succeed several times, much to his delight, and my dismay and horror. Hey I'm all for fresh air but he is never content to just go out back and frolic. He basically has two set plans. The first is to run straight to the compost pile and feast on the previous days leftovers (among other things) or flee straight up the road towards the main Road, Old Westport. He also preys on unknowing visitors who open the slider and linger to chat and then in the bat of an eyelash, flies out between their legs (literally) or through what little open area there is, to the demons that seem to beckon him. I guess you can say I've been living in fear...

Well earlier this afternoon he was tied outside on his run, and somehow broke free. We're not sure how, but it looks like he got caught up on something and snapped the clasp on his collar, leaving it attached to the run as he ran off. Cap & I were in the front yard at the time, and by the time we noticed he was free, he was running as toward the finish line of a maraton, looking back occassionly to be sure we were making fools of ourselves chasing and calling him. Each step and shout on our part drove his further... Within 15 seconds he was at the top of the road towards this very busy street. Cap ran after him and I grabbed JR from his Sandbox, hopped in the van and followed, hoping to lure him back inside with his treats.

Unfortunately, he thought it was a game, and ran right into traffic coming in both directions. Cap & I watched in horror as a young girl in an SUV hit him, sending him screaming back across the road into the bushes. Cap went to pick him up from under the bush to see how badly he was hurt, and when he did, Sabaka took a big bite outta his hand. He was so frightened, and wouldn't let anyone touch him. Cap took his shirt off to wrap around his hand, and finally scooped him up. We drove straight to the Vet's, which is less than 5 minutes away, and they immediatly brought him inside to be assessed. Only then did we notice that Cap's hand was bleeding ALOT, and that the L-shaped wound was pretty deep.

By the time he had washed his hand in the restroom, and bandaged his hand with the gauze & bandaids the tech gave to him, the doctor came in to talk with us. We really didn't know what to expect. The Vet said Sabaka was having difficulty breathing, so he put him in oxygen, and likely had some some lung or rib injury and a few minor cuts. He said he wanted to do X-rays to see what if anything was broken. We again waited for the results, and soon learned he indeed had two broken ribs, a possible lung puncture, and at least one wound on his back right leg which would require a stitch or two. He also said he wanted to monitor and do some blood work to be sure there were no other major problems, and sent us home for a few hours. 2-1/2 hours later they called us to return for him so he could be transported to a 24/7 animal hospital for the weekend. When we got back to the Vets he explained that further testing revealed mild to moderate abdominal bleeding, but that it appeared not to be indicative of anything life threatening. He said since he needed to be monitored for at least a few days, we needed to transport him to Cape Cod Veterinary Specialists where they have a large staff including surgeons, in the event the bleeding turned out to be something that would require going in and repairing. $550 later, we took off for the CCVS with Sabaka, who was obviously pretty sedated and out of it, snuggly in my lap. Poor guy, he barely even moved when he saw us - so uncharacteristic of him since he literally jumps for joy whenever we leave him for more than 5 minutes, then return.



The staaff at CCVS Cape was really nice. They took him out back, got him comfortabe, evaluated his damages, and looked over the copies of the reports and X-rays we brought over with us from our Vet. When the Dr. came in to talk to us, she explained everything in "plain english", and said she thought he was gonna be okay. She said the bleeding doesn't seem to be increasing, and likely has stopped. He does have a small lung puncture, but she said the care he received at our Vet's office, seemed to help and the wound appeared to be healing itself already. His liver clearly had damage, and that she said, was likely the source of the bleeding, She said she thinks with antibiotics and pain med, he will be fine, but of course they will keep him for the weekend to keep monitoring him, just in cases. She estimated the total cost for their services to be between $1100 & 17oo, and said she was pretty confident we'd be looking at the low end of that estimate. Since their policy is to have people pay %75 of th estimated high end, we then had to pay them $1300 before we left. She said unless there is a problem, we won't hear from them til late morning tomorrow. Then she said, we could visit him tomorrow afternoon if all goes well...

Cap's hand has finally stopped bleeding, and hopefully he won't need stitches, but it is throbbing he says, so we'll pump him with tylenol for a few days just in case. He probably should have it stiched, but since we have a boat launch date set for Thrusday coming, he is determined to get it ready this weekend, so there was no convincing him to take more time off from his work to visit the ER. The good thing is that we have Pet insurance that will reimburse us for $1500 of the bills, so unless other things develop, we'll only be out a few hundred, max. It's still alot but a couple hundred is sounding great alll things considered. It truly has been a long week. JR & my colds, the passing of our friend Corey, more disppointing Harry news: https://www.myfamily.com/security/passwordlogin.aspx, and now this, have put us on what seems to be an unending roller-coaster ride. All we can figure is, tomorrow HAS to be better! Hmmm, let me end here, then go knock on wood....