When I came home from work tonight, I could hear a dog yelping from outside. Panicked, I rushed inside to find Porter in the family room. We keep a baby gate at the top of the stairs leading to the family room, so he must have tried to jump it. The gate was broken in half and laying at an awkward angle. There was nothing visibly wrong with Porter. He wasn't shocky, his refill rate on his gums was good, and he had full mobility in his limbs, though he was clearly favoring his left hind leg. I decided not to take him to the E-Vet and instead gave him some of Hudson's Rimadyl. He was shaky and clingy all night.Porter doesn't respond well to any sort of surprise or shock and this was a big one. We don't know for sure what his background is, since he was found as a stray, but we think he was abused. The vet has found serious scarring on his muzzle indicating that at one time, Porter had stitches and staples in his muzzle from one ear, to the tip of his nose and back to the other ear. Porter clearly demonstrates neurological trauma. His face twitches uncontrollably when he is nervous and he has a tendency to march in place with his front feet. He's already a really twitchy dog, so the trauma of getting hurt and then being stuck by himself downstairs for who knows how long was too much for him.
He was glued to me throughout the evening, insisting on getting up and following me anywhere I went, even though it hurt him. Eventually, I got him to settle down on the loveseat, since I was laying on the couch reading a book. The weather has been pretty crappy, so I covered him up with a blanket and put his stuffed bunny by his head. Here is our poor little Pink Muzzle all bundled up.
