Posted on June 09, 2011 by: WayCoolDogs

True to his name, he was a large black and white shih tzu in a real mess, and was snappy to boot, so tidying him up was not an easy matter.  He had been brought in, like so many others, with a maggot wound in one eye, which was healing nicely, but his big problem was hardened, coagulated matts that felt like lumps of rock, especially around that vulnerable area between ears and neck.  I decided to take my time with him, and at the beginning just let him meander.

And meander he did.  I even began to think, after looking at him in wonder and amusement, that he might have had some kind of a problem around the back, perhaps as a result of an injury, because as he ran his hips looped first to one side, sometimes to the point of almost keeling over, then to the other, almost like the slithering of a snake, but nothing seemed to hurt, even when I touched the area, so I left well alone.

When he had developed some more confidence in me (and I in him) I started de-matting, a little at a time, beginning with the spots that I knew would feel good, like right down his spine. He wiggled and looped around and licked my hand, so I knew I was on the right track.  Gradually I moved to other areas and we were doing fine, till I could no longer avoid that neck area.

He was not amused.

“What the heck was I meddling with his neck for?”, he seemed to be saying.  What was really happening was that it hurt because the hair was so tightly matted to the skin that touching it made it even more painful, but equally I knew if I could free up a tiny square of skin and he realized how good it felt, he would let me continue.   So I persevered, ducking and moving quickly out of the way of his teeth when he whipped around in annoyance.

Some days I seemed to be just poking at an immovable object, and then one afternoon I got a toehold into one clump, snipped five or six times in quick succession, and bingo, off came the offending mass.  I showed it to him, he did a full inspection with his nose, and then looked at me in surprise and relief, as if to say “Oh THAT was what you were doing?  Well alright then”.  Within half an hour that ear was clear of all the offending tangles, and he was thoroughly enjoying the rubbing and tickling he was getting.

The next day, however, when I approached the other ear, he had seemingly forgotten everything, and was not about to let me manhandle him. We negotiated for a day or two, and finally he capitulated and let me work on that one too.

Afterwards his little crooked teeth grinned at me, showing that he was very pleased with himself, and when we walked he seemed to delight in moving his head around, which he hadn’t been able to do before, but which also put him in more danger of falling over when he did a fast loop to the left or right.

However, he managed to keep his balance, and was really looking smart.  Not a minute too soon, because within 2 days of Messi being declared no longer a mess, his owner came and collected him.  I crossed my fingers that he wouldn’t let him get into that condition again.

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Guest Post by Cindi Scholefield, a volunteer at the local animal shelter in Kingston, Jamaica. For any donations to Cindi and her dogs, please send to:
Eunice Crompton-Nicholas
c/o
Harry Dufour
9330 Dunhill Drive
Miramar
Florida 33025-3869

 

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