Mica sez: Hey Murph – I notice your leg is a little worse for the wear. What’s up with that? I thought you were healing?

Murphy sez: Well, I was. But then J was home last week, and B was gone, and I had a legging on all the time instead of my cone, and there’s been construction for that new school just down the street…I sorta went backwards a lil bit. And J put some “healing” gel on my leg when it was looking much better and nearly all scarred over that made me itch like crazy and I pulled the gel and the scabs off, so it’s mostly her fault. But I don’t jump at every little noise now, and even when I do, I don’t immediately go for my leg. So that’s progress, right?

Mica sez: Definitely. I still jump when someone touches me. No matter who or where. Not as bad as when I first got here, but…I spook easily. So what are they gonna do about your leg? I mean, you can’t just leave it like that…

Murphy sez: Nope. J started leaving my legging off during the day again this week, and the scar tissue’s coming back quick. She and B forgot to put a legging on a lunch two days in a row, and she noticed I don’t really even try to lick at it now if the legging is off. She thinks it makes my leg itch worse to have it on, so they decided to s’periment with leaving my leg bare except when we’re walking, or overnight, or when J’s in the shower or something where she can’t watch me.

Mica sez: No medicine or anything? Just open to the air? Will that work?

Murphy sez: Well, medicine once or twice a day, and keeping it clean. But that’s it. J says wounds need lots of air to heal, and I’m already getting lots of good healing stuff in my food, so she thinks as long as I don’t pull it open again, it’ll heal better if we mostly leave it alone and don’t mess with it so much. It needs to dry out a bit, she says. I don’t know if it’ll work or not, but I guess we’ll see. I just gotta keep from licking and chewing on it…

Mica sez: That’s the hard part, right? I just can’t stop licking stuff, especially late at night – it’s so cathartic. But I lick bones a lot, or the carpet. J says she doesn’t care as long as I don’t lick myself open like you do. I don’t think she understands how soothing it is to anxious pups like us.

Murphy sez: I mostly lick early in the morning when I’m just waking up, and the sock itches. But when she changes it first thing, no lickies. I don’t know why I do it, really. I just…do. But I stop when J tells me to, mostly.

Mica sez: We should make a list of the medicines she’s tried for your leg, so other dogs can try them if they have the same problem, eh Murph? Like a First Aid Kit for dogs sort of thing? And maybe the stuff she puts in our food too…maybe it could help someone else…

Murphy sez: Yeah – that’s a great idea! Now that we have our own site, we could even add links to the stuff, so people can read about it. I tell you what…J’s used a lot of stuff on my leg, and so did my foster family. So we have a lot to recommend! We’ll add that to J’s list. Lick gran-u-lo-mas aren’t easy to heal, or mine isn’t, anyway. If we can help another dog, that would be pawsome!

Mica sez: You bet, Murph. And we’ll keep people updated on how the latest strategy is working too. I hope this latest one works. Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to wear a legging all winter? Except you might want to, just ’cause it’s cold. But that’s different. And J still needs to make you a sweater, and us both coats for walking. Geez. She’d better get started on those, eh? I mean, it’s gonna be winter soon, and I don’t like being cold….

Murphy sez: Me neither! Do you think she’ll make us walk in the snow? ‘Cause you know I’m picky about my feet…and those boots she bought really don’t work as well as they should.

Mica sez: Yep, I think she’ll make us walk in the snow. But she has some fleece booties that will work for snow. If you don’t kick ’em off, anyway. And it would be easier if your leg was healed, so the elastic doesn’t go over that spot.

Murphy sez: Well, I’ll just have to get my leg healed then. That’s all there is to it.

Hey Mica – did you notice there’s a new box from PupJoy on the table? When do ya think we get to open that? I think we finally killed the hedgehog!

Mica sez: That hedgehog put up a good fight, but we killed it, for sure. It lasted several weeks – that’s a really long time around here! I think J should open that new box tonight. I mean, we’ve been good this week, right? We deserve whatever’s in there. I’m sure it’s something fun.

But seriously, Murph. You have to stop eating the stuffing…

---

Tune in next week for more Murphy & Mica! Or subscribe to get us in your inbox – use the subscription link in the right sidebar. Like these posts? Consider a donation to our favorite charities – the shelters that helped us when we needed it most! 

Murphy’s shelter: Donate to The Rimrock Humane Society
Mica’s shelter: Donate to Help for Homeless Pets

Walk for HHP or your local shelter with the Walk for a Dog app!