A thorn in the flesh

A little puppy of 5 pounds sat on my lap. He was not his usual scampish self.
He was moping and not even his bone could entice him to play.
I loosened his collar, finally taking it off.

Because this little fellow is so small, his owner uses a harness, which the pup wears all the time. His leash is fastened to the harness NOT the collar. Earlier in the week, the owner had dropped the retractable leash twice in my presence. Both times the hard plastic grip part had careened across the ground, to hit the pup. It was unpleasant.

As I took the collar off, I massaged the pup's neck and noticed a lump. It was hard and tender.
The Vet lanced it later on, and a shunt had to be put in for drainage.

"I thought it was a little thorn or burr in his flesh, but I didn't find anything."

"Doctor, could it be from a blow from a plastic object that smacks into him?"

"Oh that would not happen from one blow."

"How about repeated blows, unintentional, but still occurring."

We decided to take all the plastic leashes and throw them away. We told the old gent that he can only use leather on this little guy from now on. Nothing expandable or retractable.
He didn't much like it, but he got the general idea.

Neglect is still a form of abuse.

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