Body modification, part II

Our dog just joined me as another member of the body modification family. I went home yesterday to drop off a few boxes, so naturally I had to spend the requisite amount of time showering affection over the house's king-in-residence. Labradors have incredibly thick coats, so it's easy to lose track of anything that's going on under the surface, even if you regularly brush and groom them. So, as my fingers worked their way around his massive neck, they ran into something oblong. And hard. And, well, gross.

Today's diagnosis? A severely infected hair follicle that was ready to inflict serious damage on my boy's system. Normally, they'd put the dog under for a quick removal -- but our dog is special: he goes into cardiac arrest whenever he's given anesthesia. The vets just love him! Hey, here comes that patient we've almost managed to kill in the past - yay! We usually deal with the problem by ignoring any health challenges that might require putting him under, which worked up until now. Today, however, the vets needed to do something before the infection advanced...so it was time for a little local anesthetic.

Apparently, my dog is better behaved than any of us envisioned; he remained quite calm while they made a three inch gash in his neck to drain the abcess. Now he's home, where he clearly expects to be nursed back to health with generous quantities of green beans and strawberries (yes, he's a freak). And I? I'm nervously checking my eyebrow every half hour or so...you know, just in case any of those eyebrow hairs take a turn for the worse.