Lilly, The Larva Rancher

I mentioned in Friday’s Training Update that Lilly had begun breaking out in itchy bumps she quickly licked into festering knobs of yuck.

When the first one appeared Thursday, I assumed it was a fly bite like she’s gotten the last two summers. But, then a second one popped up that day. Two more — one in the morning, one in the evening — appeared on Friday. How on earth, I wondered, could a dog who has spent the last week recuperating inside, right by my side, have gotten SO MANY bites?

So, I called the emergency hospital to ask if this might be venom working it’s way out. They said, “No.” I asked if there was any chance it was an allergic reaction. They said, “Maybe.” If they get worse, they warned, bring her in.

Less than restful for sure.

But, I had social plans for Saturday with one of my oldest friends in the world. We go all the way back to Junior High, and I didn’t want to cancel if I didn’t have to.

So, I resolved to stay calm, not mess with the bumps after cleaning them with peroxide on Friday. Just wait and see.

To experiment, though, I only gave Lilly her antibiotic and her anxiety meds in the morning. I skipped the pain med and the anti-inflammatory. It’d been a week, and the technician told me I could use those only if I felt she needed them for discomfort.

You see, in my nighttime figuring, I realized that each bump appeared about 2 hours after dosing her medicines. Mommy, medical examiner, was on the case.

Here’s where it gets gross …

Well, later in the day Saturday, I took a good look at one of the bumps outside in the sunlight. All of them had gotten MUCH bigger while I was gone, BUT no new ones had appeared. So, I’m thinking that I was right about it being related to one of the medicines I did NOT give her Saturday morning.

That is until … I pushed just a little on one of the festering bumps, and a BIG OLD maggot popped out.

Indeed, these bumps/sores were the same kinds of fly larva Lilly had suffered from the last two summers. But, each of those times, it was only one bite, one larva. It’s pretty creepy, but for some reason the BIG, nasty horse flies around here (because of all the neighborhood equine and bovine stock) love to lay eggs under Lilly’s skin.

It’s NEVER happened to Ginko. I’ve never heard other dog owners talk about it. There’s just something about Lilly. Poor sweetie … as if the rattlesnake wasn’t enough.

Still gross, but getting funny (I think) …

Just as the maggot popped out, I spun around to yell to Tom, only to see him sitting at the patio table eating his pizza dinner. Mid-bite, he shot me a look of utter disdain and revulsion that would turn any mortal wife to stone.

Lilly wandered off. I scrubbed my hands and joined him for dinner. I had just once slice because my appetite wasn’t so hot.

Plus, now I was obsessed with the creatures incubating inside my girlie-girl, Lil.

Even though the sunlight would have been much better, I’m not dumb enough to play Mommy Larva Rescue in front of Tom.

The man has been known to sew his own stitches, no anesthetic. Just a regular needle and whatever thread he could find. So, it always surprises me when he goes green over dog stuff.

After all, he stood right by my side and watched the orthopedic surgeon saw Ginko’s knees apart and screw them back together 5 years ago. We watched the TV screen when they scoped our big boy’s knees and showed us the ruptured ligament.

BUT, I went inside with Lilly and got to work to save him from the drama.

Paper towels, small trash bag, cotton balls and a big bottle of peroxide in hand … I tackled each bump/sore.

It’s completely disgusting, and Lilly was a total champ for letting me do it, but I got 5 larva out of the 4 sores. No, as Tom later wondered, they were NOT writhing or anything. With the right leverage and pressure, the little monsters just popped right out … like buoys shooting to the water’s surface.

I got as much yuck out of each one as I could, then doused the resulting holes with peroxide. That’s all our vet ever does. That, and send Lilly home with antibiotics, but since she’s already on a VERY STRONG ones and will be for several more days, I figured I’d done a good job and saved myself another trip to town and another big bill.

OK. Tom is hilarious. It’s one of many reasons I’ve adored him for 21 years.

So, later, I apologized profusely again for creeping my darling husband out. He’s sitting there cuddling with the larva-free Lilly and starts chuckling to himself.

“What?” I ask.

“Lilly says she was growing those larva special. They were your Christmas present.”

The giggles get contageous, and then he says, in his best Lilly voice, “I’m Lilly, and I’m a larva rancher.”