How it happened?
It happened in April when I was off to my last appointment for the day. I’ve groomed this poodle before and the day I got bitten was my second visit. On the first visit, he was such an angel allowing me to groom him. However, the second visit was a nightmare for me.
As usual, after I unpack my grooming equipment, I got ready to start grooming. Sadly, before I could even start, I got bitten on the nose just when I bend down to retrieve my small shaver. I’m not sure how bad the wound was, all I remember was to get some tissues near me to cover and add pressure to stop the bleeding. Everything happened too fast and sudden that I didn’t know what to do other than adding pressure and hoping the wound isn’t bad.
A trip to the clinic
After the owner came back into the room, I told her I needed a while as I got bitten by her poodle, she asked me to head down to the clinic at the void deck. She said the wound looks bad. She can’t accompany me as she had a newborn at home, so I made my way down alone.
While on the way, I was still adding pressure to the wound. As I couldn’t wear my mask on (a mandatory rule due to covid-19), I was hoping that I wouldn’t get caught and be issued a fine. I had a valid reason for not wearing my mask, that’s what I thought.
When I entered the clinic, the receptionist helped me with registration. They thought I had a nose bleed as I was pinching my nose with tissues. I told them no, I got bitten by a tiny dog. Upon hearing that, I got ushered into the doctor’s room to seek treatment. Skipping the queue as they deem it as an emergency.
The doctor helped to clean up my wound and I was told the bite pierced through the nose. My nostril was bleeding on the inside too. Got given a tetanus jab because the last I took was quite some time ago. He mentioned that the tetanus jab can last about 5 years. Despite my fear of needles, I went through with it because I was told it might help prevent or reduce any inflammation or infection. And it’s part of the treatment to receive the jab I guess.
Had a brief chat with the doctor while he attends to my wound. He was the first person to believe me that the small dogs are usually the most aggressive ones compared to the bigger dogs. Though if a large breed were to bite, the injury definitely will be much worse.
Self-declare medical leave
After my visit to the clinic, I head back to the customer’s house to retrieve my stuff and call it a day. We rescheduled the appointment thinking it could be a one-off incident because he wasn’t aggressive before. The owner reimbursed me the medical fee and I could feel that she’s sincerely sorry about what had happened.
I canceled the week’s appointment because I wanted to let the wound heal. And also wearing a mask over the wound hurts badly. Dear came back early from work to check on me. Felt so loved and cared for.
Felt the pain kicking in after all the shock and adrenaline was gone. It’s bearable thus I didn’t take the pain killer that the doctor prescribed. I tend to my wound with care because I didn’t want it to leave a horrible scar and also its pain when applying the cream. Thankfully, it healed well with slight scarring. Not obvious unless you take a closer look at it.
Newborn baby, maybe?
I don’t blame the dog for acting the way he was. My guess could be the owner’s newborn baby who just got home from the hospital after about seven months in the NICU due to being born prematurely. With all the medical machines and a newborn, I’m guessing the dog felt neglected, in need of attention, and had slight changes in the environment he was used to, thus he attacked me unexpectedly. It could also be an act of jealousy.
It’s just my guess, I don’t know the actual cause of his sudden aggressive behavior. But I read up and heard a few stories of how the dog/cat’s behavior changed when a newborn arrived in the family. Yes, even though the parents may have done everything to introduce the baby to the pets, it doesn’t mean the dog/cat won’t act all crazy.
I’m just lucky I guess.