By I just read online about a dog that had a mid night snack of his owner’s big toe. Apparently, the owner was passed out drunk and the would be surgeon terrier set about chewing off this guy’s toe which later turned out to have a gangrenous infection. The owner, so the story says, had undiagnosed Type II diabetes and didn’t follow the old adage “Shoes and socks, take them off” when he went to his doctor’s appointments. The dog was a hero and was credited for saving this guy’s life. Considering my dogs eat trash and all the random and disgusting things that go in trash, I know that a dog’s palate is a non-discriminating one.  I don’t really think this dog was that smart or held any crazy canine sixth sense. He just smelled something rotting and offensive and thought…tasty midnight snack, I’m in!
The story made me laugh though. I mean, what a new version of pet therapy! Get rid of the leeches! Bring in the terriers. You could pet them and watch them chew off your gangrenous appendages. So Gross! But I’m sure stranger things have happened. Until this process gets cleared by the FDA, you might want to refrain from passing out in front of your dog if you have any undiagnosed illnesses that may lead to necrotic fingers, toes or the like. 🙂
P.S. Hope none of you were eating breakfast while reading this. Ah, who am I kidding? If you are a nurse, you should be able to handle that story!!
