Inflammations

I fell in love with Scarlet when she was four weeks-old. That is when we brought home the little furry red chow chow puppy. It didn't take long for Scarlet to become as attached to me as I was to her. She grew up loving me, tolerating Bob, and hating men in general. During those days, we had vehicle radios which had the knobs that you turned to change the station. If Scarlet was in the car or truck when a man's voice was on the radio, she would reach over with her paw and knock the knob around and around until she heard a woman singing or speaking. Then she would be ready to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Over the years, Scarlet sported a thick, beautiful coat of red fur. On a particular day when we lived in Illinois, I noticed something unusual deep in Scarlet's fur.

It appeared to be a bright red inflamed area about the size of the end of my thumb. My medical mind quickly assessed the situation and diagnosed that Scarlet had developed an abscess. She was licking the wound quite often. I didn't dare try to touch the area, as I feared that the pressure from my touch would cause more discomfort for my patient. So, I carefully began the process of regularly irrigating this inflamed area, hoping that it would clear up on its own.

After a day or two of continuing with the irrigations, we took Scarlet to the veterinarian (a female, of course) for an examination. The vet listened with great concern and compassion. She then instructed the technician to shave around the inflamed area so she could get a better look. To our amazement, the inflamed area came off with the fur. The "inflammation" had been a sticky, red piece of hard candy that had become embedded in Scarlet's coat.

I guess it just goes to show that things are not always as they seem. Situations can become inflamed when we don't have all of the facts. When the truth is exposed, circumstances can turn out sweeter than we imagined.