A visit to the vet
Yesterday, the very large mops got turned back into prissy little scotties. Flood got her nails trimmed. They all have soft, clean, extremely pettable coats. And silly looking neck bandanas.
They also got all their shots. And got blood drawn to test for heartworm (all negative).
I pre-paid the hefty fee for grooming, exams, shots and meds for three dogs. That way, Critter could pick them up while I was still at chess club with Tigger.
I got a call from the vet. Ouchy has swollen lymph nodes. Lots of them. She's also got a (minor) weight loss. So they drew more blood from her, and did a needle aspiration to get cells from one of the swollen nodes. It might be cancer. There's a chemo treatment that would likely bring about remission.
Note: When Critter picked them up, he got to talk to the vet as well. He asked if Ouchy would lose her hair if we give her chemo. The answer was no. I wonder if she'll get more grey/white hair? I haven't mentioned to Christopher that we'll be having to make a decision about whether to give her chemo at all, as it may be horribly expensive. We'll be considering quality of life for either decision, as well. As of now, she's not in obvious pain, but she is a bit grouchy than normal, so she's probably tender around the swollen nodes.
Right now, we're in a wait-to-hear mode; meanwhile, Ouchy is at the top of the "being to be spoiled" list. I told Critter (she's his dog) that it would be okay for him to let her sleep in his room if he wanted. He protested that his room is too messy -- and when I said, "she's not Dizzy; it's not like she'll eat your homework," Tigger volunteered to let Dizzy sleep in his room. ;)
They also got all their shots. And got blood drawn to test for heartworm (all negative).
I pre-paid the hefty fee for grooming, exams, shots and meds for three dogs. That way, Critter could pick them up while I was still at chess club with Tigger.
I got a call from the vet. Ouchy has swollen lymph nodes. Lots of them. She's also got a (minor) weight loss. So they drew more blood from her, and did a needle aspiration to get cells from one of the swollen nodes. It might be cancer. There's a chemo treatment that would likely bring about remission.
Note: When Critter picked them up, he got to talk to the vet as well. He asked if Ouchy would lose her hair if we give her chemo. The answer was no. I wonder if she'll get more grey/white hair? I haven't mentioned to Christopher that we'll be having to make a decision about whether to give her chemo at all, as it may be horribly expensive. We'll be considering quality of life for either decision, as well. As of now, she's not in obvious pain, but she is a bit grouchy than normal, so she's probably tender around the swollen nodes.
Right now, we're in a wait-to-hear mode; meanwhile, Ouchy is at the top of the "being to be spoiled" list. I told Critter (she's his dog) that it would be okay for him to let her sleep in his room if he wanted. He protested that his room is too messy -- and when I said, "she's not Dizzy; it's not like she'll eat your homework," Tigger volunteered to let Dizzy sleep in his room. ;)