Sick pets...

(Warning - long post...)

Doesn't it break your heart to see an animal sick?  I wish they could tell us exactly what hurts and that we could explain the things we do to make them better.

Most of this week has been spent dealing with these issues.  In addition to being sick myself, Michael has been throwing up.  A lot.

I've been getting a lot of use out of the carpet cleaner I got for Christmas.  (Thank you again Heather!!!)  I'm hoping it's just a stomach bug or an upset stomach because of her arthritis medication, but she's not getting better.  She hasn't eaten much of anything for almost a week.  Our vet did an exam and her spleen appears to be enlarged.  We're praying that it's not cancer and that she'll bounce back once again.  I'd certainly appreciate if you'd pray for her as well.

Also we recently found a huge lump on my Mother-in-law's dog, Winston.

He is such a sweet and lovable dog.  He just turned 14 this month and yet he still plays with toys.  The lump appeared and grew very large in just 6 weeks.  He needed to have it taken off as soon as possible.  With such rapid growth, we were concerned it would split his skin if we waited.

Fortunately we have a great vet.  Not only does she do laser surgery (which is easier on animals and quicker to recover from), she also comes right to your front door.

We've only been using her for a little over a year, but she's been such a blessing to us.  With 6 pets, it's always stressful taking them to the vet.  Not having to travel with them or wait for the vet to see us has taken a lot of stress off me and them.

But back to Winston.  It turned out that the tumor was cancerous.  I had to decide whether to go ahead with the surgery or just make him comfortable.  I hate decisions like that.  I'm not cut out to play God! 

Based on the information she gave me, I decided to go ahead with the surgery.  Worst case, it would give him another 2-4 months and best case, he could live another couple of years.  It all depended on whether she could get it all.  She was concerned some of the tumor might be under his pectoral muscle and she wouldn't be able to remove it.

Praise God!  It wasn't and she thinks she got it all.

(He wore a pair of Mr. QuiltingBug's socks to keep his feet warm during the operation.)

It was a very long surgery.  Almost 5 hours.  After being under for such a long time, Winston took a long time to completely wake up.  He loves food and could eat anything he wanted as soon as he could walk a straight line.  He came out of surgery at 2:30, but couldn't walk around until about 8:30 that same night.

Here he is still really groggy.

His incision is 6 or 7 inches long.  He's also on lots of medications after the surgery, but he's really doing well.  I'm giving him all kinds of good things to eat and he's enjoying every one of them.  Hopefully by tomorrow he'll be in good enough shape to go back home.  I'm sure he misses his mom and I know she misses him!

Until later...