Loving my Oldies

I reckon Maddie will be fine. If she things about it at all, she might wonder where the other dog is. Yes, dog are generally more adaptable than we are. One of my littlies who went to god nearly 8 years ago was predominantly white and black. Tamar (Maltese Shihtzu cross) is white and she has a black and white coat and when she goes past me wearing it, I regularly have a nano second of thinking she is Tirra.

Lovely, evocative words as always, Rachel :flower:

Really great photographs :heart: . The one and only good thing about my dogs getting old is that they can no longer jump onto the bed. I have a set of stairs (which fold down) for them and when we get up in the morning, I swish them underneath the bed - the stairs that is :D :D

Beautiful photos. Glad to see they allow the horsey in the lounge as well. :D :D

Gorgeous. I want to move next door. :laugh:

Nothing like seeing dogs cuddling to warm the heart. You and Minty in my thoughts, Cazablanca.

Too beautiful, too sad, Cazablanca. Deepest sympathies. You really did have a best little mate in Charlie and he had one in you. Goodbye Charlie. What a wonderful little boy you have been and will always be in the hearts of your family :rainbowbridge:

He is a glossy squeaky clean boy tonight. Out walking with the other three this morning, I stopped to chat with the groomer (50 metres down the road from me). She happened to mention she had only two dogs so I asked her if she would bath and dry Danny as it took me ages to dry him with just a small hair dryer and it is so cold. She was happy to do that and so I walked him down after I'd finished walking the others. He enjoyed his little stroll, sniffing most of the time. I carried him a couple of times to the next sniffing spot as we'd probably still be going otherwise and his nose might have fallen off with the workout it was getting :laugh: :laugh: I asked the groomer not to put his coat back on as I would bring a clean one when I collected him. Oh my goodness!! I wish I'd taken my camera when I went to pick him up ... Jeanette was sitting on a couch with Danny in her arms wrapped in a little fleecy. And she refused to charge me. Such good people who love dogs.

Oh no! That is too much, Swain :cry:

How sad to read this update Rest in peace, little Buddy. Deepest condolences, Swain. :rainbowbridge:

He is doing well, thanks Cazablanca. He sleeps a lot, of course, and occasionally finds himself “cornered” so has a snooze before working out how to extricate himself. Is that you mum? Come to get me out of here? Actually, he isn’t really caught as that is the kitchen and I was doing some washing up. He still likes to be by my side.

how true DDD, each time they poo it is like the first time EVER and a highlight for their own personal doggy celebration :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: That is how I feel, T.

I am so glad to read this because there is almost an epidemic of unnecessary operations which are damaging healthy dogs. When I first became a dog owner in 1993, my brother was a vet with his own hospital. Good for my budget, but not good for my peace of mind. Even over a couple of decades later and he has long since retired, some of the stories he told me still haunt me. And some of the worst were about dogs operated upon for supposed luxating patella. He showed me a couple of times how easy it was to slip out the bones particularly in little dogs’ legs. He said, that vets would do this in front of the dog’s owner and go, “Oh no - luxating patella!! If not operated upon your dog will have arthritis.” Owners would panic and immediately agree to what was (as asal’s vet says) totally unnecessary surgery. Most dogs (and people) will have touches of arthritis if they live long enough, but a dog operated upon for luxating patellas is virtually condemned to have arthritis probably long before they would have normally. He told me about a conference he’d been to when the person at the lectern was going on about luxating patellas and the need for surgery. He turned to the vet beside him (whom he did not know but was a lot younger) and said that in his over 30 year career, he’d done about two of these operations and how, in his opinion, they were mostly quite unnecessary. The other vet said something along the lines of, “Don’t say that, mate, that’s how I make my money.” My brother used to say that they were “tantamount to mutilation”.

Ain’t nothin like a good poo !!!

Well we are still in the dark :( . Yet again, the needle was unable to get cells that indicated anything with any certainty. They could not determine whether the cells they did manage to obtain were from surrounding tissue or the lump. They are certain it is a cancer of some description but not sure if it is benign or malignant. Going on the ultrasounds, needle aspirates and blood tests, we are dealing with two things here: suspected early stage Cushings and the lump. The suggestions were: 1. Do nothing but monitor 2. Get a sample of the lump surgically 3. Operate to remove the lump As the vet is worried about the lump and that it might just suddenly start growing, I am going with Point 1 and in another few weeks, do another examination of the rectum to see if there is any change. When they first discovered the lump the vet was able to just feel it by inserting her finger in the rectum, so that it what we’ll do in another few weeks and they should be able to tell by feel if it is changing. Jeune is around 15 years of age and I am not going to put her through either points 2 or 3. The vet has told me that the lump is in a very difficult position. He gave me all the details last Friday. Apparently there are four layers to the small bowel: Mucosa, Sub Mucosa, Muscularis, and Serosa layers. (I had to google to find the names of the last two so remembered when I did that.) The lump is between the muscularis and serosa layers and, consequently very hard to get to. Since I rushed her off on Wednesday when she had pain relief and subcutaneous fluids, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with her: she is eating, not drinking too much, walking and pooing all normally. So just steady as she goes from now on.

That is a very strange summation, Steve :) . Remember the old saying, “Can’t see the woods for the trees.” Have you ever been there to see for yourself?

GET A SECOND OPINION AND IF YOU GO AHEAD GET A SPECIALIST TO DO IT.

Very late getting up today as I read until the early hours :o But first thing was to check if I’d missed any messages. No :( Not that I really expected any because they will all be busy with early morning activities and then consults. Just on tenterhooks.

Sounds a wonderful, loving plan, Cazablanca.

Knowing my vets as I do, I know they will be 100% delighted if their diagnosis is wrong. :) However, two vets have seen her and two different specialists. That said, I am still hopeful that tomorrow is only good news. Since the last procedure, she has been perfectly normal: eating, pooping, walking. So :crossfingers:

I can understand your concern, K. I’ve had dogs who have weighed less than 3kg and it is always a worry. Worse for you being in the country. Really think you need to investigate a humungous cat run.

That’s terrible, T. :( Yes, vets are people too with all the character flaws, egos and downright horribleness of the rest of the population and lack of expertise and knowledge. The was a DOLer who was told that her dog needed URGENT luxating patella operations. I begged her to get another opinion and another opinion. Luckily she did (against the wishes of the rest of her family) and the result? Nothing wrong with her dog’s knees and no surgery needed.

Oh my :( Yes, a very tough time. :flower:

YES :( Weather lends itself to sleeping and reading the hours away and since the couch is Jeune's favourite place, I don't need much encouragement. I am still hopeful that they'll discover the lump is benign although I did ask the vet if there was any chance of it being a fibroid as suggested by Tdierikx, and he said no.

Thank you, ladies. Nothing from the vets so have to wait until Monday :( Luckily I gave up biting my fingernails several decades ago.