Some Happy Dogs & Some Not Happy Doggy News

Remember Little One, the dog Lisa found a year ago and who ended up being adopted by Lisa's friend and neighbor?

She is living her best life and enjoys floating around on her inflatable pillow while her family swims around her. She also has an assortment of clothing that she prances around in - she definitely landed on her feet!

Lisa is home for the summer and Nashi-boi is ecstatic.

Even when traveling in the car, he likes to be as close to her as possible.

He still visits us often, much to everyone's delight (and especially Tammo's.)

Last night I caught my breath when I found Tammo up on our new couch. That wasn't quite the plan, at least not yet.

The blanket had been put down so Craig could sit on it (he'd been mowing) but Tammo, ever a good dog, thought it was there for him and hopped right up. Notice how his body isn't even close to touching the couch?

We should've seen that coming - he only gets on the couches if a blanket is there. No blanket? No Tammo. Talk about a good boi!

The doggy news is about Pepper and it is mixed.

Pepper is having some challenges, and not gonna lie, I've had some real moments worrying about her. Turns out that that scary "was it an Addison's Crisis" a few weeks ago may actually have been one.

Let me back up and fill in some information.

A week ago I was scratching her chest when I felt a protrusion, one large enough that my entire hand could cover it. My heart sank. I'd felt that before in our black Lab, Zeus. 

Zeus keeping me company as I recover from my first knee replacement. See how thick his neck is? He died shortly after this picture was taken. 

Our vet got Pepper in immediately to check the mass and took a fine needle aspirate. The mass is a lipoma (a tumor made of fat), and while it is large and will need to be monitored and/or removed, it wasn't cancer like I had feared. What a relief!

But that relief was short lived.

I told the vet about the night that Craig and I had spent on the floor with Pepper two weeks ago, describing her symptoms and then sudden recovery. Our vet said that she thought that that might have been an Addison's Crisis after all.

My heart sank again. 

Pepper has also been doing some sudden panting, although she can breathe just fine. She seems a little more tired and less inclined to chase as many frisbee throws as usual. So, Dr. Thayer did a complete check up, blood work, and X-rays of Pepper's neck and chest and then gave me the mixed news.

One side of her heart is moderately enlarged but her spleen is much more so. There are some unknown white spots on the films that may be nothing but could be something. She may need to have her spleen removed and, because of its location on her throat, the lipoma, too. 

But the surgeries would need to be done separately as it would be too much for her all at once. She's almost ten and anesthesia gets risky as they age. She is facing two big surgeries and the stress from either of those could trigger another Addison's Crisis. 

Pepper nearly died from that when she was guiding Sarah, and the thought that we could trigger another while treating her other issues... Something we will have to think through carefully and decide with her vet.

To confirm her own findings Dr. Thayer suggested that we send the scans off to a radiologist to be read and see what their diagnosis is. Hopefully that will come in today; otherwise I will have to wait until Monday for them.

I am on tenterhooks right now. 

Please keep my sweet Pepper in your thoughts or prayers, karma, or any way you feel comfortable. 

She needs them, and I would be very, very grateful.

More of the Unexpected

 Yesterday I wrote about unexpected things happening around here. Turns out that we were not done with them.

Last evening, Pepper suddenly became ill just before I went to bed. Her symptoms were those of an Addison's Crisis, and we were very concerned. Craig and I alternated staying by her side throughout the night. Wherever she wanted to lie down, we stretched out next to her. Brought her water to sip. Took her outside. And so on.

Finally, at 6:00 this morning she started acting more like herself and hopped up into our bed where Tammo was already lying alongside of Craig. I stretched out with them and we all fell into an exhausted sleep.

When I woke up, she was her usual self - asking for breakfast and to go outside (albeit not in that order), following me everywhere I went, and acting as though she had not been so very ill.

When she grabbed her favorite toy and asked to play, I felt myself relax a bit. That was the Pepper we knew and loved, one who was feeling just fine, thank you very much!

So, was it an Addison's Crisis? I truly don't know. She just had her monthly shot a week ago and I never miss her daily medicine. But stress can trigger an Addison's Crisis, and I have had a lot of medical appointments, including one yesterday that kept me away from her for almost three hours. Even with Craig, Tammo, and Nash here, I'm the one she shadows and misses when I am gone.

At this time I don't feel a need to get her to the vet - she has so clearly bounced back to being herself. (She is asking for one of the treats I keep on my desk as I write.) But I am keeping a close eye on her and Purdue's Emergency Vet Hospital is open 24 hours and only three miles away if she shows signs of illness again.

I've also cancelled a Monday morning appointment, plan to stay home from church tomorrow, and will miss Mila and Lukie's soccer games today.

In her own, Seeing Eye way, this gal takes such good, conscientious care of me. And I intend to do the same for her.