Boo Boo Paw |
How did we get here? Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
2005: Petey Bella decided we were her "fur-ever" home. We got her spayed at this awesome, not much to look at, but wonderful vets inside office in Morrow, GA, the Lake Harbin Animal Hospital.
2005: Petey came pre-potty trained and super easy and was pretty much never sick or hurt. We fostered some puppies in 2006 and she was a nanny-- worrying over the puppies when they got too far from their mom and rolling them back with her nose.
2008: Petey stepped on some glass or something in the yard and had to have a dozen stitches/staples on her rear leg and wear the cone of shame. Since I could TELL her not to lick, she only wore the cone for about 20 minutes. The hardest part of that was paying the outrageous bill at the emergency vet in Decatur. I wasn't impressed with the experience, but the dog's okay, and that's what mattered.
2012: Noticed that a bump on her belly near her back leg had gotten mealy and swollen. The vet decided to put her under anesthesia and clean her teeth and to take it out while she was under. It turned out to be an evil, grade 2 Mast Cell Tumor. Boo, cancer. Doctors like to get "clean margins"-- varying from 3 cm
Amusing conversation with the pharmacist to get this |
If you use USPS to ship me, I can bark at mailman the whole time. |
July 2013: Because of the short notice of my move, Petey stayed with my mom and Siena in GA while I moved to Denver. Don't tell my family or friends, but I think she was the hardest "person" in my life to leave behind. Sorry guys.
You not ever leaving, momma. |
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!!! YOU CAME BACK!!!!" It was a pretty intense happy dance and some first-rate snuggling when I finally hit the hay. As I sat on the couch and talked with my mom, she was sitting IN my lap.
On Christmas eve, I noticed her one toe was swollen and assumed a bug or spider had bitten her in the yard or she'd gotten a thorn or something in her paw. The day after Christmas, it wasn't any better, so my mom was taking her dog to the vet for a small procedure, so along Petey Bella went. The doctor wanted to treat it conservatively, as it didn't seem broken, but just badly swollen. She had 7 days of an anti-inflammatory, Carprofen. It helped, but the swelling wasn't completely gone. I continued treating her with Benadryl, which is an OTC anti-histamine, in case it was a spider bite and just needed longer to heal.
Her middle toe is so swollen. |
Her head in her paws |
January 20, 2014: Over the weekend, Petey seemed more acclimated to the altitude and weather (it wasn't too cold), so she and I went for a short run/walk around the Hilltop neighborhood and to a park with a walking trail by Rose Medical Center. Monday morning was a holiday, and her paw was angry with the activity. It was swollen and red and she was wincing and sighing-- so I called around to get a vet recommendation, and ended up following Yelp advice and going with a nearby vet's office, called Park Hill.
Still loves a car ride, even if it's to the VET |
Dr. Turner also stated that she was a very good girl-- even though she was poking, prodding, and pinching her paw, she didn't get mad. That's my girl. She got a cool purple bandage and a laundry list of medications: Cephalexin- an antibiotic at my request- in case it was an infection, Rimadyl for pain and inflammation, Prilosec to help her stomach deal with the new medicines, and 60-70 mg of benadryl twice a day. This was much more than I'd been giving her-- but as MCT's are full of histamine, that if broken/degranulated, will attack the inner organs. That sounded bad.
Her swollen toe after shaving and aspiration. And her Bella-belly. |
At least her bandage matches! |
So, if the spirit moves you, please think happy thoughts, say a prayer, what have you-- for my dog, the vet and nurses, and me. I really want my Petey Bella to see some of these hiking trails out here in the west. There's lots of good smells to smell.
And P.S....you know how I know I got a found a good vet? They sent a follow-up post card via SNAIL MAIL. Sending a handwritten note? I do that kind of thing too, y'all.
Sweet check up post card |
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