Click on any of the pictures below to begin the show:

The post Wondering About My Whereabouts? appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

Last weekend, my parents and I took Toby to a Vines and Canines walk over at Martha Clara Vineyards. But I’m not going to write about the walk today. If you want to know how it went, you can read about the last time I took Toby on one of these walks…

He acted pretty much the same way this time around.

Instead, I wanted to tell you about a dog we met on the walk named Millie – and what better way to showcase her than in the very first Tuesday’s Tails Blog Hop created by DogsNPaws – a new hop with the goal of helping homeless pets find their forever homes:

Millie’s a sweet Lab/Mastiff?? cross who had a rough start in life – including suffering through the agony of an embedded collar that was cruelly ripped off her neck by her former “owner.” But Millie is all healed up now and is ready to find her forever home.

Here is some info about her direct from her rescue group:

Just so you know, these photos don’t do her justice. Millie has the sweetest face you can imagine, and although she appears as if she may have mastiff in her, she is about the size of your every day Labrador.

A great size for a family dog.

If you (or someone you know) would like more info about Millie, please contact her rescue group: RSVP Inc. (Responsible Solutions for Valued Pets) through their WEBSITE or FACEBOOK page. And if you wouldn’t mind giving Millie a share on facebook, twitter, or any other social networks you use, she’d really appreciate your kindness.

Please check out some of the other bloggers participating in today’s Tuesday’s Tails Blog Hop. Maybe your newest four-legged family member is waiting for you to discover them…
———————————————————-
———————————————————–
———————————————————-

———————————————————-

The post Tuesday’s Tails – Meet Millie appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

Let’s start with Leah: The good news is…still no more blood. The bad news…she’s having a difficult time getting up from lying on the smooth floors (we have throw rugs everywhere) and she slips frequently, her hind legs sliding out from under her as if she’s making a split.

After speaking with her vet, we gave Tramadol a one week trial, and in the short time she was on the drug, her footing got worse, and she slipped a few times even while on the runners. Worse, there were two incidents when I heard her struggling from another room and I raced to find her unable to stand on her own and staring at me through the most pitiful, almost embarrassed eyes. I spoke with my vet about it and he said sometimes narcotics make a dog’s muscles weak, so we’re back to no meds again as of this past Monday.

Some days are better than others.

Already she’s falling less again, but she’s still falling. And she’s getting up on her own when she falls, but she looks mopey. Who can blame her?

We might try a different anti-inflammatory in the near future if this continues. I understand there’s a risk that any NSAID might cause further internal issues, but having your legs slide out from under you and being unable to stand back up without assistance is worse. Anyway, that’s my opinion on the matter, and if you saw the look on her face each time her feet come out from under her, you’d most likely agree.

Next up – Toby: All the new lumps were either aspirated or looked at, along with two old ones, and out of all of them, only one of the samples needed to be sent to the lab. The results came back inconclusive, because the sample was too small, but there were no signs of cancer cells either. My vet explained that mast cell tumors are generally easy to diagnose even in small samples, and since there were no signs of that, and because Toby has a steadily growing history of benign lumps and bumps, we are taking a wait and see approach.

Moving on to Meadow: Speaking of mast cells, the “suspect lump” came back one more time, again when the vet’s office was closed. I spoke with our vet about it, and he said that if it comes back again when he can’t see her, he wants us to shave the area to make sure it’s definitely coming back in the same exact spot. He mused that since it only appears for about an hour before vanishing again, that maybe it’s some sort of allergic reaction. I reminded him that Meadow’s last two tumors behaved the same way at first, before finally sticking around long enough to be aspirated and eventually removed…

It makes me wonder if all mast cell tumors initially behave in a similar manner, and maybe I just find them early because Meadow’s coat is so short – and because I’m looking for them.

Either way, if there’s a possibility it’s a hive or something, I’ll go with that. But something tells me not to get my hopes up…

Can’t forget Cinder the Cat: While writing this post, I checked and the lump is still there, but it hasn’t changed at all since I found it at the end of March – back when I thought it was a vaccine reaction. Unfortunately, I just went to write its location on his vet file and realized I was mistaken about his rabies shot. He did not get the vaccine during his recent annual check-up, which means I’m going to have to bring him in and get it looked at. I can’t believe I forgot that he didn’t get any shots this year. Too many animals, not enough memory space in my brain I guess. Since it’s so small, and it feels like a cyst, I’m hopeful it’ll turn out to be nothing…

And that’s about it for the health updates over here. At least, for the four-leggers. As for me and my diet, I’m doing a pretty good job of not bringing GMOs into the house, and I haven’t purchased any meat other than a little more of that grass fed ground beef from Whole Foods for one more round of meatballs. Along with that indulgence, a friend supplied us with a good deal of wild caught venison which we’ve been enjoying, guilt free.

I treated myself to one more of those pricey chocolate bars, and I haven’t gone on any more doughnut or Snickers binges.

We’re also eating a lot of vegetarian meals, which I’ve really been enjoying…

But I’m failing miserably with the dairy.

What can I say? I love cheese, in all of its numerous and tasty forms. I am trying to eat more goat and sheep cheeses, because I “believe” they are generally more humanely raised. Please don’t tell me if I’m mistaken. I’m just not ready to hear it yet.

I should update you on the house repairs…or maybe you’d rather see for yourself:

Along with now having to redo the saddles, I never got around to painting those two walls in the kitchen, so I’m going to try my best to get those two projects done sometime within the next month.

And I’ve totally given up on the rest of the mess until fall.

Spring is here…it can wait.

As can this blog.

Expect to see a bit less of me in blogland now that (A) My busy season at work is imminent. (B) I’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors. (C) I’m attempting to walk more often. (Anyone else find the time to exercise their dogs daily, but not themselves?) (D) I’ve been carving out more time to read. Yes, actual books. I finished (and really enjoyed) Back to Abnormal and I’m in the middle of a Nora Roberts novel that has also sucked me in. (E) I’m attempting to gain some ground on my own novel, which I’ve restarted several times while I searched for the best way to tell my tale. Now that I’ve figured out which direction to take it and have completed much of the necessary research, I’m ready to get the rest of my first draft down – which to me is the hardest part.

In addition to my ever tightening schedule, I feel as if my dogs are aging right before my eyes – and I want to spend less time writing about my life with them and more time living it. So please be patient with me if my posts seem erratic and my visits to your blogs seem sporadic…

I’m trying. I just need three of me to get to all of the things I’d like to.

And now that I’ve taken up all your free time that you could have been spending with your own dogs, I’m going to ask you to spend a few more minutes to check out some of the other blogs that are participating in today’s hop. Thanks for reading!

———————————————–

The post Follow-up To My Last Follow-up… appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

If you can’t see the video, CLICK HERE.

The post Medi Being Silly appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

Until…

Enter Toby. Destructive. Disobedient. Devious. At times – down right disgusting.

Yet still I resisted. Instead of bringing him to obedience school, I began buying books. Ones written by positive reinforcement trainers, each one of them insisting that dogs could (and should) be trained without corrections. But as I tried out each of the methods I read about, each and every one of them failed.

Toby continued in his ways, getting under my skin in any way he could. Pulling on leash, eating leashes, counter surfing, trash diving, jumping up on people, destroying carpeting, chewing any small item he could get his teeth on, climbing on furniture, refusing to get down from said furniture, shredding paper products, dissecting dog beds, eating cat litter, barking, whining, digging up the yard, pulling out plants, not coming inside when called…

But all of that was nothing – compared to his worst obsession.

Eating poop. Mountains of it.

One day, after I told him to “leave” his poop for the umpteenth time, he started to spin in circles, eating it as fast as he produced it. I raced across the yard to stop him, and it was then that I learned it was runny – because he wore it all over his muzzle. Furious, disgusted, horrified – I raised my hand and did the unthinkable. I slapped him on the rump. Not once. But three times.

“Bad dog,” I screeched in between slaps. “I told you to leave-it!”

In return, he looked up at me, and wagged his tail.

I lowered my hand in shame. What had I done? Me, the person who would not even use a collar correction, had lost her temper and smacked her dog. And even worse than the time I had smacked Harley in the name of “training” – this time I had done it out of pure anger and frustration. After apologizing to Toby, cleaning him up, crying, telling myself I didn’t deserve to own dogs, and vowing never to lay a hand on him again (or any other dog for that matter), I realized it was time to seek outside help.

Searching online, I found a positive trainer. Or at least, she claimed to be. Long story for another day, she wasn’t, and I was back where I started. Well, sort of. Because during her class, I somehow got it in my head that Toby would make a good therapy dog.

After all, he loved people. He just needed some training.

And so our journey began. Endless books, videos, seminars, four years, and literally a dozen trainers later – I learned that (1) Not all trainers were evil, and (2) Toby was not a good therapy dog – at all. So I retired him from therapy work, and we moved on to Rally Obedience. Together we had a lot of fun in the ring, so much so that many people commented on how happy Toby looked to be working with me.

Most times, we did really well…

So well, in fact, that I considered becoming a trainer myself. I thought I had found myself a purpose. I felt that Toby and I, through our successes in the ring, could show that positive training methods really did work.

But there were setbacks…

When we started competing in the higher levels – off leash – Toby developed a bizarre habit of occasionally running from the ring without warning. (Several trainers insisted his “bad” behavior was due to my lack of corrections, but looking back, I fully believe the problem was caused by Toby’s anxiety issues, which have steadily increased over the years.) Despite the ring running, since most times we were having fun, I kept working with Toby until a cyst on his wrist forced me to stop jumping him and I retired him.

Without the ribbons and titles – I had no leg to stand on as a dog trainer.

I found that no one took my advice, even when it was solicited. After all, who was I, but a person with a few dogs that were not perfect? Dogs that still had (and have) issues. And why should people see anything more? None of them had lived with any of my dogs, seen how bad some of their issues were when we first adopted them, or seen how much improvement each of them has made over the years…especially Leah and Meadow.

It was then that I began to realize that a dog trainer does not train dogs. A dog trainer trains people. And those who know me, know I am not a leader. I am also not a follower.

I am the shy one, the overly-emotional one, the one with the unconventional ideas. The person who often does things in a different way than the rest of the pack.

Good material for a budding novelist…not exactly the best dog trainer material.

And then something else happened to chip away at that dream. Despite how proud I was of my accomplishments with my own dogs, I realized I’m not experienced enough to give out advice, especially when it comes to things like aggression.

I learned my lesson the hard way – with a dog that stayed with us for a brief time – a dog that I will not name.

Going in, I knew the dog was a problem dog – but after all those books, seminars, and classes – I felt confident that all the dog needed was a good bit of patience and guidance. Turns out all my knowledge amounted to “squat” and I ended up with a dog’s mouth clamped around my wrist because the dog did not want to do what I had just asked. The dog did not bite down, just held my arm and locked eyes with me, but the implied threat was there. Let me do what I want, or I’ll bite. I’m not certain the dog would have followed through, but I was not about to find out. The dog got what the dog wanted and I avoided a trip to the emergency room.

That incident scrubbed any lingering thoughts of becoming a dog trainer from my mind.

What if a training technique I recommended to someone – got them mauled? What if that dog had bitten me, had been labeled a “bite dog” – and then ended up being put down – because of my failings? I’d never forgive myself.

All serious things to think about before giving out any advice.

I still plan to follow the positive path with my own dogs, current and future, because that’s what suits me and my dogs best. But I no longer want to give advice to others. It makes me leery, because what works for me and my dogs, might not work for you and yours.

We are all individuals – and so are our dogs.

As for Toby, while he’s much better than he was, Nick and I both believe our Labrador is a bit “off” and that no amount of training…positive or otherwise…will correct some of his obnoxious and often unexplainable behaviors. Spending six-plus years trying harder to “fix” him than many dog owners would commit to for more than a month has convinced me of this. Nowadays, I’ve quit trying to change him and I’ve come to accept him for who he is…a sweet, goofy, people-loving dog…with a host of weird phobias, destructive behaviors, and a stubborn streak to go along with them.

And then an amazing thing happened. The moment I stopped stressing over his issues was the same moment they no longer seemed to matter. Most times now – although certainly not every time – Toby’s antics make me laugh.

They’ve also made me realize that a well trained dog is not who he is.

Just like a dog trainer is not who I am.

And you know what? I like it much better this way.

——————————————————————————

The post The Person I am NOT appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

“This is the Follow-Up Friday Blog Hop, the hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend!”

Today I’m joining Jodi Stone from Heart Like A Dog and her Co-Hostess Sue from Talking Dogs for this week’s Follow-up Friday to give you a few health updates on the four-leggers…

Let’s start with the “Who Knows?” News: We have seen no more blood with Leah since a small drop that I saw two days after she stopped her meds, so we are holding off on the scope for now. However, she is MUCH stiffer getting around, but is still managing better than last summer – at this point. It’s only been a few weeks, so it doesn’t mean much either way, but I’ll keep you all updated on how she progresses.

Next, I have some “Could be Bad, but Most Likely Nothing More than Another Vet Bill” News: Toby is going to the vet so he can look at four new lumps and a couple of old ones that have gotten larger. Given how many benign lumps he has already, I’m cautiously optimistic that these four (and the steadily growing old ones) will follow in their predecessors footsteps. Which would be a good thing, since I’m not keen on having him go under anesthesia to remove any lumps due to his heart condition.

Some “Probably Nothing, but I Have to Watch and Wait” News: I also found a tiny hard lump on Cinder the Cat just before we went away on our trip. It is high up on his flank and he did just receive his rabies shot in February, so I’m going to give it a few more weeks in case it’s just a vaccine reaction, but if it sticks around much longer (or gets bigger) he’s going to the vet too.

Finally, I am saddened to have to share some “Likely to be Bad” News: Meadow has developed another disappearing lump that we will need to have aspirated next time it sticks around longer than an hour. We’ve seen it twice now in the span of about a month, both times at night after the vet was closed. I fear another mast cell tumor is brewing. I don’t want to jump the gun, but if it is a third one, we’re going to bring her for a consult with an oncologist. I know there are newer drugs on the market like Palladia that are touted to prevent mast cell tumors, but I’ve read mixed reviews about how well these drugs works – and most are very costly. I wouldn’t hesitate to spend money on proven treatments, but I don’t want to just burn up good money that might be needed for future surgeries. Given that Meadow tends to get the type that is less likely to spread internally, I’m not sure what is the best way to go…hence the reason why I want a consult with a specialist.

I had hoped to resume K9 Nose Work classes this spring, as well as go to Thriller Fest again this year, but I’ve decided to hold off on both to prepare for the hefty vet bills that appear to be looming. Lots more watching and waiting. Seems to be my lot in life. I’ll keep you all posted…
——————————————————

The post Follow-up Friday – Short, But Not So Sweet appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

On Tuesday, it was hot out back here at home, so rather than walking the paved streets and putting the dogs into shock after just coming from the frigid Pennsylvania temperatures, Nick and I took them for a walk in OUR woods.

So why am I bummed?

Click on any of the following photos to see for yourself:

Makes you want to cry, doesn’t it?

—————————————————————————————

On a lighter note, I wanted to congratulate Jodi Stone of Heart Like a Dog – Random.org chose you as the winner of my giveaway for Wedding Dogs. Please look for it in your mailbox in about a week or so. I’ll try to brush off the dog hair before I stuff it in the box.

The post Bummed appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

I must admit, I totally blew my diet - but I had a great time doing so. Nick and my parents are all awesome cooks, and each of them took turns preparing the food during our trip…

Roasted chicken with sweet potatoes.

Wild caught shrimp and scallops scampi style over linguini.

Leg of lamb with fig sauce and fingerling potatoes.

Pasta with Clam Sauce.

Chicken Piquant over rice.

Homemade chocolate cake.

In my defense, my rule was that I would follow my new diet when I’m at home. (A) I wasn’t home. (B) There was chocolate cake. Enough said.

I did, however, get to spend lots of time with the dogs, which is something I’ve been wanting to do. Shorter walks for the two seniors and a few longer hikes with Meadow and my mom’s shepherds. It was relaxing to get out in the fresh air and enjoy the quiet streets in the small development where my parents’ house in located – despite the cold temps. Plus I actually managed to read a bit. I dove in to a book that was recommended to me by a facebook friend, who is actually the sister of the author. It’s called Back to Abnormal, written by a poet named Dana Wildsmith, but it is not a book of poetry. It’s a collection of essays about moving to her mother’s farm in Georgia after living most of her life on the go, and her views about nature and about escaping from this electronic ruled world we live in today. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m nearly through and have enjoyed it enough to confidently recommend it for anyone who might be interested in living a simple, back-to-nature life.

Or at least escaping to one inside the book’s pages.

Up in the mountains was the perfect setting to start this title, especially since I was computerless for an entire week. I even stayed up late one night working on my new novel – using a pen and a notebook. It was nice to take a temporary computer break before coming back home and returning to life as “normal.” It also makes you wonder what is normal? While blogging and social networking can be a great way to make new friends and keep in touch with old ones, I find that enjoying a meal with family, taking a walk with a four legged friend, and sitting quietly with a book can be a lot more rewarding than sitting in front of a computer screen, and during this vacation I realized just how much I missed those types of “real” moments.

I hope to make more of them in the future, but like it or not, I’m back to “status quo” for now. I came home to the very sad news that a close friend lost her dog to cancer, and the good news that my agent liked my second round of revisions enough that my first novel is officially going out on submission. It may be months before I know anything more, but please wish me luck all the same.

And please wish my friend peaceful memories of moments with her sweet Vizsla.

For me, that’s about enough rambling for now – it’s a beautiful day and I’d like to get my pups out for a walk and spend one more day on a “mental vacation” before I start getting back to my ever lengthening “to do” list. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the following shots from our trip. Click on any of the photos below to start the slide show.

The post A Much Needed Mountain Retreat appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

Like the time I was asked to review a poetry book, I was a little unsure about agreeing since it meant stepping out of my element. After all, this is a coffee table book, and we don’t even have a coffee table. (Does anyone with a Labrador have a coffee table – and if so – do you keep anything on it?) I’m also not much into fancy weddings. In fact, Nick and I got married spur of the moment while on vacation in the Cayman Islands by stopping in the first church we saw, begging a kindhearted minister to marry us impromptu that same day, and then asking two strange British woman who happened to be sunning themselves on the beach if they would mind being our witnesses…

Which all means that coffee table books, big weddings, and me, don’t often cross paths.

But as a writer, I hate to turn down a review if at all possible. After all, I might one day be contacting other writers to review my book. And I believe in Karma. So before saying no, I went ahead and checked out the book’s page on the publisher’s website, took a look, and thought, “Why not? It looks cute…”

I mean – the subtitle is “A Celebration of Holy Muttrimony” – how can that not be cute?

And here I am to say, I was right. Each page includes at least one delightful photo of a dog (or dogs) on their owners’ wedding day, and a short account of how they were involved. Some dogs only attended photo sessions, some spent the entire day with their owners, and others were either smuggled in, or managed to crash the parties all on their own.

And not all of them behaved.

There were howls of loneliness, fur covered tuxedos, and one pretty Lab-mix even took a potty break on her way down the aisle.

Other dogs – were angels. I wonder how you get dogs like that? Any of my three at a wedding would spell disaster, each spoiling the occasion in their own unique way. Despite that, it’s a good thing I’m already married, because after reviewing this book, I could see why you would want your dog(s) to accompany you on such a very special day. Their presence alone calmed shaky nerves and brought smiles to people’s faces – no matter how each of the dogs behaved.

However, now that I’m done with my free review copy, I’m not sure what to do with it. The literature that came with Wedding Dogs suggests that it “is the perfect gift for those planning their wedding, dog lovers, and newlyweds alike.” Even though I fit the “dog lover” description, I mentioned above that I don’t own a coffee table to put it on. I’m certainly no newlywed, and I don’t know anyone planning to get married in the near future…

So, I’ve decided that my free review copy – which is still in new condition except for maybe some dog hair that found it’s way in its pages – is up for grabs. If you’d like to have it, (and you live in the Continental United States), please leave a comment below this post by April 9th 2013.* Make sure to leave your correct email address, so that I can contact you for your mailing address if you win, and I’ll use Random.org to choose a recipient on or around April 10th 2013.

*Facebook Readers and Email Subscribers: Sorry but the comment must be on my actual blog page to count, so please visit my blog and fill out the comment field at the bottom of this post to enter the giveaway.

Happy Reading!

The post Wedding Dogs – A Book Review appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.

Last time I joined Jodi, I had a lot to say and I rambled on and on…

Well – today’s no different. Sorry if you hoped to hear otherwise. But if you have some time when you’re through, please be sure to check out Heart Like A Dog and Dogs N Pawz, and maybe some of the other great blog hoppers on the linky list below this post.

As for me, Easter is nearly here – and I did not finish everything I set out to do before the holiday. It seems I had lofty ambitions, but no actual time to get to any of it. In fact, I added some stuff to my “to do” list, like wanting to stain the bare wood saddles they installed this past weekend in two of the doorways…

The two remaining kitchen walls that I needed to paint, are still not painted:

Luckily for me, our Easter guests (AKA: Nick’s family) have a sense of humor.

I overhauled some more of the cabinets, but not all of them, and I managed to wipe down the inside of the fridge – but not the outside of it. Conversely, the outside of the oven is now clean – but I did NOT get to the inside.

I’m not going to actually show you the inside of it though – because it’s THAT gross.

I also did not bathe the dogs. But I’m pretty sure it was just Toby’s crate that stunk on the day I was trapped in the bedroom with them – and not the dogs themselves. (If you remember THIS POST, you can imagine how his crate could get so stinky.)

That means I get a reprieve on the baths. One less thing off the list. For now.

So what did I do all week? Well, my agent got back to me last Friday about those revisions, and asked for a second round. And instead of working on my house, I decided to bang them out as fast as I could. Why? Because she’s drafting up a pitch for an upcoming conference, and if she’s working hard on it, so am I.

Plus I want to put it aside again, and get back to work on the new novel that’s pleading for my attention.

And I’m happy to say, I worked until my fingers bled and actually got those revisions done. In one week. Now I’m just waiting on another quick proofread from Nick on the sections that I messed up the most where I made the most changes, and then I can send it back.

Phew. Another thing off the list. For now.

Today I’ve got food shopping to get done. Plus I need to do my regular weekly cleaning, as well as brush the dogs, trim their nails (and the cats’ too) – and scrub out those stinky dog crates. “If” I have time after that, I may even tackle a few more of those cabinets, or pick up a paint brush.

But I’m not making any promises. After all, I’m also behind on my blog reading. Again. Maybe you guys could try to post once or twice a month? It would make life so much easier.

Tomorrow I’m making a pot of homemade sauce, so that Nick can use it on the Eggplant Parmesan he is making for Easter. (Yum.) We chose this as our holiday dinner because his entire family loves the meal and it’s vegetarian, which fits right in with our current diet. The only thing I couldn’t afford to splurge on was cheese from humane sources.

Mozzarella and Ricotta are expensive enough, and I can only do what I can do.

I also really did not have the time to hunt for it. Along with the aforementioned chocolate, I’ve been having a hard time finding affordable options for dairy. Other than those issues, however, I’ve been doing pretty well with my food choices…

Well, except for that doughnut kick I‘ve been on as of late. Would you believe that every single one of them has either been made of chocolate or stuffed with the stuff?

Anyway, after I make that sauce, I’m going to try to squeeze in some walks with each of the dogs. The weather’s supposed to be nice, I’ve been itching to spend more one-on-one time with them, and I need to work off those doughnuts. Unfortunately, if I do find the time to take them walking, I’m going to have to keep Leah’s short.

Remember the Mystery Blood? Well, it happened again this past Monday, but it was much more blood than before. It was also very clear that I was correct about where it was coming from in the first place – and sadly – this is no urinary tract infection.

I spoke with our vet immediately and the first thing he had me do was stop Leah’s Meloxicam, which is the generic form of the Metacam that she started in August. Yes, the same medicine that miraculously fixed up her hind end. She’s been on the generic form of it since October, due to a price difference of about $50.00 a month – not that the price matters much when it comes to the blood. According to my vet, any anti-inflammatory is capable of causing internal bleeding (and much worse things) – not just Meloxicam.

Because of this, he wants Leah to have a trial without any anti-inflammatories, but this means she might start having a problem walking again. You can imagine how sad this makes me.

Regardless, I can’t give it to her until we know if it’s making her sick, so we stopped the meds right after speaking with him on Monday, and so far there has been no more blood. But that doesn’t mean we have our answer. According to Leah’s vet records, the last time this blood incident occurred was about five weeks ago, so even if it goes away for a while, we can’t really be sure of whether it’s from stopping the Meloxicam or not.

What we can be sure of is that if it comes back, my vet wants Leah to come in for a scope, which I’m not thrilled about. After all, she’s thirteen and there’s always that anesthesia to worry about…

But our vet says if she has something like a polyp, it’s treatable, so it’s worth the risk. I’m just frustrated that every time one of my dogs get sick, they always seem to have symptoms that are not easy to diagnose, leaving us all guessing as to what’s really going on.

I’m sure the scope will help clear some of that up, if it comes down to that, but I also hope it doesn’t turn out to be something more sinister than a polyp.

For now, we agreed to just wait and see, but I’ll be sure to post again when we know anything more.

————————————————————————–

This is a blog hop. Feel free to hop on board!

The post Follow-up Friday – Revisited appeared first on Donna and the Dogs.