I've Been Tagged

My furriend Zyp tagged me, so here are the rules fur the game:

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 furry friends to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail, or send a fun rosette, letting them know that they have been tagged and to read your Diary fur the rules.

1) I LOVE my little boys!
2) I have never met a stranger, though I will be protective of my family when needed.
3) My persian cat Diva is my buddy-- I LOVE for her to groom my head.
4) Even though I'm nearly 10, I can keep up with my brother Harley!
5) I really like other dogs-- even little froufrou ones. :)
6) At 75 lbs, I still think I'm a lap dog.
7) My family loves me so much! (I'm pretty sure I'm the favorite. But don't tell Harley)

1) Genevieve
2) Renthal
3) Hollie
4) Nixon
5) Worf
6) Rommel
7) Lucy

All Clear!

All lymph nodes are clear & the toe is gone. The toe was biopsied & no cancer had spread in the tissues or bone. So, now her foot looks a bit like an ostrich foot, haha.

She is doing great-- no limping, no problems. The only concern is that she is TOO energetic-- she needs to take it easy for about 2 more weeks. No easy task with spazzo Harley & foster dog Sassy ( a heeler mix). They like to get crazy together.

So, hopefully, here's to at least 3 or 4 more years together. Even that's not really long enough, but I'll take any time I can have with my Jetta.

Good News from the Vet

Jett's x-rays and lymph nodes are clear! So we are going ahead with the toe amputation next Thursday. Hopefully, she will heal quickly & adjust to this change. Harley won't know what to do while she's out of commission for a few weeks! Another update to follow the surgery.

It's a Part of Life, I guess

I thought about writing this in the first person, like Jett was writing it. But then I figured that it would not be authentic. If Jett was a human, she'd probably be a nicer person than I am. So, I will just write for her, from my point of view.

Last week, I took Jett to the vet office to have a growth on her foot checked out. It has been there for quite a while, but it grew kind of fast in the last few months. She's never bothered it & it looked like a wart. Unfortunately, after having it removed, we've found that it is malignant melanoma.

As of today, we are still waiting to find out if it has spread. The chest x-rays are clear, but the verdict is still out on her lymph nodes in the leg. Next week, she will have an ultrasound and have the nodes in her belly checked before we amputate her toe. She's older, so we don't want to go ahead with the amputation if it has already metastasized. If it has spread, her toe will stay & we'll do our best to make sure she's as comfortable and happy as she can be until she can't be with us any longer. I'm hoping we can just cut it off, rehab & go on to be happy for at least 3 or 4 more years-- she is 9 1/2, after all.

I feel terrible-- I am responsible for this. I noticed this growth a long time ago. I feel like I should have taken her in for it months ago. Things just kept popping up. Tuff, our beagle, blew out his knee & had surgery & we had to rehab him at home for weeks. Then we moved to a new house, then I got dreadfully ill for a few weeks. Then, Chenee the 15 yr old papillon got some bladder issues & went to the vet several times. Then Tuff started acting all wierd & it turned out he had a brain tumor. We had to put him to sleep. Chenee's bladder problems are chronic.

With all this going on, I guess Jett's little "wart" got pushed to the back of my mind. But now I'm wondering, "Why didn't you take her at the same time you took somebody else?" I also find it ironic that now that she has this & I've been researching it, the experts say it's a disease common to Dobermans. Good grief. Had I known that 5 months ago, I would have taken her the minute it caught my eye. I told my husband that if Harley EVER gets anything like that on his feet, he's going to the vet right that minute, appointment or not.

I consider myself a good pet owner-- I've always done research on the breeds I own; all my pets are spayed or neutered; they eat a very high quality/no additives food; they all have their own beds; there's a bucket of toys for whenever they want them; when we moved to this new house, the backyard was immediately fenced in-- for the dogs, not the kids. But I feel like I've let my Jett down.

If anyone reading this has a dobe, pay very close attention to their feet & mouths. If they get any warty or mole-ish looking growths in these places, go directly to your vet. The other breed I remember on the list is Scottish Terrier. Next time I write, I promise it'll be more upbeat. Just had to get that off my chest.