The Chronicles of Sir Winston Humperdoodle, and Would You Rather Just Not Know?

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Last week Winston went in with a pretty serious ear infection in both ears that hadn't been responding to medication.  In fact his ear infections have become quite chronic.  The vet became concerned enough about the situation, and the fact that they never seem to fully resolve, to send off some cultures and warn me that depending on the results, there is a chance Winston's ear canals would have to be removed.  Of course this sent me into fits of panicky chaos wavering from complete dread for poor Winston's sake to wondering how I was going to manage.  Long story short, the results are in and it turns out he can be treated with a special antibiotic and an ear ointment, and re-check next Friday for his ears to make sure it's working.  

While discussing the results with the vet the other day I sort of jokingly gave him crap for scaring the bejeebees out of me.  He asked me if I'd rather have not known the possibility of the results not turning out well, if I'd rather he omitted such info until I absolutely needed to know.  My first instinct was an unequivocal yes.  Lie away.  Why worry when I don't have to? ...But now it's got me thinking.  

If the results had turned out worse, and we had to consider the surgery to remove his middle ear canals, then I guess the more time I had to prepare the better.  Karen sent me some helpful info which I was armed with when I went back in for the results the other day.  I was prepared to discuss the options.  It probably would have been a lot more overwhelming if I had showed up thinking we'd find some medication that would work easy peasy, only to hear that the infection is not responsive to anything and we need to remove Winston's ear canals before it gets worse.  That would have been really hard.  However, on the other hand, I spent a week agonizing and worrying, dreading the worst, when things turned out somewhat ok after all.  We're still not completely out of the woods, but he is responding well and feeling much better so I am hopeful when we recheck his ears on Friday they will come up clean.

All of his recent vet appointments for his allergies, ears, and tummy troubles has set me back well over 1K in vet bills (it is just astonishing how quickly they pile up) but at least things seem a little more manageable... at least until the next Winston-related health crisis...

...Enter the small abscess on his back left paw discovered by groomer a couple days ago.  So now I get to put that 'would you rather not know' question to the test.  Should I research the crap out of abscesses, not knowing anything about them, or even if that's what it actually is, or should I go about my days as if it's no big deal, until I get to see the vet next Friday for his follow up ear swabs.  The vet clinic said it can wait, so I'm just going to ignore it and pretend it's not there until Friday. In the meantime, I'm keeping it clean and dry, and trying very very hard not to worry. 

The good news is, Winston looks pretty darn spiffy after his grooming appointment.  Don't you think? (sorry for the sideways photo!)

Not that he needs to be well coiffed to attract new, err, friends.  Winston does love a good round of the humpty dance. I cannot tell a lie.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Grateful to know you are safe.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Thank you BG! All good here, thank goodness. What a nightmare. I never thought I'd see something like this in my home.  I think it's starting to look like a lone, isolated, incident. At least I really hope so.

[BG and Gavin]

Sherri, I hope you and your friends and coworkers are not in harms way.  Thinking of you and all the folks in Ottawa today.

[Robin and Libby Louise]

Good luck on Friday!  Winston is so handsome - obviously I'm not the only one who thinks that.  :)  I'm with you on the wanting/not wanting to know.  I usually  default to the worst scenario possible, so maybe I'm not a good barometer!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am thrilled to hear that there is another  and easier option for you to try for Winston.  I truly hope this works for Sir Winston!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I hope Winston is all well soon.  The first photo of Winston's sitting stand made me LOL!  Very cute!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm so relieved to hear the (cautiously) good news about Winston's ears! 

I would rather know. Yes, you might worry needlessly, but I'd prefer that to being blindsided. I'd rather prepare for the emergency that never comes than be unprepared for the emergency that does come. 

And LOL to that last picture!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Happy to hear Winston is responding to his treatment. His cute new haircut makes him very humpable. Give that boy big doodlekisses from all of us. And I don't think I want to know ahead of time if my dog might have cancer when it probably isn't. I don't know about the ear thing. Maybe not.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I'm so glad to hear this hopeful diagnosis for sweet Winston. I'm looking forward to your next post  on Friday telling us how much better he is doing!  I've had many animals that ended up with abscesses from time to time and they resolved just fine with a little treatment. As for the humpty dance, well...I'll just say that Winston's little friend really has a lot of self confidence! LOL

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Thanks for the comments.

@Lori, I wish I was more optimistic. I'm always sinking into the worst case scenario.  I really need to stop that!