Not our best day!

[Stacy]

So, this morning my little almost 15 year old papillon, Olivia, passed away. No matter how you think you're ready, you're never ready! 

But it's kind of like Ava didn't want someone else to have all the attention she decided to chew on her left top nipple (we're still struggling with the allergy thing but she's never done that before!) And she made it bleed. I wish I could get better pictures, but that's the best I could do. It has this white "mass" looking thing that it looks like it wants to birth, and it almost looks ulcerated. Of course this is the nipple that the surgeon was concerned about when she had her revision of her spay. His concern was that it was firm. And now I'm totally freaked out that it's a tumor. But these things always happen after business hours and this is not an emergency vet event. It is a regular vet event and I just have to get through the next 11 hours before the vet opens again. In the meantime Ava has gotten more use out of this dumb cone than any dog should ever have! 

Tomorrow regardless of everything else, I'm going to have him start her on a steroid pack and see if we can get her itching under control. The antihistimines help some, but they just aren't cutting it. Then we can talk about a referral to a dermatologist. I thought things would get better seasonally, but they just haven't. 

This poor girl. And it all goes back to people who breed irresponsibly. I'm sure Ava had her first puppies as early as they could breed her, and her allergies probably didn't show up until long after that. Now how many puppies are more predisposed to having problems with allergies because of the greed of her breeder? Katie being one of them. She doesn't seem to have problems with itching yet, but who knows what will happen.. 

Anyway, I'm rambling. But I attached pictures, if anyone has any ideas - or thinks it's something totally innocuous, like a zit, I would love to hear your ideas. 

xoxo, Stacy

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Hooray for this. I hope the antibiotic clears it up.  Charlie had a similar  bump on his neck. It kept bleeding and scabbing over but wasn't healing.  We had some fantastic mousse-type antibiotic stuff we got from my previous dog's dermatologist vet for skin 'stuff.'  I sprayed it on for about a week and it has actually cleared up. The scab fell off today and the skin underneath is flat and unbroken.  Yay!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm so sorry to hear about Olivia's passing...I'm sure that you must be devastated.  That is great news though that this is just a cyst on Ava.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Good news for Ave!  I am so sad for you - it always so difficult to loose a beloved pet.

[Stacy]

Thank you. I miss her. Intellectually I know she had a long full life, but I still wish she was here with me instead.

[Rex & Zofi]

Sorry for your loss Stacy, I know the feeling very well.  We lost our 10 year old Chihuahua (Paco) to Addisons Disease in April 2016. So we bought Zofi in May to replace him. Then in August we lost our 11 year old Chihuahua/Corgi mix (Bubby) to Lymphoma. 2 lost in 1 year is rough. Leaves us with our poodle and Zofi now. We are going to keep it at 2 now for a while. Zofi is big enough and has enough energy for more than 2 dogs 

[Stacy]

Thank you. It's so hard to say goodbye, even when it's time. A good friend of mine once told me that that is why you should never have just one dog. It tempers the loss a little. I can't imagine coming home to no dogs. But two is a good number. I'm not ready for another puppy. Katie was such a challenge! And I think I forget that. But my two sweetest sweet girls keep me busy. And we are doing okay. Olivia is still with me, I just can't see her right now.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Stacy ~ how is Ava doing.  Is this healing?

[Stacy]

Thank you for asking! Yes! It is completely healed and looks normal with no sign of any abnormality to the nipple. Now it just looks like all the other nipples. And she's doing great. She is just the best dog (don't tell Katie I said that!) She is sweet and eager to please and so loving. She is even learning to scoot over in the bed when asked - she scoots 2 inches at a time so I have to ask several times - a little more, a little more, okay just one more scoot. She's just a wonderful girl. Her coat is growing out. She's so pretty. Her coat is much lower maintenance than Katie. I can comb through it. And she loves to be combed. She will just sit there and let me brush and brush. I hope we've worked through the health stuff. Now we just have to work on the afraid of strangers part and she will truly be a perfect dog!