I am SO OVER NOVEMBERS, dude. Why does such sucky stuff happen in November?? I mean, there's good stuff - I certainly can't say there's not good stuff. Thanksgiving is nice, and my best friend's brother just got engaged, which is very exciting....it's just that November is not gaining the greatest of reputations in my small circle. Last year's November was basically, well, catastrophically awful, and now just as we squeak to the end of the month, largely unscathed....
This was only a few days ago. Sometimes I hate that my littlest one is so tough. She's tiny (and getting tinier, as we found out tonight - she's lost several ounces since last year) but so fierce and strong. She never makes a peep when she's in pain, so a lot of stuff tends to slip by unnoticed longer than it should. Tonight when I got home, both dogs bolted out of the crate for the back door, went out, did their business, came back in - all normal. I put their food out and while Brodie went snout-first into it as always, Little Bit blew right by it and plopped down on her bed to groom. She's a bit OCD about tidiness, so the grooming itself wasn't unusual....but licking in favour of food? No way. So I decided to examine the area she was grooming - which, without being too specific, is an area I don't frequently find myself examining too closely.
Not good.
See, as we later found out from the vet, the sort of medical problem she was experiencing usually comes with many warning signs, but because Bitty's not much of a complainer, she never exhibited a single one of those until the excessive grooming, which is easy to miss due to the aforementioned compulsion. So if we'd seen some earlier sign, we might have avoided a lot of pain (on her part) and financial ruin (on ours, which is obviously secondary to her pain but an unpleasant side effect nonetheless.) She had an infection, which turned into a bigger infection, which turned into a rupture. She has to have two glands surgically removed, and she's going to be away from home for three days. I hate that she was so quiet about it, and that I don't regularly pick her up and scour her with a magnifying glass. She gets tons of attention, so it's odd that we would have overlooked something fairly major (particularly given the pretty minimal amount of doggie acreage she takes up). I can tell you, the poor thing will be scrutinized all the rest of her days - I hate being away from my girl, and I know she hates being away from us, so she can now look forward to years of fine-toothed-combing to ensure her health and well-being.
"Okay, just gimme more cute sweaters! And a cookie!"
And Brodie? Brodie is NOT doing well with this. He keeps curling up in the travel crate we took her to the vet in, like if he lies there long enough, she'll magically reappear inside with him. He's so fragile, and so we're being very positive with him and reassuring him and using our happy voices all the time (which is tough) because we want him to know she's coming back. (His whole world revolves around food and pestering Bitty. He's pretty unhappy at the moment.)
"Whatcha worried about, friend?? I'll be home in a couple of days! ...psst, love you."
And while it was easy to diagnose (hallelujah, no waiting hours/days/weeks for tests and biopsies and treatments,) it is expensive to treat, because there's surgery involved. I'm not crazy about the whole surgery thing, but our doctor is outstanding and I'm sure it will go smoothly. Paying for it, on the other hand....I'd sell off some stash, but I don't really have enough to make much of a dent. (NaWePoNoMo month meets a bitter end.) I had to stifle a small choking cough sound when he gave us the estimate. And joked about putting up a "Save Bitty's Butt" Paypal button on the blog. Heh. Instead I plunked down the plastic, initialed the "do anything and everything you have to do regardless of cost" box, and hugged her goodbye for the night. That was by far the hardest part.
I'm glad she's so tough, 'cuz I'm really kind of a mess.
"Jeez, Mom. Suck it up, wouldja? I'm gonna be FINE. But you better stock up on my favourite cookies!"
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