Needless Worrying

As is my usual way, I did some worrying for nothing yesterday. You'll recall from yesterday's post I was worried about how I was going to get Abby up to go to the vet appointment. I was also worried about getting her in and out of the car. I decided we'd start leaving for the vet extra early, in case I had any troubles with her. But that was all for naught. All I had to do to get her up was pick up my car keys and open the garage door. From her many trips to the park and dog beach, Abby loves to ride in the car. She was more than ready to get the heck out of this boring place and head somewhere else. 

Well, then I thought she might be extremely bummed to see that the "somewhere else" we were heading was the place where she wound up sans-limb. But no, as soon as we pulled into the vet's parking lot she was ready to jump out of the car. With the help of my little handmade sling, I got her out of the car, and then had to trot alongside as she hopped happily to the front door. Personally, if it had been me, I would not have gone so willingly into that house of horrible things. You'd have had to drag me in kicking and screaming. But not sweet Abby. She went in, all smiles and wagging tail. Everyone there was SO happy to see her. And she was so happy to see them. She's such a love. They all thought she was doing great! 

Hurry up, Hair - grow back!

It turned out the surgeon who performed her update-to-tripawd procedure just happened to be there, so they asked me if I could leave her with them until he had time to see her. They wanted him to have a look at her and do the drain removal. She was happy to stay and I was happy to leave her for a bit, since it gave me a chance to run back to the grocery store for a few things I forgot (like cheese! How could i forget cheese??!) the other day while Terry was dog-sitting. When I went back to get her the drain was gone (again, Hoorah! No more towels and rags laid out on all our furniture!) and they told me the surgeon was very pleased with her progress. Here's a new pic of her incision. It's healing up pretty nicely. Just can't wait til the staples are gone, which will mean no more cone. (Hopefully they'll come out next Wed. at her chemo appt.) 

"Wish this e-collar thing came in 'camouflage'!"

While I was there, I asked about her aloofness (which continues, as shown in this photo of her "hiding" in the jasmine again this morning). They said it's normal after surgery and is most likely due to some continuing discomfort. As some friends and family theorized (you guys are so smart!), it is believed to go back to their wolfy instincts, where, in the wild, a hurt animal will go off on its own in an attempt to hide its weakness. Along those lines, I'd heard before that it is a dog's instinct to hide its pain, not wanting to be the weak one in the pack and all that. So if your dog shows signs of pain, he/she is probably in some fairly serious discomfort. Or just a great actor, like our childhood family beagle Barney who, when put out back while the family was inside, would sit at the sliding glass door and pathetically raise one paw. "Hey, I'm hurt out here. Doesn't anyone care?" Of course we cared! So, open door; enter beagle. Job done; pain magically all gone!

Strange fruit

In a bit of non-dog-related news, our box of veggies that arrived Monday included these strange green blobs. (We get a box of produce each week straight from an organic farmer. It's fun because we get new things I never would have bought.) Well, this week, we didn't even know what these things were. The farmer emailed the next day to say they are sapote - a fruit common to Mexico. He said we needed to let them ripen a few days. I think they look like muppets or little pucker-faced alien babies. They seem soft enough, so we'll try one tonight. That will likely be the highlight of the day. I'll let you know if they are any good.


Thank you to everyone (e.g. Kath) who resisted the urge to make fun of yesterday's post where I said the dog food looked like chocolate "mouse" instead of "mousse" - luckily I noticed later and fixed it.

Is it just me, or does this remind you of those John the Baptist Head on a Platter paintings?