A Really Bad Morning
 Sorry for the long, whiny post, but I'm so upset, I need to vent to someone, and I know you guys will understand!Abby had surgery yesterday. it was supposed to be just the removal of a (benign, our vet was fairly sure) tumor on her eyelid. Once he had her under, he noticed some discharge from one of her nipples, and discovered a second tumor...much more worrying...on her mammary gland. he called me, and I told him to go ahead and remove and biopsy it along with the other. We probably wont get results from that until Monday due to the holiday. So, Abby was home with 2 incisions and very drugged last night. I slept downstairs with her, as we felt that Scott carrying her up to the bedroom would be painful for her. I got no sleep to speak of, as she was very restless and kept trying to scratch her eyelid stitches, in spite of the cone. So then this morning She was actually doing pretty well, walking around and asking to go out. I set everyone up for breakfast as usual, and got her fed and her meds into her. Right after I picked up their food bowls, however, Eggbert ran into the kitchen (where Abby eats) and attacked her! I know this can happen when one dog is sick But it still shocked me. Neither dog was hurt...it was basically all noise, but Abby got so scared she fell down and peed. Very bad, because her incision needs to stay dry.I separated them, and got (very minorly) bit in the process. I dumped Bert outside while I picked Abby up (she tried to bite me, but I'm quite sure it was because with the cone, she couldn't see who was grabbing her) and got her (and the kitchen floor) cleaned up. She seems fine, if still upset. I settled her on her bed and brought Bert back in...they both are now acting (of course!) as if nothing unusual happened  . I, on the other hand, am a wreck.  I have a HUGE art fair (4 days long) this week, and I have a ton of work still to do. We have a dogsitter coming to stay, even though we will commute home each night (normally we would camp out, but I'm uncomfortable leaving her completely this soon) and I'm now worried if the sitter can cope with this if it happens again. Bert will stay in the studio with me all day today, for safety sake. Dogs CANNOT go to this show, otherwise Id take him with. I'm sure it will be fine. But...what a crappy way to start my day!  |
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| Sounds awful, poor Abby I hope she recovers quickly and the biopsy comes back with good news. Would it be an option for a friend or family member to take Eggbert during the days? |
Baba wrote: Sounds awful, poor Abby I hope she recovers quickly and the biopsy comes back with good news. Would it be an option for a friend or family member to take Eggbert during the days? Unfortunately not. Everyone on our normal dogsit list is either at the same show with us (one disadvantage to mostly socializing with fellow artists!  ) or out of town for the long 4th of July weekend. I'm thinking of having the sitter just keep Bert and Gertie outside for the most part if the weather is reasonable. That where they always want to be anyway! |
| Kiddo - all "normal". My dogs pick up when I am stressed and/busy preparing for something (you have both - check). Then they start behaving in the most inexplicable ways, which I am convinced is their way of making sure I have a mental break down and have to go to bed and stay there for three weeks  , thus alleviating them of the onerous task of keeping track of me...  Breathe deeply, this too shall pass...Abby will feel this much better by the weekend, things will normalize, and the sitter can simply split them up a bit if that makes you feel a little better. Good vet, picking up on the mammary tumor. Now she doesn't have to be put under twice, probably found whatever it is early, another good thing. It's aaaallll good. Well, if it isn't yet, hopefully it will be soon.  KB |
| Oh, no...so upsetting and stressful. Sounds like everything will work out in the end. Maybe just have the sitter keep them separated for safety inside/outside or with gates. That way it is one less thing for you to worry about. Good luck with the art fair  Have some fun  |
| wow so sorry to hear all that.. i think they might be picking up on your stress.. i totally get it.. i do art shows almost every weekend here in fl too hot to take the boys and i can't see them sitting there all day.. i always worry even though i have a lady who stays here she really has know clue if something should happen to my boys ,, hope all goes well with abby hugs to you |
Mad Dog wrote: Kiddo - all "normal". My dogs pick up when I am stressed and/busy preparing for something (you have both - check). Then they start behaving in the most inexplicable ways, which I am convinced is their way of making sure I have a mental break down and have to go to bed and stay there for three weeks , thus alleviating them of the onerous task of keeping track of me... Breathe deeply, this too shall pass...Abby will feel this much better by the weekend, things will normalize, and the sitter can simply split them up a bit if that makes you feel a little better. Good vet, picking up on the mammary tumor. Now she doesn't have to be put under twice, probably found whatever it is early, another good thing. It's aaaallll good. Well, if it isn't yet, hopefully it will be soon. KB Thanks Kristine!  I know, I know!!!  Its all going to be ok. Sleep deprivation is probably behind a good portion of my overwhelmed freakout. Yeah...ya know, a suspiciously large number of dog-disasters over the years have happened on the eve of big shows  |
| I am sorry you are going thru this stress. I hope all settles down and Abby is feeling better soon. Good luck at the fair this week. |
| We have a little Aussie/Terrier-mix foster here now and although we first thought he was dog-aggressive, turns out he's just a determined resource guarder. He only guards from other dogs, not ever with people. Whenever Nelson or another dog here gets attention or has a toy or some prize possession, honestly, he goes for the throat. Sometimes it only requires a glance to set him off. Since Abby and Eggbert have been great together up until this episode, once Abby is back among the healthy, the arguing should stop. At least that's how it's been here. The foster can actually behave well on leash and in the same room with Nelson so it's something usually correctable. He certainly took of another OES foster here after his neuter.  Hope all returns to calm in your household and you have a successful summer of art fairs!!! You sure don't need any more stress in your life.  |
| All I can say is |
| Hope your day got better! |
| Welll, that sucks. I hope things get better. Get some sleep for you and may tomorrow be better. |
| Sorry you are having such a rough day Laurel. I hope it got a little better as the day went on. Maybe Abby will be a little better tomorrow and the sitter won't have to deal with any nonsense because Bert won't feel the need to pick on the sick patient. In any case, I will be sending positive and calming vibes your way. |
Thanks everyone  My day did get better, although Gertie decided at one point that it was her turn to tick me off, and knocked over the kitchen garbage  . The joke was on her though, as it was basically empty .***OMG as I was writing this, Bert went NUTS at the window, so I got up to look, and there was a black bear on the deck, On his hind legs, with his paws on the beehive!!!. We chased him off, and blocked the stairs so he (hopefully) cant get back up, or at least not without alerting us with a big crash  . That does it...I'm going to bed now...this day is out to get me! |
| Oh my gosh!!!! I can't imagine looking out my window and seeing a bear... |
| OMG what was worse the fight or the bear?? I'm not sure what would stress me most. |
Mim wrote: OMG what was worse the fight or the bear?? I'm not sure what would stress me most. The fight, definitely! The bear freaked me out a bit, mostly because up until this summer, bears NEVER climbed our stairs to the upper deck. Never! This is twice now, and not the same bear. Bears in general though are common here, and not that big of a deal . |
| Wow, Laurel, you are having quite the time! Like mentioned, the kids will likely be better by the time you need to leave. Also more kudos to your vet for noting the other spot on Abby and getting the biopsy as well. FWIW - my chocolate lab Macy had a mammary mass removed at age 12, and lived another 3.5 yrs, in spite of a prediction of less than a year. Hope you get good news, and Abby has many more years with you! |
| Ummm, how do you "chase off a bear?" |
got sheep wrote: Wow, Laurel, you are having quite the time! Like mentioned, the kids will likely be better by the time you need to leave. Also more kudos to your vet for noting the other spot on Abby and getting the biopsy as well. FWIW - my chocolate lab Macy had a mammary mass removed at age 12, and lived another 3.5 yrs, in spite of a prediction of less than a year. Hope you get good news, and Abby has many more years with you! Thank you Dawn! I have to admit, much of my stress and distress has been because in the back of my mind Ive been bracing myself for this being the beginning of the end. Abby is somewhere between 13 and 14 (we don't know her exact birthday) and I'm very unsure about putting her through painful cancer treatment if this turns out to be malignant. Our vet is wonderful...very proactive and up-to-date, but doesn't have the best, er, bedside (tableside?) manner, so he presented it as pretty dire. I'm trying to be hopeful though. |
| Here is how I think I might do it. To chase off a bear: 1) When you see the bear you need to make yourself look as big as possible. Puff yourself up by inhaling as deeply as you can, as if you were scared out of your mind. Extra credit for puffing out your pants by crapping yourself. 2) Wave your arms up in the air. This will not only make you look bigger, but may also entertain the bear, putting him off his guard. 3) Scream loudly as you run away. When you've gotten around the block, stop and look to see if you can still see a bear. If not you have successfully scared him away. Congratulations. |
Ron wrote: Ummm, how do you "chase off a bear?" "BAD BEAR!" "YOU GET DOWN FROM THERE RIGHT NOW!" Accompanied by much loud banging  |
Ron wrote: Here is how I think I might do it. To chase off a bear: 1) When you see the bear you need to make yourself look as big as possible. Puff yourself up by inhaling as deeply as you can, as if you were scared out of your mind. Extra credit for puffing out your pants by crapping yourself. 2) Wave your arms up in the air. This will not only make you look bigger, but may also entertain the bear, putting him off his guard. 3) Scream loudly as you run away. When you've gotten around the block, stop and look to see if you can still see a bear. If not you have successfully scared him away. Congratulations. These are all good techniques as well! Especially if you can convince a friend or spouse to use them, so you can sit back and watch!  |
| ron, lol, black bears are really big babies, if you're not trying to take a steak you left out away from them or messing w/cubs while mom is watching. in fact, i quit talking to them, because they run like heck whenever i do. monday i was raking sand on new beach area and caught movement out of corner of my eye. there was a bear sitting in my chair i had left on the bank in the front yard. i very slowly sat down in my beach chair so i could watch him. i believe he was after my ritz crackers which i had devoured. worst part is i have to cross some water yet, so i didn't take camera. i'm rectifying that situation soon and hopefully will be able to share some photos.  so bears, yes dog fights, just say no |
guest56 wrote: ron, lol, black bears are really big babies, if you're not trying to take a steak you left out away from them or messing w/cubs while mom is watching. in fact, i quit talking to them, because they run like heck whenever i do. monday i was raking sand on new beach area and caught movement out of corner of my eye. there was a bear sitting in my chair i had left on the bank in the front yard. i very slowly sat down in my beach chair so i could watch him. i believe he was after my ritz crackers which i had devoured. worst part is i have to cross some water yet, so i didn't take camera. i'm rectifying that situation soon and hopefully will be able to share some photos. so bears, yes dog fights, just say no I don't know who you are, Guest, but I'm looking forward to your photos!  Yes...guest is right. Big babies usually. Brown (Grizzly) bears, even more so. Of course, you don't ever want to get too complaisant about them, or forget that they are (large, predatory!) wild animals, but most of the time they just want to go about their business and not interact with people at ALL. |
| Hope all is calm now. Yikes bear! Oh no I will take my chances with an alligator before a bear. |
| oh no ... hope things get back to as normal as can be with two sheepies a hound and a black bear !!!!!that was a bad day!!! |
| You really had a bad day. Try to get a good nights sleep and hopefully everything will be better in the morning. Hope everything is great for Abby. Good luck at the art fairs. Bonnie/Carley's Mom |
ravenmoonart wrote: [I have to admit, much of my stress and distress has been because in the back of my mind Ive been bracing myself for this being the beginning of the end. Abby is somewhere between 13 and 14 (we don't know her exact birthday) and I'm very unsure about putting her through painful cancer treatment if this turns out to be malignant. Our vet is wonderful...very proactive and up-to-date, but doesn't have the best, er, bedside (tableside?) manner, so he presented it as pretty dire. I'm trying to be hopeful though. Laurel - around here we remove the mass and move on. Belle had a grape sized one removed when she was maybe 10? and lived to be 14 - mammary mass never returned (and it was malignant) Liz must have had at least 6 removed over the years, maybe more. Of the first three (all at once, all pea sized) 2 were malignant. Vet said keep an eye out for recurrence and if/when they happen, we remove them when they're small (which we've done at least twice now) There's really no other treatment for mammary masses (except removal, and best to get them early), and though cancer is always scary, I'll take this over the three killers in our breed any day. No guarantees, but odds are much, much better. Now BEARS...bears scare me and you can't convince me otherwise! Kristine |
| Laurel, sorry to hear about your rough morning. Hopefully, things are better today, and hopefully you got a decent night's sleep! Kristine, saw your post and you mention "the three killers in our breed". Could you specify them, please, just for my edification? Laurie and Oscar |
Oscar's Mom wrote: Kristine, saw your post and you mention "the three killers in our breed". Could you specify them, please, just for my edification? Laurie and Oscar Sorry, Laurie, should have specificed three deadliest cancers per frequency in the breed (blame it on the heat; even my sense of humor is fried): lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma and osteosarcoma. Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: ravenmoonart wrote: [I have to admit, much of my stress and distress has been because in the back of my mind Ive been bracing myself for this being the beginning of the end. Abby is somewhere between 13 and 14 (we don't know her exact birthday) and I'm very unsure about putting her through painful cancer treatment if this turns out to be malignant. Our vet is wonderful...very proactive and up-to-date, but doesn't have the best, er, bedside (tableside?) manner, so he presented it as pretty dire. I'm trying to be hopeful though. Laurel - around here we remove the mass and move on. Belle had a grape sized one removed when she was maybe 10? and lived to be 14 - mammary mass never returned (and it was malignant) Liz must have had at least 6 removed over the years, maybe more. Of the first three (all at once, all pea sized) 2 were malignant. Vet said keep an eye out for recurrence and if/when they happen, we remove them when they're small (which we've done at least twice now) There's really no other treatment for mammary masses (except removal, and best to get them early), and though cancer is always scary, I'll take this over the three killers in our breed any day. No guarantees, but odds are much, much better. Now BEARS...bears scare me and you can't convince me otherwise! Kristine Thanx again Kristine, once again, you are doing a good job of calming my freak-out down with the power of *LOGIC*  This bear (this is NOT fat li'l baby boy from my earlier posts!) *is* kinda scary. He's HUGE, and not very easy to spook . He has been hanging out all day today, and I'm having to have Scott "spot" for me every time I go back and forth from the studio to work throughout the day. |
| Mmmmm I think the fight would have stressed me more but the bear would have scared the pants off me. Thanks Ron, you've just added a whole new meaning to that statement. My preference is for watching bears when they are behind a screen, either the television screen or the really, really thick glass screen at our zoo here in Melbourne. There are Siberian bears at Melb Zoo in a relatively knew enclosure. They have a big pond for swimming and some dead tree trunks for clawing and lots of mounds of dirt and bushes for doing whatever it is Siberian bears do. I first saw them on a relatively hot day and being Siberian bears I guess they were feeling the heat. (Don't get me started on the ethics issue) One bear was floating around in the pond chewing on his/her (hey it was mostly submerged and I'm not an expert here) claws on one back foot. Yep Siberian bears have very flexible hips. It was soooo cute bobbing around out in the pond and everyone, including me, was ooohing and ahhhing and ain't it cuting. One side of the pond is a sheer wall with a path above and a glass wall beside the path. Its probably around an 8 to 10 foot drop to the water. Two Moms let three toddlers stand in the garden bed with their noses pressed to the glass to watch the bear swimming. The bear nonchalantly bobbed around the pond for a few minutes then bobbed over to the wall still happily chewing it's back foot and then launched itself out of the water and clawed at the glass where the kids were. If it weren't for the glass partitioner one or more of the kids were lunch. Their Moms nearly died of fright and the kids got a big fright too. I would never have believed the speed and power the bear had if I didn't see it for myself. It launched itself completely out of the water and I didn't even really see it put the back leg it was chewing down it was so fast. Bears are cute but really, really scary. Ever since then I've wondered why we give kids teddy bears |
| Mim, were these "Siberian Bears" Brown Bears or Polar Bears? If polar bears (white), then ooooh yeah...polar bears are *SCARY* ! They are Waaaay more predatory than any other bears, and will strike like that without any warning, bluff-charge or provocation. My buddy Deidier, who is a professional wildlife photographer, will go quite close to grizzly bears (up to the legal distance) to get photos, and rarely worries...when he gos to photograph polar bears, he uses a very long scope, and always takes a partner with a rifle. |
| We have bears around us here and they have been in the neighbors back yard but we have never seen them. Guess that's good but I'd still like to experience once from inside of course. A few years ago they knocked down my suet feeder, Tripper, the basset slept right thru that one and of course we did too. |
ravenmoonart wrote: Mim, were these "Siberian Bears" Brown Bears or Polar Bears? If polar bears (white), then ooooh yeah...polar bears are *SCARY* ! They are Waaaay more predatory than any other bears, and will strike like that without any warning, bluff-charge or provocation. My buddy Deidier, who is a professional wildlife photographer, will go quite close to grizzly bears (up to the legal distance) to get photos, and rarely worries...when he gos to photograph polar bears, he uses a very long scope, and always takes a partner with a rifle.The sign said Siberian bears. They were a light brown color. I'd never seen bears such a light color before. Definitely not Polar Bears but still really scary. I've seen footage of polar bears trying to get a photographer who was in a metal cage. Kinda like a shark cage on land. They were bad and very persistent. After they started tipping the cage with the photographer in over while another bear waited on the other side to try and get the photographer as he fell against the wire they had to drive the vehicle they were travelling in at them. Then go out with guns and get him back inside the vehicle. |
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