Well, yesterday at the vet was quite the scene. I had to bring both babies in so Baxter could get his infection from the rattlesnake vaccine treated and then do all the testing on Sissy to figure out what is wrong with her.
Baxter did fine and after another round of antibiotics, he'll be good as new - minus the now, count them, 4 bald spots he has from all the shaving for the procedures he has had over the last month or so. He's a patchwork quilt!
Sissy, on the other hand, well, we know what she doesn't have, but we are not sure what is wrong with her. It could be a liver infection, liver failure or possibly cancer. Her bloodwork came back pretty good. Nothing was extremely off, just a little anemic and then one of her liver enzymes was slightly elevated, but nothing to cause alarm. Her X-rays came back pretty good, too. No major masses standing out. There was one round spot that could be problematic near her stomach, but it also could have been just her intestine. They sent me home with a round of antibiotics and would like to take more X-rays in a month or so to see if anything has changed. If they see a mass at that time, they could do a biopsy and possibly exploratory surgery, but I think if it comes to that, I need to let her go. She already has a very slight heart murmur and surgery would be really hard on her. Needless to say, I didn't go home happy. In fact, I cried all the way home. The logical, reasonable part of me knows that she is 14 and I should not expect her to live forever, but my heart wishes for something different. She has been with me more than a 1/3 of my life and certainly all of my adult life. She has seen me through some of the toughest times, when my mom died in particular and some of the happiest times. She has always known when I was sad and when she would see my tears she would start her "laughing" and bring me a ball to raise my spirits (for those that don't know her well, she loves to laugh and playing ball is her favorite thing to do - EVER). She has been fortunate to have lived a very healthy life with very few health problems and still has all but 1 of her teeth! It's just really tough to imagine life without her. I do my best to take comfort that she is currently in good spirits and seems to feel fine and is surrounded only by those that love her dearly, including Baxter, Clint and all of Clint's family. There is still a chance that this will pass and I'll have her a little while longer. All I can do is watch her closely and enjoy her as much as I can. That's really all we can do with each other every day. And not take one minute for granted.
Baxter did fine and after another round of antibiotics, he'll be good as new - minus the now, count them, 4 bald spots he has from all the shaving for the procedures he has had over the last month or so. He's a patchwork quilt!
Sissy, on the other hand, well, we know what she doesn't have, but we are not sure what is wrong with her. It could be a liver infection, liver failure or possibly cancer. Her bloodwork came back pretty good. Nothing was extremely off, just a little anemic and then one of her liver enzymes was slightly elevated, but nothing to cause alarm. Her X-rays came back pretty good, too. No major masses standing out. There was one round spot that could be problematic near her stomach, but it also could have been just her intestine. They sent me home with a round of antibiotics and would like to take more X-rays in a month or so to see if anything has changed. If they see a mass at that time, they could do a biopsy and possibly exploratory surgery, but I think if it comes to that, I need to let her go. She already has a very slight heart murmur and surgery would be really hard on her. Needless to say, I didn't go home happy. In fact, I cried all the way home. The logical, reasonable part of me knows that she is 14 and I should not expect her to live forever, but my heart wishes for something different. She has been with me more than a 1/3 of my life and certainly all of my adult life. She has seen me through some of the toughest times, when my mom died in particular and some of the happiest times. She has always known when I was sad and when she would see my tears she would start her "laughing" and bring me a ball to raise my spirits (for those that don't know her well, she loves to laugh and playing ball is her favorite thing to do - EVER). She has been fortunate to have lived a very healthy life with very few health problems and still has all but 1 of her teeth! It's just really tough to imagine life without her. I do my best to take comfort that she is currently in good spirits and seems to feel fine and is surrounded only by those that love her dearly, including Baxter, Clint and all of Clint's family. There is still a chance that this will pass and I'll have her a little while longer. All I can do is watch her closely and enjoy her as much as I can. That's really all we can do with each other every day. And not take one minute for granted.
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