Smokey Mountain Breakdown

At the vet's yesterday with the Fat Buddy, I'd worked myself up to quite a state.

"It's really going to hurt me to lose this one." I tell her, with a quiver in my voice, eyes flooding.

I realize that part of the reason Fat Buddy is so precious to me, is that he's been the good-natured butt of so many jokes--most of his own making--while he's been with me. I also fought so hard to bring him back to a relatively stable condition with all his health problems. I made him shoes. How many dogs can you say you had to make shoes for?

So many people look at Fat Buddy and say, "Awww--He's not fat!"

Actually, forty plus pounds on a cocker spaniel is fat. He's the only dog I've ever seen with a saggy bottom. He likes to shimmy it when you pet him just so--sort of like that dance move the hip-hop girls do. When someone says he's not fat, I suspect that the issue of fatness may be a problem on their part. People get sort of weird about fatness. I'm fat. Fat Buddy is fat. We don't have a problem being fat--we just are. It would be better if we weren't, but there it is.

Part of Fat Buddy's fatness is the presence of many lipomas--dog cellulite. I've been really concerned that he might have cancer since he has so many of them. I bring this up to the vet, and she tells me that the places where he has them aren't usually where a dog gets lymphoma tumors. There is evidently a pattern to those and while Fat Buddy is indeed a lipoma a-go-go--they aren't in lymphoma spots.

As she is telling me this, I point out the ping-pong ball sized one dangling midway down the rear of his right hip.

"So, this isn't like--ass cancer?"

The tech deadpans, "Ass-o-blastoma?"

We all have a good laugh at Fat Buddy's expense. While Fat Buddy and I suffer from ass-opathy, the lipoma is not high enough on his butt to cause concern.

So, basically, the infection in his jaw bone from the nasty teeth never resolved completely. His hips are starting to go--from age and perhaps from shaking his ass too vigorously(honestly, I think he might have thrown his back out doing that!) I will finish off his current course of doxycycline which should keep him stable, then switch to a two month course of clindamycin. In the meantime, I just try to keep him comfortable. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep him around a bit longer. I sure hope so.

I've been nursing Fat Buddy over the past few days. We go see the vet tomorrow. I'm a little afraid he has cancer, since his lumpy bits seem to be a bit out of control. He's been in a lot of pain, mostly in his mouth and I've had him on antibiotics, then pain killers for the past few days. After getting his teeth done, he was on the antibiotics for a month. But then he got sore again so I put him back on them. The infection cleared again, but now it's back. And he's really uncomfortable this time.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure what to do. If it is cancer, I will just keep him on painkillers until he stops being excited about the things he loves most. Mainly snacks. He's still quite keen on his snacks. Unfortunately, the infection means we can't put him on prednisone. That was what made the lumps go away when I first got him.

I'm hoping if we put him back on the clindamycin that, maybe, I can keep him going a bit longer. Fat Buddy owns such a big piece of real estate in the vicinity of my heart, that I know its going to just about kill me if he dies.

I don't have no stinkin' food article for tomorrow--actually for the next few weeks. I'm willing to open up the blog for guest food bloggers for the next few weeks. Email me if anyone is interested. Of course, you get reciprocal linkage and that's good for your blog.