Pip

Pip took a bad fall coming up the backstairs this morning.  She would only sit by my side and moved very slowly when she did walk, so we knew something was hurting her - off to the vet we went.  After examining her and doing a lot of manipulations, they said she didn't break anything and the vet couldn't find any sensitive position.  All good news, so we came home with a pain med for her.  She is doing much better.  She is still walking more slowly, but she did jump up on the bed and walk down the stairs, neither of which she was willing to do this morning.  

While we were there, the vet noticed a swollen lymph node in her neck.  And checking her teeth (which need cleaning), they found a very loose tooth that needs to be pulled.  It is on the same side of body as the swollen node, so it is most likely in response to it.  Pip does need a good teeth cleaning and probably at least one tooth pulled - it's very loose. We had them do the blood work, so we can schedule the cleaning/extraction.  It the swelling is caused by the tooth, it might take a month or so to do down.  Since the cleaning probably won't be scheduled for a couple of weeks, that means we would have to worry about the problem being more serious, i.e. cancer.  So we agreed to having it aspirated and checked.  We should know in a couple of days what's going on.  

It was only a few months ago that Jake (the Abomination) had surgery to remove a foxtail from his nose. The poor little boy would sneeze 8 and 9 times in a row several times a day.  Now Pip is on track to costing us even more than Jake.  We love our pups, even when (or in spite of) dinging our budget.