g a l o d y

I would really like to be able to get back to training-related issues and to stop being so concerned about both dogs’ health…!  (I have been doing a lot of clicker work indoors on ‘hold’ and ‘no-mouthing’ articles with both dogs.  There is a lot to say about this, since I am unsure if I’m having much success yet!)

So far there have been no further incidents of anything which is potentially giardia coming back again.  Slate is back on the WorkingHPRs, poos have been normal and her appetite has been good – except perhaps this morning she ate more slowly than usual.  She also has been doing a lot of eating her own toe-nails – which can be a sign of nausea, in her.  (When very nauseous she tries to eat everything:  Blankets, grass, leaves – everything.)  Because the way the giardia starts up is often sporadic, I’m not breathing a sigh of relief until we’ve had several more days with no problems.

Then, a couple of days ago, she cut her pad in the field.  Slate is very prone to this and it happens so frequently.  (Grey has never cut her pad.)  This time it is one of Slate’s front pads, and even with a buster collar on, she could reach it and lick it (obsessively – which only makes it more raw).  Any booties I put on her, she immediately pulled off.  So she is now wearing a muzzle when I’m not in the room, since this was the only thing I could devise which would stop her from licking it.

Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, she was lying on her back last night and I noticed a lump which looked very red and raw towards the back of her belly – beyond her last nipple.  She has had this lump for years but it used to be very small.  It also extends under the skin somewhat and is larger than what the eye sees.  I am worried it might be a mammary tumour, especially as her mother had one.

She is a very ‘lumpy’ dog, being a 7yo Weimaraner, and the majority of the lumps have been ‘fine-needle aspirated’ and come back as follicular cysts – essentially hair follicles gone mad, but benign.  She also had one lump removed when she was spayed at 3yo, which again came back as a follicular cyst.  So we have accepted that she is prone to follicular cysts and we don’t freak out when we find a new lump and rush to the vet.  This particular lump hasn’t been FNA-ed since I forgot to point it out to the vet, it being underneath her and very small, at the time.  But there is something about it which worries me, since it looks very ‘angry’ and unusual.

So I’ve made a double appointment tomorrow and I’ll be taking both dogs to the vet:  Grey for her final toe-check (and hopefully discharge for off-lead walks again!) and Slate to get this lump checked out.

Never rains but it pours…  At some point, I might actually be able to get around to training them and normal life might resume!

Tagged: cut pad, follicular cyst, lump, Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer health, toe