My Belle

Belle had surgery last Tuesday. Last Sunday, I found a tooth on the bed. When I investigated, Belle had broken off one of her molars at the gum line. It really didn’t seem to be bothering her (go figure), but I knew that we’d need to get in to see Dr. Tom on Monday b/c I didn’t want to risk infection. So, I called the vet Monday AM and they squeezed me in Monday night @ 8:30. They told me to go ahead and do the feeding schedule as if she were going to be under anesthetic on Tuesday. So, we went in to see him and all agreed that the rest of the tooth needed to be removed. They kept her overnight so that they could get an early start on her on Tuesday morning. I talked to Dr. Tom about the little lump on her chest. I told him that she doesn’t come out from being under very well and for him to have a look at that to determine if it needed to be removed. If so, I wanted him to go ahead and remove it while they had her instead of having to schedule surgery again. It was weird sleeping without my Belle Monday night. Bill had both Dozer and Willow in the bed with us to try to make it not seem so empty.













Monday morning, they did Belle first. Dr. Tom called me a little after 8:00 and she was already done and awake. They aspirated the mass and said that it looked suspicious, so they went ahead and removed it. They are holding the tumor in formalin until I can come up with the money to have it sent in for biopsy. I picked her up right after work on Tuesday and we have antibiotics (b/c of the tooth removal) and 4 stitches in her chest. I have to go back on December 1st to have the stitches removed and the mouth checked. Se has to be kept restrained (no running) until then. So, we’re taking her out to potty on a leash. Dozer keeps barking and play-bowing at her to get her to chase him. Frustrating for me, but normal Belle/Dozer behavior. It’s mostly just a pain in the morning. I’m used to them being able to just push through the doggy door and take care of business in the morning. Lazy me! Belle doesn’t even act like it bothers her. She’s taking the antibiotics with no problem and seems to want to get moving. We just have to give her this time to heal.