is that the lucky lab?

you know it!

Mickey would love to hang out with Loon! Though, he could use a bit of grooming -- those eyebrows are gettin' outta control! I hope Loon doesn't mind boys shorter than her.

Great news!

yah...great news.....me and my 3 pups will toss a pint in celebration......great news

glad to hear this great news dana!

Damn. That's some uplifting shit dana.

Makes me actually not feel so bad about my miserable existence.



YOU MADE ME CARE!! I HATE YOU!!

I don't think Loon would mind, as long as you know ahead of time that Loon is very dominant and likes to be in control. If Mickey's a submissive kinda guy, I think they'd get along great! Not only do we call her our special needs child, but we also tell people that sometimes she doesn't play well with others. Her last nickname we gave her was Miss Demandypants.

Really and truly, she's like the anti-lab, which baffles me.

Rats... link is broke... (((( My own no less... GRR

so, if you think about it, say a little prayer for my Looneygirl this week... she goes in for surgery on Thursday. We're dropping her off Wednesday night, surgery is on Thursday, they'll keep her overnight to monitor her, and then we pick her up on Friday. The idea of leaving her at the vet's for 2 nights is horrible for me, but I know it's in her best interests. She'll have a larger excision done on the rear, and then we're having 4 other lumps removed at the same time. Poor thing's gonna look like a patchwork quilt when all is said and done. I just hope this is the end of it.

i, along with seamus and molly, will say a prayer for loon tonight!

Give Loon a big hug Mickey, Spike and me. Don't forget to scratch her behind the ears!

[img][644:642]http://www.mercuryww.com/CMJ/hazel2.jpg[/img]

Our dog Hazel sends best wishes!

Go LOON!

Rosie is pulling for her too:

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She was just diagnosed with severe, bilateral hip dysplasia. So we'll be contemplating surgery for her down the road as well. Good luck.

holy crap...isn't she just a pup?????

Yeah. It's fairly common in Bernese Mountain Dogs, and it usually presents in the first year of life. Hers is bad enough that the only option will likely be bilateral hip replacements, which would probably run $5000, which we're not going to do. Our vet says she could do fine with good PT and antiinflammatory medication. We'll see. She's a real sweet dog, and I don't want her to be in a lot of pain. Her male sib is just fine, so you never know.

Oh, geez, I'm so sorry to hear that. Let's start our own little pup karma group, shall we? Then we can all send positive vibes to each other.

Incidentally, my sister just had to take her rottie mix to the emergency room over the weekend. After ultrasounds, they're monitoring him, so it could be nothing, but they found a "mass" in his small intestine. So far, he's doing fine.

On a slightly different note, have you guys noticed that purebreds seem to have way more health problems than mixed breeds? My chow-collie mix is 11 (will be 12 in October) and hasn't had nearly as many health issues as my lab. I mean, I love my lab and wouldn't trade her for anything, but it's hard going through this. It seems like it's always the purebreds that have the cancer and dysplasia issues most.

absolutely. we've noticed this more and more ever since or problems with seamus.
over-breeding? inter-breeding? i don't know, but it's a shame...seamus will likely be the last purebred dog we get.

a lot of pure breds do have health problems.

I havea whippet, though, and that breed has no major health problems...probably because it is a relatively new breed (last couple hundred years) and was made by combining several other breeds like Greyhounds, italian greyhounds, and some sort of terriers...they live to around 15 years.

latest update:

We got a phone call last night around 7:45 from the surgeon. Apparently everything went well with the surgery. She warned us (as she warned us at our pre-op meeting) that Loon might look a little scary as they have to shave off big patches of fur, and the incisions are rather large. I'm expecting to see a Frankenpuppy later today.

It was very hard taking her in on Wednesday and leaving her there. I've been telling people that even though I know dogs don't equal kids, imagine having to take your kid to the hospital and leaving them for 2 days, and not being able to see them. It's been hard. So when I dropped her off, they put a different leash on her and started to walk her away. She skidded a bit, and looked at me like, "Mommy, aren't you coming?" Then she turned around and trotted off with the vet tech without looking back. I cried on the way home that day.

She had a total of 6 lumps removed yesterday. The doctor warned us that she has 2 tubes attached to the back legs to release fluid, and she'll have to keep those in for the next 5 days. My husband got a phone call this morning from the vet saying that Loon was definitely ready to go home. She apparently was giving them all sorts of indications that she was tired of being there and wanted her cozy home back. She ate this morning, which is good, and apparently is very rambunctious. She gets to wear the fun elizabethan collar when she comes home (you know, the inverted lampshade you see on dogs' heads to keep them for chewing or licking sutures). She'll absolutely hate that, but I'm sure she'll get used to it.

You don't know how glad I'll be to have her home. Even my other dog Bean has been rather somber lately, as his little buddy hasn't been around to harass him. Thanks again for all your positive thoughts. Loon and I both appreciate them immensely.

My thought are with you guys, Dana. You made me cry AGAIN!

what a good dog!

ha, more news... I don't know whether I should laugh or cry.

My husband picked her up this morning, and apparently she is still very druggy and swollen. Instead of a $2500 bill, we got a $3000 bill because our little scrapper wouldn't settle down last night AT ALL-- they barraged her with a variety of sedatives, but nothing seemed to chill her out, and someone had to hang with her all night. This morning, apparently she didn't like one of the tubes, and pulled it out. That sounds like my crazy girl. Apparently she was so reticent about staying in the run that the staff ended up letting her hang out with them behind the reception desk. Anyhow, the vet said she wouldn't be surprised if Loon passes out for about 24 hours after she settles down at home. I'm sure she's worn out.

My husband said she is pretty bare with all the shaved spots. We've joked about getting her a sweater to keep her warm. She also apparently has quite the pharmaceutical grab bag, so I imagine she'll be high as a kite all weekend long. I'll try and post a picture if I get the chance.

fyi, just some pics of Loon aka Frankenpuppy, post-surgery. She was pretty sore and uncomfortable Friday night, but as of this morning, you wouldn't know she'd gone through a major surgery like this.


She had two lumps removed from her backside, and the drain is sewn in place to collect any fluid. She had another drain put in on the other side but pulled it out before we picked her up on Friday.


She had one lump removed along the left side of her spine.


She had two lumps removed on her right leg, and then one lump along her rib cage.

She has to wear the funny e-collar, which provides me and Rick with hours of amusement, but somehow I don't think she shares our sentiments. She goes back in tomorrow, gets the drain taken off, and then we'll get the results from the lab. What we're looking for are clean margins (i.e. no spreading of cancer cells beyond what was removed). If everything goes well, we just wait a week and half for her to fully recover, and hope for the best.

quite a scar - good luck