(Not So) Wordless Wednesday

Pup Astrid has good reason for looking suspicious of me. She was whisked away to the V-E-T (gasp!) yesterday, primarily for her annual exam and vaccines. At the same time, though, she was there for a fecal check, as her finicky bowels have been acting especially unhappy lately, as well as for a recheck of the benign tumor on her foot.

Astrid's fecal exam came back showing no bacterial overgrowth or anything else abnormal. This means that she's simply having one of her usual flareups, likely due to eating something not so agreeable. (Let's be honest, it has been deduced that Astrid's flareups often stem from consuming more than her canine share of cat food. Sometimes, this little thief can't help but take advantage of the fact that having a paralyzed kitty in the house means all cat food is kept at floor level.) Don't worry, though, as just a few more days on the probiotics she's been receiving for a couple of days already should do the trick.

As for the benign tumor on Astrid's foot, which I've mentioned a couple of times since it first appeared last fall, is very slowly yet surely getting smaller. It is taking far longer to resolve itself than her veterinarian anticipated. However, since it is healing on its own, albeit at a snail's pace, we're simply going to continue monitoring it and putting a booty on Astrid's foot when she leaves the house. I would show all of our furiends out there an updated picture of the tumor, but the thing really isn't all that photogenic.

We hope all of our furiends are doing well and steering clear of that V-E-T!

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Our Tip of the Day:
As unpleasant at is sounds, it is important to always monitor your furbaby's feces. No one likes to stare at the stuff, but doing so may allow you to pick up on if your furry one has loose stool or diarrhea, blood in their stool, worms or worm segments, or foreign objects in their stool. The status of your furbaby's stool can give indications for any number of potential ailments or diseases, such as a case of "garbage gut", inflammatory bowel disease, and lymphoma or other cancers. So, while you certainly don't have to make friends with it, be sure to at least become mildly acquainted with your furbaby's stool.