After selling our home in Oregon, the girls and I took off for Arizona. We didn't think we would be there for seven months but that's how long it took for us to find and build a new home in California.
During our time in Arizona, Marley ended up needing surgery. At the beginning of August, I felt/found a lump near her last nipple. The closer it came to us leaving, the more I became worried about her. A needle aspiration showed it to be a benign or very low grade cancer but the only way to know would be to remove it. With my permission, the vet took clean margins and removed the entire mammary gland. We were both happy she did when the pathology report came back as a simple tubular carcinoma. I was surprised she had cancer but after posting to my Vizsla friend/mentors/breeders learned I really shouldn't be. It is common in older females who are spayed later in life. In Marley's case, she was spayed in 2012 when she was nine years old.
Hannah is doing really well. Her senior blood work up came back normal, perhaps a little low thyroid. She is now on Rimadyl, half a tablet twice a day as preventative for joint stiffness. Her blood work after one month of Rimadyl came back good, too. Hannah celebrated her 13th birthday on September 5th with her best buddy, Sissy Bee, before we left.
Paloma also visited the vet while we were in Arizona. After Marley's surgery, I noticed a bump on her belly near one of her nipples. A needle aspiration of this one showed a lipoma. I will keep an eye on it though. She had her first senior panel done, although she isn't really a senior but I wanted to have a baseline. Her blood work came back all within normal ranges. I was thrilled.
Sparrow visited with the vet just because when I took Marley in for her suture removal.
While in Arizona, the girls became accustomed to the kids feeding them. They would circle the wagons every time food was going to be available. Marley really is food motivated so if you have one of her pups and you see this in your dog, you know where it comes from.
We arrived in California two weeks ago. The girls have settled in and spend their days laying around the house, in the yard and trying to stay out of our way while we unpack. The other day I found their basket of toys. Sparrow carries a toy around with her and I know she was happy to see her old ones again.
Sparrow turned two last April so it's time for her to have her OFA hips, elbows and thyroid tests done. We have an appointment at the Del Valle Show next weekend. Also, everyone who has a Mojo/Paloma puppy - it's time for you to have their hips x-rayed. Everyone who gets one of my pups signs a contract stating they will to the testing. This helps me determine if my decision to choose Mojo as their sire was a good one. This holds true for the Kirby/Marley puppies. There are a few of you who have not had hips done. I urge everyone to have an OFA thyroid test done. This has to go through a specific lab.
We are enjoying the sunshine here in California. We hope everyone is doing well and I hope to update this blog more often now that we are home again.
