Duff Don't Be Scaring Us Like That!

A few days ago, J noticed a small lump under Duff's armpit. Then he developed a lump under his throat, so J called and made an appointment for him to go to the vet tomorrow morning. Well, Duff decided he couldn't wait that long - his throat and head were all swollen today, and he was acting sick - just listless and not himself. So we took an unscheduled trip to the emergency vet today.

Duff: "I was feeling bad, man."

The vet game him a shot of steroids and one of Benadryl, and we waited to see if the lumps would go down. They got a little smaller, but not a lot, so the vet was talking about what could be happening - she mentioned the word lymphoma and basically scared the crap out of us, and we spent the next 15 minutes or so in the room alone with Duff, worrying and trying to decide what to do next (leave him there for observation in case the throat swelling closed his windpipe), have them run tests, take him home). I felt his neck, and it had gotten smaller! The vet agreed when she came in, so we took him home with instructions to give him a Benadryl tonight before bed, and then to just keep the vet appointment tomorrow. Now, three hours later, the lump has shrunk so much it's almost gone. Whew! J will still take him to his regular vet tomorrow, but we're very relieved that he is doing so much better.

Why is it that our pets have to scare the hell out of us like this from time to time? I could live without repeating this experience again for a while, okay?

One funny thing, though - all the people there were women (vet, assistants, receptionists), and they all fell in love with our McDuff. He's such a lover!

Duff: "What can I say, the women love me!"