I am in shock. Last night our dog tore one of her dewclaws, which is a bloody and painful experience. Naturally, we took her into the vet this morning. There, the vet horrified us by announcing he'd discovered an enormous, baseball-sized lump on her side. I'm freaking out. She goes in for surgery Monday morning. How could she develop such a huge fatty lump without us knowing it? It must have grown incredibly fast.
Yes, I'm suffering from guilt. Our dog, whom we pet, and groom, and snuggle, and wrestle with, has managed to develop a tumor without us noticing. I'm so upset. How could I be such a bad mother? How could I not see this change in her? I pay attention to my animals, they get regular checkups, we don't let them have people food, every vaccination is faithfully given -- and still, a major change to Dixie's body slipped by.
Eventually, the idea occurs to me that if this could happen to her, it could happen to me or John. Despite our vigilance and care, our bodies could suddenly go haywire. If the change was subtle enough, we might not notice until it became a problem. That is a sobering thought. Meanwhile, we're keeping an eye on Dixie, and planning our Monday around visiting the vet, and hoping that all will eventually be well.