Not the best of days today.

I took Cleo to the vets today to get an X-ray and possibly biopsy done. It’s a sedation job for Cleo, so I left her in the vet’s good hands. When I returned I got kp up and we had a nice breakfast although were both a little quiet, probably anxious about the outcome with Cleo.

kp went back to bed after breakfast and about lunchtime the vet phoned with the bad news. Cleo has bone cancer and the growth in her ankle is a large tumour. They couldn’t be sure if it had spread yet. The vet didn’t recommend amputating her leg as this is not always a good idea with larger dogs. The prognosis is it’s terminal and just a matter of time. The vet hinted at putting her to sleep now, but I am normally good at telling when the right time comes and it isn’t now. She loves her walks so much despite it being a 3-legged affair.

I had to break the news to Karen which was very hard and she got very upset. During the day, she picked herself up and her mood is better than it was but she is still subdued. She was due to dine with Sue tonight at Chevitas in Durham, but she didn’t feel up to it. Sue was understanding.

I picked Cleo up from the vets and we spent quite a bit of the afternoon with all 3 of us (kp, me and Cleo) on the sofa. Here is Cleo (the leader of the pack) on the sofa doing her “soulful look”. It’s a real killer.

Generally a sombre afternoon.

kp has just gone for a lie-down. She is ok. We had a bit of a chuckle in the bedroom. She sat on the side of the bed before flinging her legs up on to the bed. Just before she flung her legs. I said……..

dp:- Do you remember when I used to get you into bed ?

And I did the usual routine of grabbing her legs and lifting them on the bed. She laughed.

dp:- And when I used to turn you on to your side ?

And I went through the commotion of that routine, which involved putting my hands underneath her and pulling her over.

More chuckles

It’s nice that she can laugh with such bad news. Distraction is definately the key at the moment.