The Problem With Pets

Last night Molly came to sit next to me after David had taken them out - what is THAT I asked David, he peered at her and didn't know either. She had a large lump on the right side of her face that had not been there before. It's too late for it to be an insect bite, I palpated it gently, it wasn't painful but was very hard. Molly looked at me curiously  as I continued to touch it, it was mobile.....it was very mobile and as I pushed it the "lump" slide along the side of her face. Then she chewed a couple of times and swallowed it, Molly had been pocketing a large piece of biscuit. She did not seem to be the least bit ashamed of herself for making us worry. The problem with the cat and dogs is it's sometimes difficult to tell if I should be worrying or not. 

Molly and Reuben are large hunting dogs with long skinny legs, they run at top speed most of the time and are always getting into something so minor injuries are par for the course. We keep dog aspirin on hand, since they're both very healthy they rarely take any medications so we've found it to be very effective. Molly sprained her leg a couple of weeks ago, two aspirin put her right. This morning she was not acting well, she refused to get up on the bed, she just seems off. So, do I worry? Is she really sick or injured or is it something that will pass? And of course she chooses Saturday to do this, of course. She does seem a little better and the other thing is it is hunting season around here she may very well be hearing the distant gunfire and that will make her act a bit squirrely. We are going to watch and wait - she's not off her food, she is going outside and at the moment seems a bit more like herself. 

And let's not forget about Bob. Since we've had her has always had a small bald area on her belly, it grows back, it's gone, etc.. but lately she has been losing hair and it's just weird. There's no rash, she not itching and it seems to be her coat, the short undercoat is intact. David is taking her to the vet next week - he's pretty annoyed about it but it's six of one and a half dozen of the other, isn't it? If we don't take her it will certainly get worse, if we do it will most likely be nothing. It would be nice if they could tell me not to worry about it or when they're truly sick. I really don't have too much to complain about, for the most part the three of them have been very healthy with some minor bumps in the road - can't ask anymore than that.