Just a quick update on the mutt's condition.  She has been doing really well since surgery last week and is pretty much herself aside from looking like a franken-dog with all the sutures.  I think they went a bit crazy with the trimmer, it will probably take several months for her coat to come back (which means I will have to keep her out of the sun).  Seems like they did a good job though and hopefully we will have the lab results back soon on the masses they removed.

Tomorrows the big day, she is going in (finally) for the surgery to remove the mast cell tumor and get some of the margins on another one.  She should have a good future as long as the tumor they need to remove has not spread.  Thanks for the well wishes from everyone!

Update 4/26/2014:  She got through the surgery, but had a rough 24 hours.  She is getting back to herself, but it will be some time before she looks like herself.  Not only did they shave most of her left side, there are some large sutured incisions which will take a couple weeks to heal up.  We will just have to keep her out of the sun for a few months while she gets here coat back.  Thanks again to everyone who offered well wishes for her! 

These were taken with a Pentax Q and a lens adapter.  Due to the 5.6 crop factor on the Pentax (and a 1.4 teleconverter + manual 200 and 300mm lens) these are similar to pics with a 1500-2300mm lens, which is pretty good except for the fact everything has to be done manually.  Can get away very cheap though, and still get some very long lens looking shots - but of course nothing cheap is very good.

Sometimes its the small things that make my day.  Today it was poop, specifically the goofball's first poop in 5 or 6 days that can be called poop.  She is definitely getting better which is a relief since she still has to get that damn tumor removed.

I replaced the air filters today in my C-max.  It had been though several severe dust storms and they were full of dust and crap.  The cabin filter was a breeze, but replacing the engine filter was another matter.  Ford took what is normally a simple 3 minute task and turned it into a 30 minute job.  It is done though, so I guess I am good for another dust storm or two.  Click here for more.

My credit card company loves me and my dog.  I think pretty soon I will have enough rewards points, I can just trade her in on a new model :D 

As far as the mutt's condition, we had some good news and bad news this week with a negative needle biopsy on her spleen (good news), but she has had diarrhea since and some vomiting today.  Though I think she has turned a corner after a trip to the vet today.  It was strange, aside from diarrhea, she was acting normal the prior day, and I thought she was improving, but today she was in bad shape when we got to the vet.  She barfed on the floor in the waiting room and had several accidents while they were treating her as well.  She has never pooped in the house since I have had her (which is almost her whole life).  It is probably coincidental that she got sick on the same day as the spleen biopsy, and we are hopeful she will get feeling better soon.  The vet suggested I give her some Pepsid AC and I am gonna space her dosage out through the day.  She is also on a special "prescription" food, since it is possible that there was a problem with some of the food I made for her (though she got sick about 2/3rds the way though the last batch which is frozen, and then thawed in the fridge the day before she eats it).  I think I will throw out the remaining batch, and keep her on the prescription food until she is back to normal and we are done with the medical issues for a while.  We had her scheduled for surgery to remove the remaining mast cell tumor in her side this week, however that won't happen unless she is 100%. 

Update 4/13/2014: She seems to be doing better today, no more vomiting and the uh...squirts have stopped.  She seems more "normal" today as well which is good.