Monday, July 8, 2013

Farmer's Market

First off, we got the lab report back. And, I am probably just more confused than anything else. I was told the lab report said the lumps were hemangiomas, which are benign tumors. That is good news, of course. But, the vet also said that hemangiomas need to be removed so that they don't develop into hemangiosarcoma, which is pretty much a death sentence for dogs (with a 6-8 week expected survival after diagnosis.) When I came home and started doing research, though, I didn't find any warnings about hemangiomas turning malignant, except for one reference, which states "[Hemangiosarcomas] generally arise spontaneously, but in dogs with short, often white coats, chronic solar injury has induced a change in the superficial vascular plexus, which initially appears as a hemangioma and then progresses to a malignant vascular tumor. The breeds prone to actinically induced angiosarcomas are Whippets, Italian Greyhounds, White Boxers, and Pit Bulls."

So, I am making a list of questions to ask the vet on Friday when Koira goes in to have her last stitches removed. We actually did go in today to see the vet, pick up antibiotics for Koira's foot, and have the dangling knee stitches taken out, since they aren't doing much.

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I bet this booth selling sausages is where Koira would like to start shopping

Koira is very ready to get back to being more active. She especially would like to swim, I think, since it has been pretty warm and even downright hot around here for the past week or so. But she is restricted to on leash walks or non-enticed exercise (no fetch, flyball, lure coursing, etc) until the last of the stitches come out. She is just so driven that she would not stop if the stitches pulled out or the wounds caused pain, so she doesn't get to play.

We did stop by the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning though. I had decided to stay home (rather than go take pictures at a lure coursing event) to give my ear infections a chance to heal up. I thought a walk at the Farmer's Market would be just the thing for both me and Koira, though I decided to leave Pallo at home because I wasn't feeling up to wrangling two dogs.

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The wide view of the market

It was another hot sunny day, but we headed out early enough in the morning that it was cool enough walking around. It started to get a bit hot right as we left.

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Market goers 

I mostly went with the sole purpose of walking around, seeing the sights, exercising the dog's mind and body, and just plain being somewhere other than home. I did also want to pick up some kind of a treat for the dogs from the local farmers though. One woman who sells chicken, rabbit, eggs, and occasional other things as well has discounted meats every week, just whatever is older than she wants to sell for people, and sells them as pet food. I picked up a whole rabbit for the dogs and cats to split between them.

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The place we bought the rabbit

I was excited to see that our favorite local lamb farmers were at the market too. They previously have only been at our Wednesday markets, which are sometimes harder for me to get to. I didn't pick anything up from them this time, but did stop to talk for a little bit, and made a plan to go visit their lamb processor with them sometime. I would love to have a tour of the place, since I both feed my dogs her lamb and eat it myself. I think it would be interesting to see how the entire process works.

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Our favorite lamb people also produce fiber as well

We also stopped to listen to some of the performers.

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A small band getting ready to play

I just liked this next picture because it kind of shows a perfect picture of what your dog is seeing when in a crowd of people. It can be hard, I think, to really understand why some dogs are timid in crowds, or scared of people. This picture really shows, to me anyway, what they are seeing. And really, no wonder some dogs are weirded out by it. And for that matter, no wonder young children sometimes grab onto the wrong person, thinking it is their parent. People pretty much all look the same from that low down, at least, if they are wearing the same kind of clothes!

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A dog's-eye-view in the crowd

And, a final photo as we were leaving for the day. The sun was getting high enough to make it hot, Koira was getting tired of carrying a backpack with our purchases (I picked up some zucchini for myself and to even out the weight of the rabbit in Koira's backpack), and we were ready to head home. This picture is one of the reasons I seriously love the GoPro. I might delete 3/4 or more of the photos it takes, but every once in a while, there is a photo I totally love.

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7 comments:

  1. I love seeing your GoPro pictures. It's so interesting and fun to see things through a different perspective. I love the last three especially. A crowed through a dog's eye is very intimidating, I never even thought about that.

    I hope you get some answers from your vet on Friday. I hate waiting around for test results and then being confused by them. I waited days to be confused? Awesome.
    Good luck!

    xoxo
    Marquie, Lassie & Petal

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  2. Sounds like a fun morning out. Kaya would go crazy too if she had to lay low! I worry about Norman having so much white on him and especially his face:(

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  3. Good news!! Maybe it's like colon polps . You can have a pre-cancerous polop, that needs to be removed. You don't have cancer but if you had left it on there it will become cancer.

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  4. Farmers Markets are generally good places to bring the dogs and they open early so they're good for hot weather...Love the photos from Koira's viewpoint, especially that last one

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  5. I would totally start my shopping with the sausages. I just had lunch. I'm full. And now I want sausages.

    I didn't get stuck there, though. The pink toes are very pretty. The thought of lamb, not so much.
    www.dogtreatweb.com

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  6. Maybe a 2nd opinion? Or an oncological vet - one who specializes in cancer - sometimes they have a different perspective. Best of luck. Great shots from your outing - love the feet shot!

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  7. Lumps and an ear infection? It sounds like you guys have had a rough go of it lately. Glad you had a relaxing time out. We have a lot of farmers markets around here.

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