In Which We Keep Our Vows, Through Sickness and Health

Rosie has not been the absolute healthiest dog since I got her in September of 2007, but she hasn't been terribly sickly, either; she doesn't have any chronic conditions, save a seasonal allergy that fluctuates in intensity.  Nevertheless, 2010 has not been a good year for Rosalind: every odd-numbered month this year has brought a new health problem to bear.

Near the end of January, she was attacked by a pit bull or pit bull mix, as I detailed here.  No serious injuries, of course, and she came out of the whole thing extremely lucky, with some deep bruising on her neck and a small cut on her left ear.  Painkillers for ten days, antibiotics and a cone around her head for two weeks, and she was done, aside from some mild soreness and scabbing that went away relatively quickly

In March, she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection after she literally peed crimson.  A terrifying experience for me (I spent the first night, before I could get a vet appointment, constantly checking to make sure she was still alive), but ultimately not that big of a deal.  She took antibiotics for two weeks and was fine, although I spent some time freaked out that the infection had returned, but that was just hypochondria.

Yesterday afternoon, I noticed a black dot on the iris of Rosie's left eye.  Also, ever since the dog attack, her right eye had been getting fairly bloodshot at night—her eyes always get red when she's tired, but the right was noticeably redder than the left.  Neither ailment seemed to be bothering her at all.  In fact, I think it was significantly more annoying to her that I kept trying to look at her eyes.  But this black dot was the last straw, so to speak, so I called the vet and after talking on the phone briefly, made an appointment for that evening.

After the vet examined Rosie, she disappeared for over half an hour.  It turns out she was consulting the books, as the black dot seemed to stump her.  The closest thing she could find to it was an iris melanoma, and the picture you see on the left is pretty similar to what Rosie has.  Terrifying to say the least, especially considering that often (but not all the time) the only solution to this problem is to remove the eye.  As for the redness in the other eye, the vet did an eye stain, which came back negative, and checked for glaucoma in both eyes, also negative  This was a relief, as I have a family history of glaucoma.  Rosie may not be related to me genetically, but we're still family, so I assume this applies.

Anyway, the result is that I got a referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist and made an appointment for Friday morning.  If indeed it is a malignant melanoma that needs to be removed, then I suppose I'll have the disabled dog I always wanted.  But the vet said not to get too far ahead of myself—that the fact that Rosie's not bothered by the dot, nor are there any unusual secretions from her eye, are good signs and she might just need her eye to be carefully monitored for a while.  Kept an eye on, if you will.

Health problems are a concern of every pet owner, or parent, or just really anyone who has anyone else in their care.  I haven't been extremely lucky with Rosie, but I've certainly not experienced many of the terrible heartaches that I hear of all the time, and I consider myself more than fortunate.  If (and it's still a big "if") Rosie needs to have her eye removed, then we will deal with it when it comes.  In the meantime, she has no idea that anything's wrong, and I don't intend to tell her.