Sheebee, ShyGuy aka Shilo

POOR SHILO. We have been taking Shilo with us to the field with the girls so Kailey can walk a dog on a leash. She loves walking him and it keeps her on the trail and he gets some much needed exercise. We went out Monday and got home around 2 and by 5 that night Jack was petting him and he had a softball size mass on his belly close to his privates. While I telephoned the Vet here(useless a-holes they are) it was getting bigger. They couldn't see me until Friday afternoon, so off to Lloydminster we went. They did an x-ray, took blood, catheterized him for a urinalysis, took needle aspirates of the area and did an ultrasound. They had to refer him to a specialist as it appeared that there is a hole in abdominal wall and his insides are coming out of it...yuck. They think that it is a Inguinal Hernia that needs to be closed surgically and as fast as possible. They will put his guts (this case it is fat rather than intestines...for now anyway) back in through the hole and either stitch the hole up or put a mesh over it - think patching a hole in drywall. Poor guy. Jack, bless his heart, offered to drive him 5 hours to Saskatoon to the Vet college for a better ultrasound and surgery. He left to pick him up from Lloyd. around 10 and then is carrying on to Saskatoon from there. He is stable, but his lump is huge now...poor guy. He is so patient with everything - I think he is in shut down mind you, but he was an ideal patient for us Monday night. I got to play Vet assistant since this was an after hours visit. Poooor Kailey doesn't understand what is going on and she is constantly asking about him. 'poor shilo has an owie on his belly'. 'kailey put a band-aid on him and he feels better?'. 'shilo at the doctor...he getting poked'. She grabbed her play stethoscope on yesterday morning and said she was going to fix him....she went looking for him. :0( Lucky there is a college like Saskatoon as the cost they quoted me in Edmonton was outrageous to say the least. This was just awful thinking I would have had to put a price on his life...I felt like someone was kicking me in the gut. They are 80% certain this is a hernia, even though they couldn't find a hole in Lloyd, this is operable with a great success rate...there is chance they will open him up and it is not repairable, but I am not thinking about that right now...or trying not to anyway. I will update the blog as I hear anything. He is a member of the family and has been for 7 years so I am worried...as much as he annoys me sometimes...I love that furball. :-( So does Kailey. Jack....not so much...hahaha. That is why it is amazing he is doing this for me.