An Owie and a Radar Hat

It's always something, isn't it?

The other night, I came home to find Stella licking on her right hind leg. Occasionally she'll pick debris out of her paws and so forth (and you can imagine that with that coat she picks up her fair share), but this was different. So I got down on the floor and moved aside layers and layers of hair and found the problem.

Warning: Here comes sort of a graphic image. You might want to squint a little bit. . . 

This is what it looks like three days after her trip to the clinic vet:

Okay, I guess the picture isn't so bad.

Here's what I think happened: This red, bulby thing is sitting on top of one of her many "old lady" bumps. Fatty bumps. She has developed them as she's gotten older. My guess is that while I was brushing her out, I snagged this particular old lady bump and created the problem. The vets say maybe, maybe not. But I'm going with it.

The tricky part came when we got home Friday afternoon from the vet (who poked it with a needle, drained it a little, took a tissue sample, and sent her home with a very expensive prescription). We had to prevent her from licking it and exacerbating the situation.

So, I watched her like a hawk the rest of the afternoon. She tried to sneak away for a little privacy, but there was no escaping the hawk eye. However that night, as hard as she tried not to, the hawk eye fell asleep. The next day - clear evidence of lick, lick, lick.

Ick.

Next stop: Mini Pet Mart for an e-collar. That did the trick. She's tolerating it pretty well - even though she's bumping into walls, table legs, door jambs, and everything else under the sun. She wears it at night and during the day when I have to divert my hawk eyes elsewhere . . . .

Priceless or what? That radar hat fits perfectly over her food dish and isn't deterring her in the least from chowing down. Thank goodness!