Worse than the Vet Bill

Bentley's vet visit yesterday went well. His teeth are bright and shining. Unfortunately, he did have one tooth in the back that needed to be removed. He was a trooper while he was at the vet, but fell apart when we got home. He went straight to bed then cried for the first couple hours he was home. Bentley's crying is really repetitive whimpering and it's so sad. I sat and petted him to try to provide some comfort, but I don't feel like it helped much. Mostly I just felt guilty for putting him through the procedure.

The worst part of the day (other than the vet bill) was that the vet found some lumps under Bentley's tongue. The vet was concerned one of them may be cancer and took samples. He's giving me the choice to send them to the lab for testing or not. Considering all I went through with Tiger, my greyhound, when he had cancer, I'm not sure I can stand the thought of knowing. Just hearing the vet say that he found lumps put me into an emotional tailspin. I know Bentley is getting old (10 years) and won't be around forever. But the thought of losing another dog anytime soon is just too much.

I still haven't made my final decision about what to do with the samples, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do anything. If Bentley has cancer, I know I will choose not to treat it. I'll simply attempt to make him as comfortable as possible. While I would feel better knowing that he doesn't have cancer, I don't think I need to know. I'm simply going to go on loving him and hope that he's with me at least a couple more years.

This morning Bentley seemed to be feeling better. He was perkier and less whiny. I dropped him off at Gail's house so he'd have some company during the day. I suspect she's spoiled him appropriately and he'll be back to his normal self tonight.

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