The wife and her attendant little maskless heeler were just here, and it occurred to me that I never updated anyone about the little heeler's surgery.

Eldest son finally made a decision, after months of being unable to decide, on whether to simply have the lump we found in his heeler's mammaries removed, or to do as both the vets emphatically suggested, which was remove the lump and simultaneously spay the little bitch.

Their advice was predicated on the fact that almost all these lumps tend to be either cancerous or pre-cancerous. And with canids, the extreme hormone flush during each heat causes the tumours to grow and, if cancerous, metastacize.

So I can imagine our young vet's face when the wife took the little girl in last Monday with instructions for just a lumpectomy.

Surgery went well, and the little maskless heeler was thrilled to death when youngest son and I arrived in the afternoon to pick her up.

I mean, nothing good ever happens at the vets'. Why in the world would her Alpha leave her there? I mean, he cut her belly!

Been no problems with the incision, although she cried out in loud pain, enough to bring people out of their houses (literally) whilst trying to leave piles in the yard. And with every scream, her masked sister tucked ears and tail, running to the door.

"Something's out there hurting my sister!"

"And I didn't do it!"

So, the little one had her follow-up appointment today.

Surgery is healed just perfectly. The pooping pain was not the stitches, but impacted anal glands.

These glands need to be expressed occasionally. And apparently, we have done a sufficient job of teaching her not to do that on her own, lest she end up with the dreaded "spray-butt" and have to have herself washed.

So, they've plugged up.

And had to be manually expressed by the vet. As in, he buggered her with his finger. (Remember doing that with Bostons, Sis?)

And then she got two shots of antibiotics to prevent infection.

The stop at McDs for a double cheeseburger all her own ameliorated the pain somewhat, but we all noticed during dinner that she came over and snuggled up to me, who rescues her from the vet, not the two people who took her to the vet.

The good news?

Biopsy said the lump was benign. As in, totally benign. Apparently no concern over recurring tumours in her future heats. And no urgency to get her bred in the next heat.

Which is good, because there's no way we want five heelers right now.

(Little maskless heeler discovering me during a game of hide-and-seek earlier this month.)