Shock & Silence

My dear readers, you may have noticed an unusual silence here during the last

couple of weeks. This was my Spring break at school, and I was going to leisurely

update you about my Bologna discoveries. But this and all my other plans suddenly 

collapsed when our dear dog Emma had to undergo emergency intestinal surgery.

(The whole story is very heavy for me, but I am going to try and lighten it up

 with some sweet children's book illustrations.)

Alice Provensen, A day in the life of Murphy

We brought Emma to the vet clinic for what we presumed to be a common gastrointestinal problem,

but after a sonogram revealed a large mass in her abdomen, we had to go back the next morning

for an emergency enterostomy. The complex surgery lasted over three very long hours.

Noëlle Lavaivre, Pistache et Dame Tartine, 1959, thanks to the lovely My Vintage Avenue 

The operation went well, but the diagnosis was pretty bleak: Emma's intestines had been severely

damaged by a large infection which could be have been caused by either a blockage or a tumor.

Only the results of the hystological examination could tell, and that was going to take about a week.

Gwénola Carrère, ABC des petites annonces

For a couple of days Emma remained at the clinic, were she was medicated and fed intravenously.

We were allowed to visit her twice a day. On the third day she looked a bit stronger, but so miserable

 that we all decided that she was going to be better off convalescing at home.

Giuliano Ferri 

It was great to have her back, but she was in such poor shape! 

Since she was very weak and nauseous, the only way to get her to eat 

was force-feeding her. We could only give her a little bit of food 

and water at a time, since she was in constant danger of throwing up.

B. Lubarsky 1959, thanks to polny_shkaf

Finally, the past few days she has been feeling much better, and has started

to eat and behave like her usual self. But last Friday the test results confirmed 

our worst fears: the infection was caused by an aggressive malignant tumor.

Maria Uszack, Chory kotek, 1988, thanks to Garaż ilustracji książkowych

All of you pet owners and animal lovers can surely imagine our sadness.

I really didn't feel like blogging, at least not until we had a diagnosis. 

Now I have to come to terms with it, and hope that our time left together 

will be as long and happy as possible.

As of today, I am going to resume blogging as usual, of course until further notice.

Working on Animalarium is always a pleasure, and a great distraction from daily worries.

 I am only going to ask a little help from you friends, since our medical expenses are already 

approaching 2000 euros, adding financial woes to an already difficult situation. 

So I have finally decided to add a PayPal donate button to the blog,

and any contribution, no matter how small, will be most appreciated.

To all of you who have written to me recently, please be patient, in time

I will answer. And to everyone else who has been following and commenting,

thank you so much, everyday you make my day a little brighter!