It has been over 5 months since Sebastian moved in with me. It took him a while to warm up enough to me to let me pet him much. Now he does appreciate a massage sometimes.

We have found a great vet/hospital close by, Colina Veterinary Hospital on University Avenue in San Diego, in case anyone asks you for referrals for this area. One Friday evening, we were on the homeward leg of our walk and he somehow inhaled the business end of a foxtail into his nostril. If it had been just the bushy part, I'm sure he would have gotten it out in his desperate attempts. He was throwing his nose onto the ground to try to knock it out. Blowing, sneezing, pounding - nothing was working. I was getting upset to see blood on the ground and then his nose and paws. I told him to please stop and we would hurry home to get the car and go see the doctor. It was really weird, because he seemed to understand and mellowed out. He cleaned his paws and all before we got to the hospital. He may have been in pain, but he still has his vanity. Everyone at the hospital was very nice and concerned for him. They wanted to operate right away so it couldn't get embedded any deeper. I went home feeling funny, it was so quiet, I kept wanting to go see what trouble he was getting into. He did well recovering from the surgery. He wasn't happy about going for a bath the next day. He really needed it and it had been scheduled in advance. Then, about 2 weekends later, he was itchy and smelly. I figured we needed to take additional measures against fleas, but wasn't sure why he would be smelly so soon. I noticed him chewing his tail and took a closer look. I found a big swollen spot that smelled bad. I found another lump on his hip, it was more cauliflowery. Turned out they were both sebaceous gland tumors. He had surgery July 5th. I was really impressed by his recovery considering he had been sedated for the second time in two weeks. I picked him up after work and he was full of energy, glad to go home. He wasn't happy that he wasn't allowed food and water right away. He was looking all over for his water dish, picking behind the dryer to see if it had gotten back there. He was fine when I did give him food and he wanted to go out for his walk. I guess his tumors had been making him feel lousy and getting rid of them brought more life back into him. He has been more energetic since then. He has trimmed down to about 26 pounds. He doesn't have that belly bulge getting in his way anymore.

Here are some pictures of the little cutie. The one with his head under the pillow is an example of his reaction to the lights and radio going on in the morning when I was getting up to get ready for work.

Fiona [July 19, 2001]