Took Molly the Mutt and Zing the Wondercat to the vet this morning. Zing, always the warrior with other cats, managed to get his cornea punctured and has been squinting since yesterday. Nothing eyedrops three times a day won't fix, if only we can catch him three times a day.

Molly, our beloved 14 year old schnauzer/golden retriever mix, is showing more signs of age. Her hips have been bad for some years now, but she takes meds for that. But now she's developing (probably benign) lumps and bumps, and losing weight, eight pounds in the last month. She goes in for bloodwork, an EKG, and dental work on the 27th. The doctor was honest and said with her symptoms, cancer, diabetes, or congestive heart failure are all possibilites, which the tests will help confirm or, hopefully, rule out. But sudden weight loss in an old animal is almost never a good sign.

Intellectually, I've always known the day would come when we'd lose her, but the heart has other ideas. She's been a true member of the family and the boys hardly remember life before her. Everyone who meets her says she's one of the world's best dogs, and she is. Fingers crossed for a good prognosis.