I don't know yet that she's dying--I couldn't bring myself to go to the vet BEFORE Christmas to have her lump biopsied since I just lost Poppers--but when Ladywolf goes, I expect to completely collapse. Are there any other wolf-mates out there? If so, you know how different the bond is that you form with your wolf. Wolves mate for life--I am her mate, but I will almost surely outlive her. I'm trying to get my head straightened out a little BEFORE she goes, since she is the only thread of continuity I have had in my life for 12 years now. (She's almost 15.) Together we have been through several abusive relationships, me almost dying, living in a car for several stretches of time, begging for food from animal shelters, sharing Spaghetti-O's when that was all there was--and sharing filet mignon when that was all there was! The dogs kept me alive. ONLY the dogs kept me alive.

I have no family except Ladywolf. and friends of mine and Ladywolf's. There is absolutely NOTHING else that has remained constant in my turbulent up-and-down life for the past 12 years except her. No friends, no place, no financial status, no health condition--NOTHING has been constant except for her and me.

Tonight she is resting comfortably and I am pacing the net. We had a great day--a picnic out in the boonies with a dear woman friend, and all is really right with the world at this moment, except for this TUMOR, which I am trying to ignore for now, so I can give thanks.

Any help in advance of the inevitable will be much appreciated!

Margi and her Wolf

Dear Margi and your ladywolf

Try not to be sad, for your Ladywolf's sake. You have both gone through such a lot with the loss of darling Poppers, but Wolf will need you to be strong for her, even though I know you must feel like the world collapsing around you. So glad that you and your friend and your ladywolf had a good day on your picnic. Wolf is with you now so please try and live each day as best you can for each other. Hopefully she will be with you for some time yet. We took Noushka to the vet because we had found a lump in her groin, one that seemed to just appear, as we used to check her regularly. It was quite large, but the vet said it might not be a 'nasty'. They said they would do tests after treating the present symptoms. She was off her food and just not herself, it turned out that she had Pneumonia, and although started on treatment she didn't last out one night at the vets. We never got to know about the 'lump'. I never got to say a proper goodbye. Although I hugged her and told her I loved her as the nurse took my precious darling away.

We used to call our Sammy girls 'our wolves'. The original Sammies, way back in Siberia, looked and behaved very wolf-like. Their coats were quite a bit shorter and they weren't all 'white' as they are mostly now, because of breeding certain preferred traits and characteristics. They were domesticized by the Samoyed people of Siberia (Nomads), who used to let them sleep with them in their 'tents' to help keep themselves warm. It is said that the Samoyed Men used to rate their Dogs higher than their wifes. They are very vocal dogs and like huskies they sound as if they are actually 'talking'. Also do a sort of soft howling sound. The nordic spitz breeds (Huskies, Malamutes, Samoyeds) are very closely akin to the wolf.I love them , they have such characters and as you say are devoted to their life companions, as most of our precious darlings are of course.
Your ladywolf sounds wonderful. Can you post any pictures on here. I would love to see her and your Poppers.
Please give Ladywolf a hug from me.
Thinking of you.
Love Jan and my Angels xx

Dear Marji...will be thinking of you and Ladywolf...Brutus had tons of tumors throughout his life. When he passed he had probably around 20...some I even had removed when he was younger....they were all fatty tumors, thats all. Unsightly but cause of no harm or pain. Now when he was young, he did have mast cell cancer twice, but those lumps were different. It is very possible they are just fatty tumors on Ladywolf...very possible and highly likely. I will be praying for that.

Hugs,
Sonya

Hi Margi,

Please enjoy the time that you have with Ladywolf. Callaway was diagnosed with lymphoma and I thought I would only get two months at the most but I got six months. I spent the whole six months depressed and I wish I would have just enjoyed those last six months with Callaway. The good thing is that you don't know if Ladywolf has cancer and if she does she may still have a lot of quality time left.

I will be praying for you and Ladywolf.

Love to you and Ladywolf,
Rhapsedy

Thanks, all, so much. I really AM trying to enjoy my time with the LWolf, but it is tempered by some fear. In addition to having the tumor, that whole leg is very swollen--that's why I'm so worried. I have very little money right now (again!), so won't be able to pay for much in the way of treatment if it's needed. She seems to be in no pain and her appetite is terrific now that I've started feeding her people food exclusively!

While I can't imagine life without her, I probably should just stop trying to, 'cause it ain't happened yet!

I don't own a digitial camera right now--will have to borrow a scanner to try to scan some "real" pictures. Meanwhile, if you want to see her, you can go to my website--I'll go get the URL for the specific page that is NOT advertising--it's just about her and me. I'll write a p.s.

Thanks again!

Margi

Here's the link to two pictures and a little story:

http://ladywolfediting.com/page6.php

Hi Margi,

Ladywolf is absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you, Rhapsody. I think so too, and so does she!!!

Those pictures aren't even the best ones--I don't have an easy way to post pix right now because my digicam is broken. I'm going to try with my scanner and some older "real" pictures tomorrow...

Yes, the lovely Ladywolf...sigh...

Margi

Here's my first attempt at publishing pictures here--forgive me if it fails!

Margi

P.S. Okay, I tried "Browse and upload" but they didn't work. What am I doing wrong?

Margi,

I just looked at your website and WOW Ladywolf is soooo very beautiful. How old is she? I do hope everything is ok with her leg. Rex was always a pretty tumor-y dog. I had some of them tested for cancer because they looked so bad, the tests always came back negative. It's so hard not knowing, but then again maybe ignorance is bliss? But you are making the most of the time you have with her and she must surely appreciate you so much. Wishing you good luck.

Kateress

For pictures, I ended up having to upload them to photobucket and then "save as" in my pictures and then upload them here. They were too big from the original save but for some reason saving them from photobucket made them the right size. Hope you can get them on here.

Thanks,, Kateress, both for the compliments to Ladywolf The Gorgeous, and the tip on photos. I'm leaving town tomorrow for four days, so probably won't be able to post any more pix until after that, although I'll still be able to get online.

She's 14 or 15. Ignorance is not really bliss--I'm disturbed all the time, and we have a vet appt. for next Monday when I get back to have her tumors checked. (And an appt. the same afternoon with a Dermatologist to have some spots on my own face checked out--ack, WHAT A DAY!!) It's the swelling of the leg where Lady's groin tumor is that is really worrisome. I just couldn't stand to get anymore bad news for at least a couple of weeks after Poppers died. But I know that Lady's tumors could be benign--and HERE'S HOPING!!! I really believe that she's meant to live til at least 18 or 20--and there's a post of a pic of a German Shepard up in the "share the good memories" section who was 22 (!!!!) at the time of passing!

Thanks again, and blessings to you..........

Margi and LWolf

Hi Margi, Ladywolf is just gorgeous, she has the most beautiful face, I love her. We don't have wolves in our Country, so I'm not all that familiar with them. I would love to be though, they look like such beautiful creatures. We have Dingos but they are not allowed to be kept in cities, only in the outback areas. Dingos look similar to dogs but they don't bark, they howl. Do wolves bark? or do they howl? Thinking of you and ladywolf and sending my love xx

madi xx

She is gorgeous. We have wolves here in MI, but they are so elusive and there are not many except for in the upper pennisula. We do have tons of Coyotes though...wonder if anyone has ever had one as a pet? Something I will have to google. How did you come across Ladywolf?