So, the dog seems to be doing better now. She’s back to her normal self as far as energy and playfulness.
The swelling on her jaw is gone. There’s still a fair-sized mass of something on the left side of her head, under her ear, but it doesn’t seem to be causing distress. I’m honestly not sure what’s going on there, or how long it’s been happening.
The mass that’s present isn’t really obvious when you look at her, although you can tell if you hold her head that she’s not symmetrical. It feels like a slab of muscle, as far as density and elasticity and whatnot. Doesn’t seem to be painful or sensitive when I’m handling her.
I’m about to just chalk it down to her having an overdeveloped cheek from sleeping on one side all the time, or asymmetrical chewing, or something. There definitely WAS something unusual going on Sunday night, but I’m not sure what’s present now is a problem.
Anyhow, I’m still giving her the pills the vet prescribed. Might as well go through the whole regimen. Sara doesn’t really like taking these pills, I’ve discovered. It hasn’t been a problem in the past; usually could just hand her the pill and she’d snarf it down, but she kept trying to spit this one out. I tried a few more complicated solutions, like sticking in peanut butter, and she was just getting more recalcitrant.
However, I’ve solved the problem.
It turns out that Sara is not above taking bribes, and I am not too proud to bribe a dog. And she’s strongly, strongly motivated by salmon jerky.
So, treat it like a training game. Make her sit, give her a bit of jerky. Make her eat a pill, give her a bit of jerky. Make her lay down, give her a bit of jerky. She figured out what to with the pill pretty fast when fish was on the line, and all her objections vanished.