not a 100% official diagnosis, but

it seems likely that Abby has a brain tumor.

the diagnosis isn't 100% official because I didn't have a brain scan done on her, just talked to the vet about what's been going on. and the vet (who, btw, is awesome) said she has all the symptoms.

the alleged tumor has been causing mini-strokes over the past few months. at first, they weren't so bad and she seemed mostly fine when they were over. however, last night was not so good. looking back, it had been building up all week - she'd been having more trouble walking than normal, hadn't been eating as much, and was walking sideways. and then it happened.

like the other times, she's better now that it's over but still not back to where she was. the vet said it would take a few days for her to get back to where she was before the incident but that I can expect the episodes to become more frequent and severe. she said that generally, the time between episodes begins to get cut in half. I can't quite remember the last one (and who knows if they're happening when I'm not around)but not last week, or the week before (maybe), but maybe the week before that?

at any rate, what it comes down to is that I'm going to have to eventually say "it's time." and if you do the math, it seems like it's going to be time for me to say "it's time" pretty soon.

(but seriously, wtf right now? I mean, wow.)