We picked up our sweet baby today. He was very excited to see us!
Dr. Matz, Dr. Lee and 4th year Katie met us and answered our questions before we made the trek back to our home, 2.5 hours away. Here is the takeaway:
Surgery was challenging but it went well. The surrounding tissues looked great, except his urethra was touching the tumor. They were able to “peel” (OMG) it away and he is urinating normally. Whew! We are now waiting on biopsy results. In all likelihood, we are looking at Osteosarcoma, but I’m hoping for “random benign dumb tumor”. Glass half full, right?
Eider is from a hunting line of labs, both parents imported from the UK. To say he is energetic is the understatement of the year. Wiggly, happy, silly! So, yeah, he is on a sedative. Poor little guy. We are on Rimadyl, Tramadol, Trazodone and Clavamox. The surgeons cultured his incisions as they realized the operation was going WAY past the presumed time. Cultures were looking fine as of this morning, so hopefully we won’t see any infection.
He has a lidocaine patch at the incision site and a bandage that our local vet, Dr. Eiland, will change for us 2 more times. They insisted upon crate rest and the dreaded cone of shame if he is alone, for at least 2 weeks. I inquired about the gabapentin, but they did not seem to feel it was necessary.
We are home in our temporary bedroom/livingroom hybrid and he immediately hopped onto the mattress (which is directly on the floor) and has been sleeping since 11:30. So glad he is resting!
I want to blog about this so other people can learn. Sooooo, here are the photos of our little pup as of today:
His manly bits are swollen as well as his back leg. His appetite is in full effect and his tail is wagging!
More updates after I get some rest….
Welcome home! I just posted on your first blog post…
They even shaved part of his tail! I don’t think I’ve seen that before.
Some vets don’t think gaba works or is needed. Keep an eye on your boy and if you see signs of pain or phantom pain let the vet know right away. You should be able to get it if needed from your local vet.
Oh- and if you wonder why you have to moderate blog posts… you have to approve all first time posters to your blog, its a security thing to defeat spammers.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
What a sweet gorgeous boy. It’s great that he has an appetite. Keep us posted on Eider’s progress.
xoxo
Julie and Buddy
What a sweet boy. Thank you for sharing his story. I am sure it will help others if they have the same issue.
Karen is right about the gabepentain. You can get it from your regular vet if it is needed. Some dogs do not need it. I never used it with Sassy.
Sounds like he is on a good pain regime.
xoxoxox
Michelle & Angel Sassy
Your’re doing everything “by the book” and your little guy looks great! yes, these are hard times but so rewarding to see them coming back to their old selves.
He looks great! Otis was up on my mattress on the floor pretty quickly too. Once the hospital meds wear off, you might see a bit more pain, so keep monitoring and as others have said, call the vet if you thing he needs more or something different! Welcome home Eider!
Glad to see he’s home and doing so well! Poor baby sure was through a lot. Looking forward to following his journey.
Linda, Ollie, Riley & Spirit Mighty Max
Geez….eant to.post on your blog earlier!
How bout an update when you can…either here on forums.
The blogs have been rotating out pretty quickly the last few days so maybe the forums will be better.
Sending lots of hugs and good wishes!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Ohh thank you so much for sharing, I’m glad he made it through surgery. I hope he’s been doing well, keep us posted OK?
Ditto on the Gabapentin. It’s need is more common in amputees than some vets think. Hope he didn’t need it but if he yelps, seems like he’s aware his leg is missing by licking the area, etc., let your vet know asap and get a prescription for it.