Friday's Followup on Phantom and More

Woo Hoo - look at me - no conehead, no ring, it feels so good.

So about my visit with Dr. B. yesterday.  First of all, he gave me lots of gentle pats and hugs, and even a few cookies.  Then he checked out the evil invader on my tail.  He thought it was looking  a lot better than how the other vet, Dr. H., had described it to him.  So we all agreed that the antibiotics may be helping, not to mention my not licking it.  He gave Mom a bunch of options. 

I will give you a brief rundown now.

1.  Major surgery to totally remove the tumor would mean I would have to undergo anesthesia.  He would have to cut very high up into the tail, close to my rump, to get enough skin to stretch over the large hole made by the removal.  The tail at that point has no extra skin to spare.  The risks of anesthesia and the whole recovery process in an almost 16 year old dog make this option not too viable.

2.  Major surgery to dock my tail - same issues as #1.  So not the best of options either.

I don't like either of those ideas.

3.  Do what Dr. B. called "second intention" surgery to just remove the tumor and leave the wound open. Then I would have to wear the cone or the ring 24/7.   That would also mean a 4-6 week period of hoping the big hole would close itself.  It would have to be bandaged for 3-5 days, then the bandage would need to be changed daily.  Mom would have to clean the area every day, leave it open to the air for a while and then re-bandage. This would go on for about 6 weeks, maybe more.  The procedure would be done with a local dose of lidocaine.  Although this option is a possibility, Dr. B. is not highly in favor of it because once again the risk of infection is quite high.

4.  Last option is for me to wear the cone or ring whenever I am not being closely supervised and leave the tumor alone.  He says the tumor is not causing me any pain, maybe some itchiness, but it is not critical that it be removed.  He and Mom agree that treatment for me is mainly of a palliative nature.  He has ordered some Bitter Orange cream (not the same as the Bitter Apple spray) for Mom to put on my tail to keep me from licking it.  If the bitter stuff works, then I might get longer periods of time without the restrictions of the cone or ring and maybe at some point total freedom.  And he said Mom can increase my tramadol dose if she thinks the ring is making my neck sore.

So what's the plan, Mom?

Weighing all the options, the vet and Mom agreed to go with #4 for now and see how things go.  They ordered the cream for me and it should be here somtime today.  #3 would be the next best option, but all are hoping to avoid this as well.  I know you have all been pulling for me, so can I ask you to keep up the POTP that things work out for me?

I also need to thank my friends. The Sibe Tribe, at Loved is being owned by a husky, for the beautiful card their Mom made for me.

Thank you so much, friends.

Before I wrap things up, I have another favor to ask.  Our kitty pal Savannah has asked a very important question:  Do you believe social media saves lives?  Well, we all do here at The OP Pack, and so we are asking today for help for this sweet boy Cash.

Cash has been through some rough times, but a wonderful human rescued him and now he needs to find him a forever home and quickly!!!  You can read all about him at Savannah's post:

http://savannahspawtracks.com/2014/09/04/do-you-believe-social-media-saves-lives-thursday-purrsday/

Please try to spread the word about Cash and help in any way you can.

Three happy pups enjoying some outside time with much cooler temps:)

Happy weekend to all!!!

Woos - Phantom, Ciara, and Lightning