We had a dog related scare this week.

Jim O'Dell

Member
Messages
2,783
Location
Between Aledo and Fort Worth, TX
We always said that if Cory (girl in my avitar) ever quit eating, that we'd know she was sick. Well, about 10 days ago she started acting a little off, and went off her food. Glenna (LOML) was out of town from a week ago yesterday to Monday this week for a music convention. She wouldn't eat her normal raw foods, but would eat the rescue dogs dry food. When Glenna got home, she set up an appt for her on Wed.
They found a mass, thought it was about the size of a grapefruit, on her spleen. Radiologist didn't think it was malignant, but of course, wouldn't know until out and send it off.
So surgery was yesterday. I couldn't stay, but was up there for an hour. Had to leave about 5 minutes after they took her back. Glenna called me about 40 minutes later in tears. They came and told her it much bigger and more involved than they thought. Multiple nodules on the spleen. Glenna called me back almost 2 hours into the surgery, thinking that it was going well since we had said if it wasn't contained, that we would just put her down. Total surgery was about 2 1/2 hours. The mass ended up being the size of 2 grapefruits and weighed 4 1/2 pounds!!!
Cory, of course, is really out of it. Hasn't gotten control of her bladder yet. Hope something didn't get cut that shouldn't have and it's jut the pain meds. She has to eat small meals for a while, limited water intake for fear or bloat/torsion because of all the extra room in her stomach cavity. And no jumping around and getting excited. If she starts feeling better, that last one is really going to be tough to control! :D
So keep her in your thoughts. At 13 years old, this is probably going to be pretty slow recovery. Jim.
 
Last edited:
Congratulations on a successful surgery.

About 3 years ago, I had to help my neighbor carry his dying black lab to his truck due to a ruptured tumor on his spleen.

About 2.5 years, my Lab (Indy) started acting funny. Not eating, not moving, just panting. Rushed him to the vet and sure enough he had a tumor on his spleen. Had to rush him to an emergency vet clinic and they recommend a removal. I think they said his tumor weighed about 9 pounds.

Happy to say it was completely successful and he's been doing well for the last two years. Well, at 13 he's a bit slow, and we think he has a brain tumor. He seems to get confused at times and is having trouble with his hips, but other than that, he's doing well.

We did lose our little girl (Xena) lab to a ruptured spleen last september. By the time we got her to the vet, she had bled out too much. On day she was chasing lizards and rabbits, and the next she was gone.

I don't know what it is about the dogs and spleens, but from if I had a 9-10ish year old lab, I would definitely make sure the doc keeps their eye on it. I had never even heard about this until my neighbors dog died.

I will definitely make sure to keep an eye on it with my new little yellow lab (Starbuck).

Treasure each day with Cory. As much as we get attached to these dogs, I can't imagine not having at least one around to add a little chaos into my life...
 
I hope everything is done what needed to get done and that there is a quick recovery.

Zeus and Samantha (my avatar) say they would like to help out by eating Cory's extra portions until she's all better. In all seriousness I'm sure they'd lay down next to her and help nurse her well. They try to bite the TV when there's dogs on it (or cats, or geckos, or animated godzilla monsters, or ...) but they never, ever bark or react at all to the Humane Society commercial.

Good luck with everything.
 
Thanks for prodding me, Ed. I thought about updating you all earlier, but...
She is doing well. She started getting a little interested in food yesterday evening. Glenna had poked a few bites down her throat the previous couple of days. One of the things the Dr. wanted to see was a bowel movement to make sure everything was back in place. A dog's digestive track is so short that she needed food to do that. She finally had a movement last night. You'd a thought my wife won the lottery!!:thumb: :D Her eyes are much brighter, wagging her tail some, and still sleeping a lot. She can get up on the sofa by herself, but needs help to get up on the bed. But if you act like you are going to help her off the bed, she lays down. If you stay back to a respectable distance, she gets off the bed under own power.
So she is doing well, as well as you could hope a 13 year old dog would do. Here is a picture of her laying on her blanket and Glenna's shoes next to the bar. DSCN1989.jpg It's just about her supper time! :) Again, thanks for asking about her! Jim.
 
Top