Blood

Today Tim came along for a blood test and the results demonstrated a vast improvement from other tests done daily this last week.

TvT is a terrible disease but it can be cured if treated properly and if the dog remains healthy. Vincristine, the medication used to combat the tumor, hurts the liver and kidneys and if they are weak before treatment, we need to get them right before treatment can start.

With Tim, his blood tests before treatment were fine but after the treatment, they took a dive, despite providing him with supplements to help his body cope with the medication. As a result, he needed a blood transfusion last week to pick him back up again.

Todays result is wonderful news and the snuffles, cuddles and love we exchanged, although a private thing between Tim & I, were something the world should hear about!

Mii who was suffering from mouth ulcers last week and his blood tests of liver and kidney functions which were poor, this week showed no improvement but his ulcers have reduced and he has at least started to eat again and stopped vomiting bile. Basically he is an elderly chap and we will need to keep our eye on him.

Bella is a dog thats been along on previous trips but has not featured in any posts yet. This aging girl was rescued from the Big C area on the superhighway, with a wound to her right back leg and she was constantly keeping it tucked up under her when hopping on the other 3 legs. One of her eyes is white and this is due to advanced Glaucoma and her blood health is quite poor too.

After initially dealing with the wounded leg which she still refuses to use, we were keen to tackle the eye but the blood condition has been preventing invasive treatment starting and we have been merely using prescribed drops and creams to help a little. Today, the blood results showed no great improvement but worse, the leg is showing signs of degeneration and possible indications of cancerous tumor development, we will need to amputate the leg to save the rest of her body.

Tomorrow she will undergo surgery to remove the leg but we are very much aware of the risks involved of losing her due to her poor blood condition.

Bones

Daeng Spa (named after her colour ‘Red’ and because she was rescued from an accident scene outside a Spa centre) currently has one front leg in a cast / rigid bandage due to a dislocated bone in the leg and nursing a sore hip, which shows signs of surgery under the short hair stubble that is growing back some 2 weeks after the accident.

She was taken by the Spa centre staff to an animal hospital where they x-rayed her legs. They set the bones back in place in the front leg and wrapped it tightly to support and aid its recovery but pinned the head of the femur bone (rear upper leg) which had broken off from the main femur bone. This last week, since she has been at the shelter for rest and recuperation, she has shown that the hip is very sore and giving her discomfort. Today, we find out that the reason. Maybe to do with a brighter bulb in the x-ray display unit or a fresh set of eyes but once identified, it is clear there is also a breakage in the actual hip socket, into which the pinned repaired ball fits. The image below is not of Daeng Spa but here to demonstrate the ball and socket of a healthy hip.

Daeng Spa needs total bed rest and relaxation to allow all the bones to heal and knit back together. She is young and healthy enough, so lets hope she can get well soon.

Stitches

Lorde is a corgi look-a-like dog and she had some nasty mammary tumors removed recently whilst she was undergoing her sterilisation operation. Today we are concerned that the wounds are not healing as well as we would expect so we asked the vet to take a look at the conditions of the wounds.

The vet suggested we put a T-shirt on her.

Stop laughing, there is a logic here, to reduce the amount of exposure to scratching, rubbing and also prevent the area becoming dirty (I said she looked like a corgi – vertically challenged and often over weight but thats another story!)

The vet also prescribed Danzen to reduce the discomfort she was having and therefore reduce the irritation to the skin which was delaying the natural healing of the wounds. The vet did however warn that in their opinion, many dogs who have mammary tumors removed, suffer complications like this.

The final case on todays run was Panda, one of the poor dogs that came from the same place as Jenny and 13 others who were rescued from being kept in boxes.

Panda is a mature male who has been causing all sorts of mischief at the shelter, typically trying to be the Alpha and doing his utmost to be as bossy as he can. The upshot of this is that fights start and we don’t need the added problems that they bring along. In short, we wanted to cut his nuts off to calm him down a bit.

Fascinatingly, Panda was born with a defect referred to as cryptorchidismand the surgery to castrate him was more invasive than a typical operation. In essence, the vet needed to open up the abdomen as well as the scrotum to find the missing testicle.

The problem today is that like Lorde, Panda is suffering from stitches that look infected and the skin badly inflamed. The recommended another T-shirt and also trying to stop Panda rubbing himself.

Now there is a challenge.