It’s been one whole week since surgery and he’s progressing well – maybe a bit too well. Shooter had a major lesion growth on his left hip, a growth in his groin and a blister looking thing on his left eye. The hip growth was nothing new as he had it from the time he was very young but now that he’s about to be 11 on August 7th this year, it had grown quite large. He was constantly banging it or scratching it and it had become puffy and looked infected. It had to go. The growth in his groin, a tiny projectile, looked like it might contain problems. The sore in the skin under his eye was forever runny and when it popped, it bled. To be honest, as parents, we were hesitant to “cut” on an older dog. However, as fate would have it, Sep bumped into a good friend, Dr. Bill Ferrier, one of the big-shot vets at UC Davis, who took a look at Shooter and his lumps and told us to just “get rid of the unnecessary skin”. He even went further and recommended an impressive young veterinarian, Dr. Collins.
That’s how we became acquainted with South Davis Veterinary Center in Davis. We followed through, had an examination with Dr. Collins, who put Shooter on antibiotics to reduce the inflammation and surgery was set for a couple of weeks later. Then Dr. Collins developed a family situation and had to take a leave. We were concerned. However, we were contacted by Dr. Cara Bradley who assured us she was aware of the details so we continued as planned.
Dr. Bradley, one of the most professional, compassionate veterinarians we have had the pleasure of dealing with, visited with us prior to surgery. She was gentle and caring and soon Shooter seemed to relax and when he left with her into the “inner sanctum” he went willingly. We felt relaxed too and confident things would go well. It’s tough, leaving a ten year old facing surgery.
Dr. Bradley called us about three hours after that, saying things went just fine and requested we pick up Shooter in a few hours. When we picked him up, he was a groggy, sedated dog but headed to the truck and home. He slept a lot that first evening and even Gunner, the two-year old Brittany, was curious but cautious, seeming to realize something unusual had occurred that day. The medications Shooter was given worked well and he got better each day…actually so well that we had to curtail his activities by the time one week had passed.
Shooter is a Brittany, and is the son of Jackson who was a well-known, popular, fully-trained bird hunting dog that we were fortunate to have in our family for 13 years. This breed of dog is intelligent, happy, gregarious and with so much energy they require space to run. And run they do. We fortunately have five acres where Shooter and Gunner have plenty of room to “work” over. And that became the most problematic thing about Shooter’s surgeries…as soon as his head began to get back to normal, he was anxious to get out in the fields with Gunner. It’s hard to keep a dog down…we pulled it off, but it took meticulous baby-sitting. Actually, he didn’t even require the “Elizabethan Collar”, provided after the surgery to keep him from fussing with the stitches. One thing about him, he obeys!
We have received the whole pathology report today. It is good news. In summary, biopsies indicate no cancers and neither growth had attachments to other tissues. The big hip problem had infection and chronic inflammation. The nodule growth was benign and removal was the right thing to do. The eye problem is a common cell tumor and was benign also. Recurrence is not anticipated. All is well.
Shooter now has to continue to recover for another week at which time he will see Dr. Bradley again. She will remove the stitches on the surface and the skin under this will have repaired itself sufficiently to cease causing him trouble. A major visit is not part of the plan…she will simply check on things.
Looks like we made it through. It’s a tough situation when one of your loved animals has a problem. They don’t know why or what’s happening and that trusting look in their eyes is all we as owners/parents have to go on. They need to know we are doing the best thing we can to keep them healthy and living their best lives possible. We appreciate the care and concern expressed by Dr. Bradley and are so very impressed with the Veterinary Center…everyone in the place is professional and helpful. Yes, we would highly recommend this service to any pet owners in the area!
