Joey’s Pet of the Week – Ben’s Malignant MCT

By Scott Lackenby | Dated September 4, 2015

Official Quality Control Officer of Heat Mats

Hey everyone! How are you all? From the pictures I’ve seen, Nurse Layne and Nurse Jacqui had an amazing time at the Gordon Community Preschool Fun Day. I’m still cranky that I wasn’t invited. I’m hoping that if I’m REALLY good this year I may be able to go next year. It’s always nice when we get to participate in community activities and chat to people.

Speaking of Nurse Jacqui, she is about to leave us, AGAIN, and head to the UK for around 12 months for Uni. Nurse Jacqui has been affectionately dubbed the “Boomerang Nurse” as she has left us countless times now for travel and adventures but always seems to find her way back to us. Hopefully this time will be no different.

I have a new job title! On top of being the Clinic Cat, head of PR, quality control officer for all things edible and chief lizard wrangler, I am now also the quality control officer for the heat mats. It’s my job to test them out before they are used for surgery. It’s tough being an overworked clinic cat!!

My star this week is the handsome Ben, a 5year old Golden Retriever. Ben came in to see Dr John Morgan when his humans noticed a lump on his paw and another one on his tummy. Last year Ben had a Mast Cell Tumor removed, so his humans are quick to get any abnormal or new lumps checked. Mast Cells are help protect against external parasites and are found in places like the the skin and respiratory tract. Mast Cells can also be responsible for some allergic reactions. Mast Cell Tumors, or MCT, are a common tumor diagnosed in dogs, particularly in Golden Retrievers like Ben.

Dr John took an aspirate of Ben’s lumps and discovered that they were also MCT. They needed to be removed, but the one on Ben’s paw was going to be difficult to remove with adequate margins. In order to do this, Dr John would need to amputate Ben’s leg. Ben’s humans needed to think about whether they wanted to go ahead with amputation, or just removal of the lump and skin grafts. Ben’s people needed to have a think about the best treatment option, so Dr John gave Ben a couple of injections to help slow the growth of the lumps. Ben’s owner’s decided to go ahead with the removal and skin grafts, so Ben was booked in for surgery.

There was good news and bad news when Ben came back for surgery. The good news was that the lump on his foot had shrunk. The bad news was there was now an extra lump. The surgery was a big one. It was done in four stages. Stage one consisted of a skin graft being taken from his flank. The graft measured 10cm x 9cm and was kept nice and moist until it was needed. Stage two was to remove the new lump which was on the scar from a previous MCT removal. Stage 3 was to remove the lump on Ben’s flank. The fourth stage was the biggest stage. The lump was removed from Ben’s toe and the skin graft was put in place.

A special bandage was then put over the graft to help to keep it viable. Without proper care, there is a high likelyhood of the skin graft breaking down. Ben was put on anti-biotics and pain medication. Dr John also had him on IV fluids to help keep him well hydrated. It was very important that Ben be kept calm and confined to give the graft a good chance to heal. Ben spent the weekend in with us to rest.

Ben was really enjoying all the attention he was getting while he was in with us and decided he would only eat if he had company! Before he was able to go home, Ben needed to have his bandage re-done as his wound was weeping through and the splint that was keeping it all in place had moved. Once that was done, Ben was sent home with strict instructions to take it easy and to come back every few days to have his bandage changed.

When Ben came in for his first bandage change, his wound had started to break down. Dr John swabbed the wound to send off to the lab to work out what was going to be the best anti-biotics for the bugs. We also had the report back about the lumps we had sent off to be analysed. The small lump on the scar from the previous surgery was just a cyst, but the other two lumps were Grade 2 MCT which wasn’t the best of news. Dr John had gotten adequate margins for the lump on Ben’s flank, but given the position of the lump on Ben’s foot, the only way to get the right margins was going mean amputation. Ben’s owners were reluctant to do this, so they have opted to start Ben on Chemotherapy once his wound has healed. Ben is on a combination of anti-biotics and is healing nicely! I’ll keep you posted on Ben’s progress.

Well, better go. Sorry I didn’t post this yesterday, but as you can see, it’s quite a big story and I’m a slow typer!! Meows for now, love Joey xoxo

Ben having a snack and pat with Dr David

Ben having a bandage change

Ben’s skin graft

It’s hard work for Ben!

Starting to heal….

Looking good!!