19 Ryde Road, Pymble, NSW 2073
Joey’s Pet of the Week – Deede’s Nasty Lump
By Scott Lackenby | Dated February 26, 2016
Hey peeps! How are you all? Haven’t melted in this heat? It’s not fun being a predominately black cat in this weather. It means I have to be inside more than I’d like to be as I just get too hot being outside doing my outside jobs. Be sure to look after your animal friends on these hot days. And if it’s safe to do so, think about leaving water out in your yard for the wildlife. They’ll appreciate that.
My star this week is the cheeky Miss Deede, a spritely 10year old Kelpie cross from West Pymble.
Deede came in to see Dr Helen Burns for her vaccinations. During the examination, Dr Helen noticed that a lump on Deede’s leg had doubled in size. Deede was otherwise very well. Dr Helen was worried about the lump, she was concerned that it may be a nasty one, and if it was a nasty one, it was in a tricky spot, on Deede’s carpal. Dr Helen and Deede’s Mum decided the best thing to do would be to remove the lump and send it off to the Lab to find out exactly what it was.
The mass was tricky to remove. It was close to blood vessels and nerves and there also isn’t a lot of extra skin to help to close the wound. A thick bandage was applied after the mass was removed to restrict the pressure and movement on the surgery site when Deede was up and walking. Deede was going to need to be kept quite and confined and she was going to have to come back every 3days to have her bandage changed until it had all healed up. The mass was sent off so now we just had to cross our paws and hope it wasn’t a nasty one…
When Deede came back for the first bandage change, she had been struggling a little with the “take it easy” instructions Dr Helen had sent her home with. In fact, it took THREE Nurse to hold her to have the bandage changed!! Dr Helen again told Deede she needs to be resting and told her to come back in for another bandage change in 3days. At this bandage change, Deede wasn’t walking on the leg at all, but was still managing to jump on and off the bed! The wound wasn’t looking as good this time. We also had the results back from the Lab. Unfortunately it wasn’t good news. Deede’s lump was a grade 2 Soft Tissue Sarcoma. Given the location of the mass and it’s grading, the Pathologist said their was a high likelihood that the lump would come back. The good news was that this type of mass was unlikely to spread to other parts of Deede’s body. The only way to completely get rid of it would be to amputate Deede’s leg. After a lot of thinking and talking to Dr Helen, Deede’s Mum consented to the amputation.
Dr Helen performed the amputation of Deede’s left front leg.
The procedure went perfectly and Deede recovered beautifully. She was even walking around the treatment room that afternoon! She still needed some help walking down to the grass area at the bottom of the driveway, but she was adapting to three-legged life amazing well!! All was going super until Deede had been at home for a few days and she chewed out some of her stitches! Deede needed ANOTHER anesthetic to repair this! But since that, so far so good!! Deede has had all of the sutures removed and she is bright and happy and walking!!
Phew! That was a big one! I’m tired after all of that typing, so I’m going to go and have a nap. Have a great weekend. Meows for now, love Joey xoxo
Written by Scott Lackenby
Scott joined the team at Gordon Vets in 1999, where he was immediately impressed with the high standard of customer service. Scott is very popular amongst clients for his kind hearted approach to pet care and his great sense of humour. His particular areas of interest are endocrinology and dermatology.
