Friday, May 28, 2010
We just received the pathology results for Benny's mast cell tumor. It came back as a Grade II tumor with clean margins. I am so very relieved that we got clean margins. I was hoping that it would come back a Grade I, but I knew that was highly unlikely. I am very happy it is a Grade II and not a Grade III.
In any case, our next course of action is to keep a very close eye on Benny to see if any other tumors develop. Which just means more petting or him.
And for those who like to see the gory details, here is a picture of Benny's incision. It was taken in low light with my phone, so it isn't the greatest picture, but it gives you a good idea of the size of the incision.
It is such a relief to know that the vet got clean margins. Hopefully, there won't be any more tumors popping up on Benny anytime soon.
Enjoy the holiday weeekend!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Things went fairly well at the eye vet yesterday with Luna. Luna was a trooper as always.
The eye vet agreed that Luna's right eye is extremely dry. However, she noted that it is not because Luna is not producing tears (Luna tested at an 8 in her left eye on the Schirmer Tear Test this visit). It is because of all of the built up scar tissue on the eye.
So, we have added one more drop to our arsenal and have been instructed to give Luna the Genteal drops as often and as frequently as needed. The Genteal drops will help keep her eye moist.
The good news is her right eye is doing great. There have been no changes since our last visit, which is extremely good news.
I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend! Perhaps some lucky puggies out there will get to crash a few barbecues. 
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Luna goes to the eye vet this morning for her usual checkup. I know the news is not going to be good. Her left eye has very low tear production and despite our best efforts we have not been able to get it to improve. We have been tweaking her drops, trying new medicines but nothing seems to work. There is just too much scar tissue on the eye for anything to be effective. So, we have been giving her lots of Genteal Severe Dry Eye Relief drops to help keep some moisture in her eye.
I'm anxious to hear what the eye vet suggests as our next steps because the drops no longer seem to be working in her left eye. They worked well for a few years, but starting late last year they have gradually started becoming less and less effective.
The good news is that her right eye seems to be staying the same. She appears to have good tear production in that eye and the current treatment appears to be working well. That is very good news because that is her "good eye", the one that pretty much gives her all of her vision.
I'll let you know how everything goes.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
One good thing to come out of Monday's sedation/surgery is that Benjamin got a very good toenail clipping. There was no fight, no fuss, no Cheerio negotiations, no "We'll do the back ones another day". Just a nice, short toenail trimming. However, I'm sure he is expecting some Cheerio back pay.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Yesterday, we dropped Benny at the vet to have a chest x-ray taken. Benny, has been coughing every now and again and after Solsey's chronic cough we are paranoid whenever one of the pugs coughs. So, last week we made an appointment to talk to our vet. We explained the situation and our paranoia and our vet thought that the best course of action would be to bring Benny in one morning and they could lightly sedate him and get a good chest x-ray to see what was going on.
Funny side note, Solsey never needed to be "lightly sedated" for her x-rays. She was such a good girl that they could just plop her down and she would remain completely still while they did the x-rays.
Benjamin also had a bump on his chest that we showed our vet during our appointment. He said while Benny was sedated he would take a better look and possibly aspirate it to find out what was going on.
So, we dropped Benny off yesterday morning for his procedures, hoping to find out what was causing the tickle in his throat from time to time.
Just before lunch, I got a call from the vet. I thought it was a bit early for Benny to be finished, but I thought maybe they were just running ahead of schedule. Instead of it being a vet tech, it was my vet on the other line. As soon as I heard his voice, I got nervous. The vet never calls just for an update. Sensing my nervousness, he quickly reassured me that Benny was lightly sedated and doing OK. However, they aspirated the growth on his chest and had a look at it under the microscope and it is a mast cell tumor.
My stomach sank.
Since it was a mast cell tumor, my vet wanted to put Benny completely under and remove it and get it sent off for testing. I gave the go ahead and yesterday, Benny had the tumor removed from his chest.
The incision runs vertically on his chest and is closed with 10 stitches. It is in a really awkward spot to bandage, so the vet told us to keep Benny in a t-shirt to help keep the wound clean.
Benny is still pretty wiped out from his big day, so it is a little too early to tell if he is in much pain. After we got him home, we tried to set him up on one of the dog beds, but he wanted to be on the sofa. So we made him a nice little place to rest on his favorite spot on the sofa. He has been comfortably resting ever since.
In the meantime, the waiting game has begun. We could have the pathology results back as early as Friday, but more than likely we won't know anything until after the holiday weekend.
Needless to say, I am sick with worry. We don't have a great track record of getting good news with pathology reports. However, I am hoping that our luck will change.
As far as the chest x-rays are concerned, Benjamin's trachea looks very good as do his lungs. However, his soft palette is elongated. This is the most likely culprit of his cough. So, after we know the pathology results and he chest incision has fully recovered it is off to the specialist to have his soft palette shortened.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Benjamin has a bit of an obsession with ping pong balls. He has been this way since he was a pup. Playing with a ping pong ball is the closest Benny comes to fetching. Toss the ball across the living room, making sure it takes a few wild bounces, and Benny happily bounces behind it, jumping and bumping into things.
Once he finally tracks it down, he rarely picks it up on the first attempt. Instead, in his excitement, he attempts to pick it up, but it just bounces away. Not at all discouraged, Benny goes bounding after it and keeps at it until he finally picks it up. With the ball in his mouth, he runs back to you and gets sorta close before he drops it and is ready for you to throw it again.
We repeat the whole process again and play our little game until Benny inevitably crushes the ping pong ball and it thuds instead of bouncing.
Friday, May 21, 2010
The other night we went to the park for our evening walk. It was a gorgeous evening so the park was quite busy. There were lots of joggers, walkers, dogs and kids running about. We meandered around the small lake stopping every once in a while to talk to those who passed by. When we reached a nice shady section, we took a little break to let the pugs cool off and to give us a chance to just relax and enjoy the view.
Have a great weekend! I hope everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy the view.
