Angel came to us over three weeks ago. She was left by the creek out past Verde Lakes on a blanket. Some fishermen saw her and called for help as she was in dire condition. She was left there to die and was on her way out. A rescue worker brought her in a bag as that was all she had on hand.
The smell was so bad coming from Angel’s infected mammary mass that I thought she had already passed. She opened her eyes and looked up at me as if to say, “please don’t kill me”. I shook my head and thought, ok, I will do what I can for you, but I think you are going to die. I looked into her eyes again and noted that she had a strength there that was undeniable. I put her in a warm hospital bed and started her on fluids and two antibiotics.
She was so weak and thin that she could not stand up. I waited to feed her until she warmed up and then we started with Gerber baby food several times a day. After 3 days, she was able to stand but was very ataxic and would fall over. The smell from the infected mass was much improved, and she was getting stronger every day. Her blood work showed an initial white blood cell count of almost 30,000 which shows serious infection from the mammary mass. After 7 days of antibiotic, fluids, baby food and critical care, her white blood cell count was back to normal.
I took chest radiographs to see if she had metastases in the lungs, but they were clear. I did notice a large rock in her stomach. Great, now, I need to get a rock out of her, too in addition to the mammary mass removal. By day 7, she was barking and walking around. I decided to go ahead as this was her chance for a life.
We prepped for surgery and I had the rock out of her stomach in no time. I closed her abdomen and set my sights on the large mammary mass. I dissected it out carefully and noted other areas in the subcutaneous fat that looked affected. I removed those, too and anything on her abdomen that looked like a purple mass. I was done in 1.5 hours total. I sent the large mass to Antech labs for histopathology. I closed all her incisions and put a tiny surgery suit on her and held her until she woke up.
Before surgery
After Surgery and healing
Within a day, she was acting better as the tumors were gone and all the infection. She has not looked back. She is decreasingly ataxic each day. She has gained a pound of body weight, and she barks and wags her tail now.
It took over a week to get the biopsy results back from Antech Labs. The large, infected mass was a subcutaneous hemangiosarcoma low-grade cancer. This cancer is more locally invasive and less likely to spread than the other types of hemangiosarcoma. Her abdomen looks so much better than it was when she came in. Since her cancer is more localized, she has a chance to live out her life.
Today, she had potential adopters come visit her. They have been following her on Facebook since she came in. She was wagging her tail and just hanging out with their other two dogs that they brought to meet her. They called back later and said they want Angel to be part of their family and are picking her up tomorrow. Angel is a real fighter, and I will never forget the initial look she gave me. I am so glad that I could help her get a chance to be loved for once in her life!!!
Her name is Angel. Thank you for saving her
Oh Dr Cinda thank you so much for saving such a sweet life!
You are amazing! Your dedication to animals is amazing.