The whole ordeal began back in early October when we picked him up from a few days at the kennel. We noticed he had a spot on his back right leg, that looked like maybe he had been nicked or bit by another dog. It didn't bother him, and life went on as normal. Within a month, the spot developed into this:
And I think it was even bigger than that by the time we got into the vet.
My internet research told me it was a histiocytoma, a benign tumor. We went ahead and made an appointment at a vet's office down by our new house, which is an hour from where we live right now. We also wanted to get his vaccinations updated, as he was due for some in January, and well...we've got other fish to fry in January. ;). We took him in 2 weeks ago, Monday, Nov. 16. I say we, but Ben couldn't get out of work so I took him by myself. (Maybe mistake #1 looking back on it.) Kato was given his vaccinations with no issues, and was his usual bouncy, excited, loving, Boxer self, even though they were poking him all over. The vet was really concerned about the spot, especially because it had grown quickly. She wanted to take it off right away. So he was scheduled for surgery on Thursday, Nov. 19, first thing in the morning.
Silly pup did get tired at one point during the visit, and laid down. Just for a moment, until he heard someone outside the door, and then he was on full alert!
I didn't sleep at all the night before the surgery, perhaps I had a premonition, but I was just really nervous about it, and nervous about the logistics. Again, Ben couldn't miss work, and I was taking him by myself. I knew he would have to be lifted in and out after the surgery, and I knew he would probably not be as calm as he was supposed to be, because that's our Kato. He's a wild man, even after anesthesia. (Or at least he was the last time he was put under). At 7.5 months pregnant, there was just no way I was going to be lifting this 75 lb. dog in and out of the car by myself, so I was stressed about that. I was stressed about everything going okay, and stressed about what they would find.
Ben put the crate in the car in the morning before he left for work, and helped me put him in there when we were leaving. (My kangaroo/dog mix can jump up 4 feet off all fours when he's excited, but refuses to jump in the car. Yeah. He's special.) I dropped him off for surgery with no problem, other than his typical refusal to get on the scale, (again, special, special puppy dog), and then I wandered around for a few hours until I got the call from the vet's office. I had been to our house, Starbucks, and Target when I got the first call, about 2 hours after I dropped him off. They said Kato was under anesthesia and doing well, but they had found another spot, this one on a toe on his left front paw. We had no idea this was there, but gave permission for them to cut that one out too.
An hour or so later, when I had just sat down for lunch, they called and said Kato was ready to go home. I wolfed down the rest of my lunch and headed back. When I walked in to the office I could hear his typical "I'm sooo alooooonnneeee" cry from where they had him in the back. He does this cry when he's sad or lonely, and we know it immediately. They gave me post-op instructions for his leg, (keep him calm and try to keep him from moving as much as possible. Ha.), and toe, (it was wrapped up and we were given a plastic bag thing to put over it to keep it dry), and brought him back in. Thankfully they helped me get him in the car. Poor boy had a cone of shame, that was flexible so he could get in the crate. He slept the whole way home.
When we got home, I backed in to a spot so it was just a step down to the grass. I opened the crate door and Kato just stared at me. It took me a few minutes to convince him to step down from the car. Once he did, more staring and not moving. I coaxed him gently, and after about 10 minutes of "C'mon baby. Kato! C'mon sweetie, let's go inside. Come! Kato Come!", the zombie was finally in the apartment. Completely zonked out.
Just pitiful.
The rest of the evening went alright. We attempted to put him in the crate for bedtime, but the first thing he did was take off his cone. So we let him sleep in our room on that green bed in the picture. (Maybe mistake #2). He was up and down a few times during the night, mostly wanting to get on the bed with us. Sorry Potato, there's no room! And you are not allowed to jump! Eventually the night was over, and Friday morning I went to a baby appointment while Ben stayed home with Kato. We didn't trust him to stay by himself and leave his wounds alone. Friday night we took the wrap off of his foot and the incision looked great. It has looked fine and done fine ever since. The leg on the other hand.....
I took these 2 pictures a couple hours before the drama started.
The incisions were looking pretty good.
On Sunday night, Ben was at work, and I was making dinner for myself when Kato came running in the kitchen with blood running down his leg. There was blood all over the carpet where he'd been laying, all over the kitchen floor, and all over him. I freaked out, and ended up taking him to an emergency vet. (Yes, by myself again.) Because of course this is Sunday night and the regular vet is closed. I managed to keep the mess contained in car with lots of towels. At the ER they assured me that it was just fluid leaking from the incision, and not really anything to be concerned about. I just needed to keep him calm. This is laughable really, and even with sedatives, keeping him still is 100% impossible. The worst thing, they said, was keeping it off of everything. A task that has also proved totally impossible btw.
By Monday afternoon, the leaking was no better, and I had a a horrible day of cleaning up after him, so it was back to the regular vet. Kato was a good boy all day, (as he usually is, and has been every day), and just laid around. At the vet, they confirmed it was just fluid and there was nothing we could do. We could try to keep it covered, but it is a VERY hard spot to wrap or cover. Everything we do just falls off. They did give him a laser treatment, and instructed us to do warm compresses. These seem to help quite a bit. It's also a tough spot to have an incision, because it gets pulled every time he sits, walks, squats to potty, or wiggles. Which brings me to this past Friday.
*Side note*-On Tuesday, I got a voicemail about the pathology on the tumors. The big one, causing all the problems, was a histiocytoma, like I thought. Completely benign. However, the mass on his toe had come back as a Mast Cell Tumor, which is a malignant skin cancer type of tumor. Not good, but they were adamant on the voicemail that they had gotten the entire thing. I'll be asking lots more about this tomorrow. We have to be very vigilant now about any bumps or lumps we find. If we see anything, it has to be looked at right away.
Back to Friday. We had gone home for Thanksgiving, and Kato was a really good boy, the whole trip he was calm, and he was mostly calm at my parents as well. In fact, the incision was looking great by Friday morning and had scabbed over. It didn't leak at all on Thursday, so we thought a visit to Ben's mom at the pet store she works at would be fun (Mistake #3? But he loves his Nana so much and she was very happy to see him. And he was happy to see her!). We aren't sure when the scab tore, or when he popped the stitch, (maybe jumping out of the car? Maybe wiggling in the store? We will never know), but he ended up leaking all over the store. Taaaaater. He leaked the rest of the day Friday, and Saturday while my parents watched him while we were at Siegel Thanksgiving.
The frustrating thing is, he wasn't even crazy! All he has done for 2 weeks is lay on his bed. He gets up now and then to stretch, see what Momma is doing, go to the bathroom, or eat. Sure, he got wiggly on Thursday when all the people were at my parents, and walked around all day with his 2 year old (human) friend Zander, but other than that, he has been totally calm. By Sunday, the incision had completely torn open and we could see inside his leg. Back to the vet, this time in Georgetown. This proved to be worthless, they said again, it's just fluid. We don't want to close it, the fluid will build up underneath. Ben asked what we could see in there, and the response was, "Oh, that's his calf muscle." And that's how it remains today, Wednesday. The incision is torn open at the top, and we can see his calf muscle. The vet in Georgetown assured us that he would be fine until our regular vet visit Thursday, when he is scheduled to have the stitches removed. He is still on antibiotics and I think that is the only reason it's not infected.
Kato's life for the past 2 weeks.
This has been the most frustrating, expensive, and stressful ordeal with Kato so far. I feel so very sorry for this fur baby, and I feel like I can't help him. The good thing is, none of this seems to cause him any pain. It only bothers him when fluid leaks down his leg, or on to whatever blanket he is laying on. He doesn't like to lay back down on a blanket when it's been leaked on. And I don't blame him. I wash blankets and sheets 700 times a day, but that's okay. Anything for my baby to be comfortable.
Say a prayer for us tomorrow, hopefully we can get some answers about what to do. Kato needs to get better, we've got lots of exciting things coming up this month. We are going to a cabin for Christmas, that has a fenced yard where he can run and play, and we are REALLY hoping he is better by then. Plus, his little sister is going to arrive sometime in the next 6 weeks or so, (!!) and he needs to be great by then!
Sweet Kato, snuggling his sister in my belly. We love this big bouncy Boxer dog so much!
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