Some of you may recall that I posted four weeks ago about having our beloved dog Buddy euthanized due to kidney failure. My wife and I have been heartbroken over his loss, but we agreed that eventually we would get another dog. Well, as it turns out, we now have a new dog, a sweet little guy named Owen, a seven-year-old Pug/Lhasa Apso mix (though he looks to be pure Pug).
About two weeks ago, a woman named Ginny posted on our local county's Yahoo group that she was looking to re-home one of her dogs because her family was moving to Florida, and they couldn't have more than three dogs in their rental home down there. I contacted her via email and asked her to send some photos. My wife and I saw the photos and we were very taken with Owen, so, after a bit of emailing back and forth, on Friday of last week, my wife and I went to Ginny's home and took possession of Owen. Owen was a bit nervous that first day with us, but we showed him lots of attention and affection and he warmed up to us almost immediately. He has taken a particular liking to me; when I'm sitting in the recliner in the living room, he likes to jump into my lap and settle down for a nice nap. The rest of the time, he follows me around the house, and is seemingly content just to be around me. He's a sweet little guy, and I must admit that I've come to love him very much in a very brief time.
Ginny had taken Owen to her veterinarian two days before we picked him up to get vaccinations for rabies and distemper. Prior to our visit, she had given him a bath, but he was very itchy and scratched almost constantly after we brought him home; I suspected he had some sort of allergy, although Ginny told us he had no allergies, just sensitive skin. Ginny also showed us what she said her vet had told her was a lipoma (a non-malignant fatty tumor) on his chest. We made an appointment with our own vet for this past Monday to have Owen examined fully.
Now for the bad news: when we saw our vet, she did a thorough examination of Owen, and found a few things wrong with him. He has a little problem with his nose, his left front paw is cocked at a bad angle, he has a very bad yeast infection in both ears, but worst of all is that the supposed lipoma on his chest is actually a mastocytoma or mast cell tumor, a type of cancer common in dogs, and to which pugs are especially prone. Owen will have to have surgery next Wednesday to remove it, and a lot of tissue will have to be cut out; about a 2-3 centimeter radius around the tumor. At this point, we don't know the grade of the tumor or the stage of the cancer. If it's stage 1 or 2, he has a good chance for complete recovery, but if it's stage 3 or 4, he probably won't have long to live. We won't know any more until the tumor is removed and sent to a pathologist for analysis.
Until the surgery on Wednesday, we're following our vet's orders and giving Owen some over-the-counter medicines to help combat the effects of the tumor on his body. The tumor is releasing histamine into his system, which is why he's been constantly itching and scratching, so he's getting a Benedryl tablet every eight hours. He's also getting Tagamet (a heartburn medicine) twice a day to prevent the histamine from damaging his stomach. We're also treating his ears for the yeast infection, putting medicine in once a day, and flushing out his ears once a week. One problem is that the surgery will be risky; Ginny told us that during a previous surgery to remove his rear dewclaws, Owen stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated. However, our vet is going to take extra precautions to hopefully minimize the risk of that happening again.
At this point, my wife is very angry, both at Ginny and her vet. The day Ginny took Owen to get his vaccinations, her vet supposedly did an exam on him and pronounced him healthy, which indicates to me that her vet is lazy or incompetent, or both. My wife thinks though that Ginny knew or suspected something was wrong with Owen, or at the very least should have taken better care of him. For example, Owen hasn't had a Lyme disease vaccination in about four years, and he hasn't been checked for heartworm for the same amount of time; fortunately the bloodwork our vet performed on him shows that he doesn't have either. Myself, I tend to think that Ginny was more than a bit neglectful, but didn't intend any subterfuge.
With all that has happened, both my wife and I are committed to doing the best for Owen. We both love him, and we'll take care of him, no matter what the financial or personal cost. We'll give him the best home possible, no matter how long he lives.
One last thing; if you would, please say a prayer, or send positive thoughts or good vibes for Owen... the little guy needs all the help he can get.
Here's a photo of Owen:
