Mass Removal Friday!

Again, it is unfortunate that this computer won't let me post pictures. Then again, it may be a fortunate thing as well. Mixed in among the normal spay/neuter based surgical schedule of today we had two significant mass removals. One was a large, ulcerated mass from the ventral abdomen ("stomach" area) of a cat. The thing was enormous; larger than the cat's head. The first time this cat had ever been to a vet was this last week to have this mass looked at. I guess we should be glad that the owner not only finally decided to bring it in, but also paid for the surgery to remove it plus spaying the cat, testing her for FeLV/FIV and bringing her up-to-date on her vaccinations. It would have been nice to see her earlier, but that's how it goes sometimes!

The other mass was even more dramatic. An elderly (~11-ish) Labrador retriever came in yesterday with the chief complaints of anorexia, lethargy and a "bulging" abdomen. On palpation, it was pretty obvious what the problem was and an abdominal x-ray confirmed it: a bowling ball sized tumor on the spleen. He went to surgery today, and we removed the thing, spleen and all. Dogs do amazingly well with total splenectomies. It was an amazing surgery, though certainly bloody. The mass was very friable (wants to fall apart with even minimal handling) and so large that the dog had to be opened almost from stem-to-stern to get it out. I ended up being the one to guess most accurately how much it weighed: about 6.5 pounds! Fortunately, we saw no evidence of metastasis to the liver or anywhere else in the abdomen we were able to visualize. He recovered well and walked out the door this afternoon to go home within 6 hours of waking up! Hopefully, he continues to do well!

So, it was certainly an exciting day on the surgery side of things. On the appointment side, I saw everything from some new puppy exams to an asthmatic cat to a canary that was being picked on by her cagemates. A lot of interesting stuff!