BarbV
Forums Celebrity
As I've posted on other feeds, Bacca has been off his food for the last two weeks. I assumed one of two things:
- Indy (the warthog) had finally pushed him too far and made him afraid, or
- The transition to Orijen was not agreeing with him.
Yesterday, I finally went and bought a bag of the old Pro Plan and eureka! He ate! Yippee! But would not eat dinner. Hmmmm! I took the boys for a walk and noticed that Bacca was not as spry as normal. I naively assumed that because he had not been eating much lately, that would make sense.
I groomed them both last night, and also noticed that Bacca's face looked a little distorted. Again, I attributed that to possible weight loss.
This morning I woke up and got up to let the pups out. Bacca would not move off the bed. I went to him to see what was up and his mouth was swollen over from his lips down to his jawline. My first thought was bee-sting, but that made no sense. No bees in the house.
Brought him to the emergency vet as soon as I could.
They put him on low priority (they thought bee sting), but while we were waiting, the swelling started to get bigger and bigger, and was now moving up towards his eye! So I had a bit of a hissy fit and they finally took him in.
Bottom line....they don't know what's wrong. It could be one of 3 things:
- some kind of abscess or infection (e.g. chewing on a stick, punctured the gum, etc)
- something called Salivary Mucocele. Treatable if caught early enough but requires surgery
- CANCER! (lymphs)
They gave me anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories to see if it brings it down at all. I am to bring him back on Wednesday to see the surgeon. They will sedate him, do a more thorough exam and a possible biopsy.
He spoke so much about the possibility of cancer that I knew that this was more than just a passing idea.
Bacca is only 1 year old. I cannot imagine the worst case. If I were to lose him, I think I would lose it myself, such has been my year.
- Indy (the warthog) had finally pushed him too far and made him afraid, or
- The transition to Orijen was not agreeing with him.
Yesterday, I finally went and bought a bag of the old Pro Plan and eureka! He ate! Yippee! But would not eat dinner. Hmmmm! I took the boys for a walk and noticed that Bacca was not as spry as normal. I naively assumed that because he had not been eating much lately, that would make sense.
I groomed them both last night, and also noticed that Bacca's face looked a little distorted. Again, I attributed that to possible weight loss.
This morning I woke up and got up to let the pups out. Bacca would not move off the bed. I went to him to see what was up and his mouth was swollen over from his lips down to his jawline. My first thought was bee-sting, but that made no sense. No bees in the house.
Brought him to the emergency vet as soon as I could.
They put him on low priority (they thought bee sting), but while we were waiting, the swelling started to get bigger and bigger, and was now moving up towards his eye! So I had a bit of a hissy fit and they finally took him in.
Bottom line....they don't know what's wrong. It could be one of 3 things:
- some kind of abscess or infection (e.g. chewing on a stick, punctured the gum, etc)
- something called Salivary Mucocele. Treatable if caught early enough but requires surgery
- CANCER! (lymphs)
They gave me anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories to see if it brings it down at all. I am to bring him back on Wednesday to see the surgeon. They will sedate him, do a more thorough exam and a possible biopsy.
He spoke so much about the possibility of cancer that I knew that this was more than just a passing idea.
Bacca is only 1 year old. I cannot imagine the worst case. If I were to lose him, I think I would lose it myself, such has been my year.
