Two Dogs, Two Surgeries: A Compassionate Journey Through Veterinary Care

Today’s Emmett’s surgery. And – sigh – his brother Lucas will be keeping him company until his surgery later today.

Emmett’s surgery was scheduled two weeks ago. I took him in because he was having some skin/rash issues, and a little red bump on his thorax had changed into a much bigger purple bump. The vet is doing a wide excision in case it’s a mast cell tumor.

Already I was a mess.

Then, early last week, John mentioned that it looked like Lucas snagged his dew claw. It was inflamed, so we got it cleaned up, assumed it was from wrestling with Molly or running through the obstacles in our backyard jungle, and then… I sort of forgot about it.

Until Thursday night. We were sitting outside. It was beautiful weather, so we were grilling while the dogs ran around. John asked if I had checked Lukey’s dew claw. I hadn’t. He hadn’t. Suffice to say, I feel awful.

Whatever it is, it’s not a cut or tear. First thing Friday I called the vet and got him in to see the new vet at the practice that afternoon. He stuck a needle in it, and the needle filled with blood. He said he was hoping to see some pus or cyst material, so he did a second needle. Blood again and a tiny bit of fluid. Long story short: He recommended removing it ASAP because it could be, among other possibilities, a melanoma, which can be malignant. It’s coming from his nail bed, so he may end up losing his whole dew claw in the surgery today. (Incidentally, it was Lucas’ best vet visit ever. He was way more relaxed and behaved perfectly. I’ll write about our new strategies another time.)

So, both my big boys are in surgery today. Wahhhh.

I’m a nervous wreck, and the next couple weeks of two dogs with sutures is going to be a bit of a challenge.

Think happy thoughts for my guys! I’ll update Facebook later today with the results.