The Hits Keep Coming...

The original vet called us on Friday (March 16th) to tell us the results of Buster's blood test. She had come up as having a low thyroid. He dramatically said that the normal range was 1.6-5, the low range was 0.8-1.5, and Buster was below the lowest end at 0.6. We asked his office if they could fax the results to the Bishop Ranch vet.

Dr. Ikezawa called us on Monday (March 19th) and said that the biopsy had come back as a sarcoma on Buster's left elbow, so she recommended we remove it within the next couple of weeks and since Buster would already be under anesthesia, she would also remove the mammary gland lumps at the same time.

She also mentioned the thyroid results and said that since Buster didn't show any of the other typical low-thyroid symptoms (chubbiness is the main one, I think, and she is definitely not that) that she wasn't too worried about it -- the thyroid level can vary throughout the day due to stress and other factors.

Since I had her on the phone, I mentioned that Buster was vomiting still. Initially we thought it was because of the excitement and stress of being in a new home, but she was still doing it after several days of being with us. Dr. Ikezawa asked if she was wretching and vomiting or if it was more like regurgitation. I said it was more like Buster was burping and out comes some food -- usually whole bits of undigested kibble, so more like a regurgitation. She paused for a bit and said, "Oh...That changes things then." She said there was a condition called megaesophagus that could be brought on by a low thyroid. She recommended that when we bring Buster in for surgery, we also do a chest x-ray. That way they could check if the cancer has spread throughout her chest and also for this esophagus condition.

I called the Bishop Ranch front desk the next day to schedule Buster's surgery. We hadn't even had her a week yet and already we were scheduling her surgery for Thursday, March 15th.

Sometime around then, I noticed that Buster had a couple of scabs on her tail, and when she wagged her tail, she whacked it on things - the coffee table, bookshelf, etc. It seemed like the scabs were starting to open up and were bleeding a little, leaving blood marks all over our walls. I asked the person at the vet's office if she knew offhand of anything we could try, so she suggested we could try covering it with a self-adhesive material called Pet Wrap.

Apart from her medical issues, Buster was turning out to be a great dog. She is really sweet and mellow, very affectionate. She always wants to be right next to us. If we're on the couch, she wants to sleep in our lap. If we're in the kitchen, she'll lay down on the floor watching us. She sleeps a lot, but still has these occasional bouts of friskiness. She's generally aloof with other dogs, even snappish when she's on a leash. But other than that she has a great disposition!

Buster with her tail wrapped