About the Pup

A lapse in posting over the past few days can be explained by some news affecting our adorable pup.  After posting about our successful self-serve bathing experience, we find we have some sad news to report.  Well, we are hoping it doesn't turn out to be too sad.

We found a lump beneath Teddy's jaw a few days ago.  Being conscientious pet owners, an immediate appointment was made and the pup saw the vet on January 2nd.  Unfortunately, after aspirating the lump and waiting for slides to be reviewed, we've been advised her growth is a cancerous tumor.  That's thrown us for a bit of a loop.

What is less horrible, is the type of cancer it appears to be:  a Lymphoma that is categorized as "T-Zone," with abnormal B-Cells showing up.  Apparently, this type of disease has a better prognosis with treatment that cancers that affect T-Cells.  The vet who did the fluid aspiration conferred with an oncologist, who advised we send the samples to a pathologist -- which in our case is Cornell University.  Once the samples are analyzed, the oncologist will be better able to determine a course of treatment. At first we were going to have the tumor removed, but was advised that this might not be necessary.

At this point, we believe we will treat.  At 11, she is older, but otherwise super healthy.  Her blood work and urinalysis was perfect.  We contacted her breeder, who is also a vet tech.  She wants to be kept apprised of the condition and treatment, and was glad that we let her know.  Teddy's father is no longer alive -- he was born in 1999, but he sired many good dogs.  His offspring have been such a success, that our breeder had some of his sperm frozen so it could be used for future litters.  She's putting that on hold.  Now she will see how Teddy fares and if other dogs from his line show up with this cancer.  Unlike the cancer that took our last dog (Hemangiosarcoma) this form of cancer is not known to be hereditary.  But good breeders don't take chances and they want to know of any serious health concerns in their lines.

Some cancers can be treated and lead to an extended lifespan of months, but this type of cancer can be in remission for a couple of years.  At her age, that's good.  Dogs also handle chemotherapy better than humans do.  So, we have both of these things in our favor.  Also, while there are multiple lymph nodes in a dog's body, only one seems to be affected so far.

We will not know the pathology results for a week or so.  She is doing just fine -- showing no signs of any sort of sickness or discomfort.

Please send positive thoughts and prayers out for our girl.  We need her around for at least a couple more years!