Pets need caregivers too

Tippy Part 1

We buried Tippy Toes, our black lab, Jan 31.

Tippy had tumors most of her life but they were fatty tumors, not painful and of no danger to her. Then she developed a tumor on her lower abdomen that was cancerous.  It appeared literally “suddenly”.  She had been for her check up and was fine. Two days later I found this growth and thought she had bit herself too hard chasing fleas. I watched it for a week and it did not go down in size. I went back to the vet. They aspirated it (drew fluid) and found it was a mast cell tumor. 

This new tumor did not seem to bother her. The vet said it could be removed but with her age she may not survive the anesthesia.   She was 13 years old. We took her home and tried to keep her comfortable.  The vet explained this kind of tumor would fill up and drain, and fill up again.  He said it was full of histamine. Like what we get when we have sinus trouble.  We take anti-histamines. 

Over the next couple months this tumor began to drain.  I made a belly wrap for her with changeable bandages, made from the cut offs from the bed pads we make.  The bandage had Velcro to attach it to the wrap that went over her back and held it in place over her belly.  It looked like a life vest for dogs.  At first I changed it once a day.  A month later it was twice a day.  Since they were bed pad material they were washable.  I did not put them into the wash machine, although I could have.  I did not want to have any residue from the bandages in our clothing. So every day I was hand washing these bandages.  By the fifth month I was changing the pads three times a day.  It drained so much I think she was dehydrating simply because of losing so much fluid.   The last couple weeks she would not eat, and drank very little.  Chicken in broth with mashed potatoes had been a favorite but she had no interest now.  She lived on a few milk bones for a couple days, and then did not want them either.  She was still alert and tried to get around as best she could.

Tippy had hip dysplasia since birth. So she always had trouble getting around. From age 6 months I gave her Glyco-flex for dogs, like the glucosamine that people take.  It made a huge difference in her ability to move around. Now at 13 she had arthritis to deal with too.

With all this, she never eliminated in the house.  Even in her last days.  When she did have to go, she managed to get herself up and walk to the door.  For the last month I let her use my husband’s wheelchair elevator to get out the house without having to do the stairs.  I had bed pads down on the carpet in her favorite places to catch the fluid that leaked passed the bandages and to catch any accidents.