So I thought it would be good to update you on Rudy as this Thursday she turns 12!!
We honestly never believed she would reach this age. Between her mobility issues, her MCTs, her heart murmur and a REALLY nasty bout of colitis a couple of months ago, she really has been little short of a miracle. The video was taken last month and shows that the vast majority of days, she is still living a very happy life.
She currently has a little lump on her head that could be a skin tag or could be a MCT, but we have taken the decision not to have it removed. It’s too small to FNA, and it’s not growing, so we have opted to just let it be.
So Thursday will be celebrated with cake and a romp with her birth brothe, and her brother-from-another-mother. And we will offer up an ocean of gratitude for the years we have shared with this amazing dog, and hope that we have a bit longer still.
So please, if you are currently struggling with a diagnosis, try to retain hope. I know how hard it is, but when I look back on how much time I have spent sad and upset about a diagnosis Rudy’s had, I wish I could have been more positive & optimistic, and not wasted our time together.
Hug your dog. Play a game. Feed them something yummy. Try not to cry about the future. Enjoy the now ###x
Hi everyone. I just wanted to update you, one year on from finding the initial MCT that led to Rudy’s Stelfonta treatment in January.
Late summer, Rudy had 2 lumps surgically removed from the base of her tail. First was a malignant peri-anal tumour rather than a MCT, but clean margins and so far no recurrence. The second came up within weeks and looked very similar, but testing after removal confirmed it was the benign version thankfully.
Then earlier this month we found a small lump on her side, not that far from her spine. It was tiny, smaller than my little finger nail. It looked like her previous small MCTs and we all, including our lovely vets, suspected the worst.
However this morning I got the call from the vets and they said it’s BENIGN!!!! No MCT this time. Such wonderful news to get, this week of all weeks.
Rudy has some other medical issues, but at 11.5 years old she is still living her life to the full and bringing us so much joy!
We know things can change very quickly, so we are thankful for all the extra time we have with her, and extremely thankful to the skilled and caring vets at Bitterne Vets4Pets and Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists who have looked after her so well. I’d also send thanks to Bought By Many insurance who have taken so much of the financial stress out of this year.
I hope Rudy’s story over this past year offers you hope that a MCT diagnosis doesn’t have to be worst news. Sending all of you the most positive wishes for 2022 ###
Hi. A quick update for those of you wondering how Rudy is doing. I have been very reluctant to post on here because somehow, irrationally, it feels like tempting fate. However, I’ll be brave and provide an update.
It’s been 15 weeks since Rudy’s treatment. To date there has been no recurrence of either of the 2 MCTs. The wounds have healed and her hair has grown back. The huge area on her torso that was shaved for her liver/ spleen biopsy has also almost grown back fully.
We obviously check her regularly. It is so hard to go looking for something you don’t want to find, but we know early diagnosis helps, so force ourselves to do it.
We have opted not to put her through another biopsy. Our thinking has been that if the cancer had spread and gone to liver and spleen, we would probably opt to not treat her. So we work on the basis that as long as she seems well, she is well and we cross any other bridge if it comes. The biopsy involves a general anaesthetic, so it’s not without its own risks.
Having said that, she had bloods done a few weeks ago and they showed healthy liver function and white & red blood cells, so her body doesn’t appear to be fighting anything. We will continue with regular blood tests.
This is a video taken this week. Rudy has just started new meds for her arthritis- Librela injections. She is off all other pain relief, doing well and as you can see- enjoying life!
If anything changes I will let you know. I’ve always wanted to be as honest as possible. For all of you going through tough times with your dogs, Rudy and I send our love xx
ps I am having problem seeing messages sent to me via this page- something to do with Facebook set up. Posting stuff in comments is the best way for me to see/ respond.
The scab fell off the site of the large tumour yesterday so now the wound is officially healed!!! 29 days. Simply amazing.
We go to see the oncologist next Wednesday. Everything crossed.
Just sharing a short film of Rudy & Jig enjoying the chilly sunshine today. We have a game we play where I hand Rudy the ball...she trots off with it, gets bored, drops it and starts chewing something else or having a dig. Jigso, the true ‘retriever’ in our household, then swoops in and brings the ball back to me. They both get their ball fun with no high impact chasing.
As you can see, today someone else wanted to get in on the fun...photobombed by another Goldie...turned out he comes from the same line as Rudy so a distant relative! A question about Rudy’s shaved patch revealed that the other dog’s guardian lost a Goldie to cancer...never the conversation you want when you are going through treatment with your own, but I understand that people want to talk about it.
Day 18 post 2...
It is so wet and muddy here at the moment. We keep Rudy on lead most the time so we can steer her around big puddles but allow her to have an off lead run on drier ground.
She wears her full body suit from Equafleece which we LOVE! That covers the small wound successfully. However, the larger wound is much closer to the ground, comes close to the end of the suit, and was so large initially that we didn’t want fibres from the suit getting in (as well as mud!). We have therefore been covering the wound we go out, except on pure pavement walks.
I thought it might help some people to see how we are covering the wound.
Extra thought: we taught Rudy a ‘roll over’ cue when she was younger. We never pushed it to a full roll because of her spinal crunchiness. However, the ability to get her to lie on her side on cue/ request has once again been SO helpful. I’d thoroughly recommend teaching it to any dog.
As you can see, Rudy is a real sweetie, and although she has a strong, independent mind, she will also do anything for Kev or I. However, I try to work on the ‘just because you can, doesn’t mean you should’ principle with my handling of her, and find cooperative ways of doing things rather than physically moving her. You can see she is a bit wary here about what I might do next...hardly surprising given the last few weeks, but we keep everything to a minimum and give her a clear release at the end (and there was a tasty reward afterwards!)
Day 15: Tumour removal video 2
Day 15...removing the dead tumour!
I emailed the oncologist yesterday to show her the smaller tumour that was stubbornly hanging on. She in turn checked with the manufacturer. The advice came back that as the tumour had clearly necrotised (died) we could see if it would come of with some gentle pressure. If not, they advised waiting a while longer to see what happened.
As you will see from the videos (first one here, second in next post) Kev and I played vet! The bulk of the dead material sloughed off using just a soft cloth. Final bit was more stubborn. I think there was fur holding it but also probably a tiny bit of tissue. It is now gone though. I felt a moment of triumph consigning it to the bin!
Tiny wound underneath. Be interesting to see if that one grows much and how slow it is to heal given its position. I do have to remind myself that it was a very small tumour in the first place, so there was never going to be the dramatic wound of the one on the lower leg.
She remains on antihistamine to counter any granulation.
My more immediate concern is that she finished her Gabapentin yesterday, so we will need to now monitor whether the current level of Pardale (paracetamol) and tapered steroid dose is enough to keep her free from arthritic pain...she can’t return to her usual NSAID anti-inflammatory pain killer (Onsior) until 5 days post the final steroid. We cannot allow a situation where she is uncomfortable and miserable due to join pain. Once her wounds heal we can get her back to her hydrotherapy (Richmond Canine Hydrotherapy Centre) which she loves. Quality of life is all and through this she has remained our Rudy, so it’s key we manage her other condition well.
Day 10 post treatment:
Today lifted my heart!
We took Rudy for a proper walk today. It’s been wet here over the past few weeks and the ground is very muddy. We don’t want dirt or standing water getting in to the wound.
We covered the wound with a non-sticky dressing and used a yellow vet wrap around her wrist to hold it in place. We put her Equafleece onesie on to cover the other mass (which still hasn’t formed a wound).
We kept her on lead for the majority of the walk to prevent her going through large puddles or really muddy areas. However, on this walk there is a spot we normally linger for a while and let the dogs chew sticks and chill. Luckily the ground was quite solid in that area today, so we could let her off lead for a few minutes.
It was so lovely to she her do all the normal things she loves on a walk: roll, chew, sniff and mooch. The sun was shining and we even saw catkins. I’m sure today did her the world of good and it certainly put a smile on my face. We managed to walk further than we have done since the treatment.
I’m sure she will sleep well tonight!
Day 7: a post about practical ways we are supporting Rudy...and why there is a chicken in our house...!
Email from the oncologist this morning to say she is happy with the wound on Rudy’s lower leg- she says she has seen that white material in the other dogs she has treated.
She confirmed also that the small tumour has gone necrotic (ie it’s died) so should detach too.
We will continue to monitor, but basically so far, so good!
To celebrate, I thought rather than share another gory picture this morning (no change from yesterday basically), I’d show you this fun film...yep, we currently have a house chicken who LOVES Rudy. For those that don’t know, the UK has lockdown for chickens because of an Avian Flu outbreak. We have a single chicken left, who already spent quite a bit of time indoors last summer when the doors were open, but now officially lives in our lean-to, but in practice spends 90% of her time inside with the rest of her ‘flock’ (Rudy and our Border Collie). She no longer lays eggs so is no longer subject to DEFRA rules on what she can eat, so she too enjoys yogurt on a Licky Mat 😂
Licky Mats are brilliant for enrichment and for distraction so I’d 100% recommend them for anyone who’s dog is going through any treatment/ recovery period. Rudy can’t have her usual off lead walks because of the mud, so we need to make sure we keep her brain working, plus it’s important to get her up and moving because of her arthritis. We have a whole range of low calorie treats for her to lick or to search for.
You can also see that we have rugs throughout the rooms Rudy goes in to prevent micro-tears on muscles from little slips as she walks around. All part of her long-term arthritis management. However, I would say it is essential to get rugs down if your dog is having Stelfonta treatment on a leg, because Rudy was decidedly wobbly for the first few days and reluctant to fully weight-bear. She needed really good traction on the flooring,
Day 6 post treatment:
Took a video to send to the oncologist this evening, so thought I would share that.
The smaller tumour is not sloughing off because she can’t lick it but it is black and dying.
The larger tumour looks to be gone. I am check with the oncologist whether we should have any concerns about the white stuff in the wound. There is no smell, so hopefully it’s just part of the healing process rather than an infection. The skin around the wound looks quite red but isn’t hot- I suspect it’s red from her licking. She isn’t licking obsessively, but obviously more than she usually would.
She’s quite quiet, but bright enough when it comes to doing food searches and is eating and drinking normally.
Hopefully I’ll get some feedback from the oncologist tomorrow.
It’s such a lovely bright day out today that we took a little amble just along our street.
She was slower than usual and sometimes when she stopped to sniff, the treated (right fore) leg got the wobbles.
You can see her gait is not right as she walks, and her head is not usually carried so low, but I think overall some air and sniffs is beneficial.
The advice from the oncologist and the drug company is that they can exercise as usual, but I am going to take it slowly and base it on how I think she’s doing generally. Rudy does have arthritis, including in the wrists, so I don’t want to put too much compensatory strain on other joints. Equally I don’t want her getting too stiff.
In the end we compromised- we did a little more than I would have liked and lots less than she wanted!
Seems weird seeing her in a collar and lead- we always use a harness but I don’t want there to be any risk of rubbing on tender skin. As you can also see, it will be a while before the fur on her tummy and sides grows after she was shaved for the biopsy. She does have a coat but she was fine today.
