22/06/2023
NOT CANCER
Nelly had a vet visit yesterday. Originally scheduled for a week ago, got rained out (because she has to be sedated outside), rescheduled two days later, but the pre-sedation meds were not enough to calm her for the vet to approach. So rescheduled again for yesterday and we changed strategy.
I wasn't sure it was going to work, but she let me syringe 2 FULL syringes of Sileo into her gums while I simultaneously sprayed canned Easy Cheese into the front of her mouth.
Since the honey I first bought and trialed was a bust, I asked for and received a wide variety of sticky foods to try on my local Buy Nothing group (sticky to help the Sileo stick to her gums). People gave me Fluffernutter, peanutbutter, cream cheese, Velveeta, Wonder bread, honey, molasses and Easy Cheese. After trialing them all to see if Nelly would like any of them I decided the Easy Cheese would be the...well...easiest!
I was VERY relieved that she let me syringe all that Sileo onto her gums. She'd already had two rounds of meds before that, by 10:30 in the morning. So this was round two of what would be FOUR rounds of sedation meds that morning. She needs a LOT of drugs to knock her out.
When we arrived at my vet's, I backed my car up to their dumpster and the plan was to open the back passenger side door, as her crate was backed up to it, and while the vet gave her the shot through the back holes in the crate, I would feed her Easy Cheese to distract her at the front of her crate, because she needed more sedation to fully knock her out. Thank you Rehmel from The eXtraOrdinary Dog Community - Shy and Fearful Dogs for the idea!
We were quiet and didn't talk in earshot of her so that she would not know my vet was there (hopefully). It was an intramuscular injection and he said it would hurt. I was worried that she'd be scared in the crate in the car after that, thinking she'd randomly feel stabs of pain at any given time. But...after several minutes of squeezing the cheese through a 10" silicone straw attached to the cheese can (which, of course, spilled out all over the seat as well), my vet hand signaled that he was done!
Nelly never indicated that she felt a thing. 😲 She has a ridiculously high tolerance for pain.
Waited about 20 minutes and she was still not out, so vet administered another small dose.
Finally, she was out and the vet had me drive onto their lawn to get close to their fenced back gate, and he and his assistant pulled the crate out of my car, with Nelly in it, and we slid her onto a blanket in the fenced yard, then muzzled her. This went smoother than last year, thankfully.
My fear-informed vet and his fear-informed assistant, then went to work quickly. He checked the hard-as-bone lump on Nelly's right rear leg which we'd originally thought was osteosarcoma, and he said it's not!! HUGE relief as she would not have had much longer to live had it been osteo.
He said she either broke the bone or it was bruised and the regrowth formed this lump of bone. He said he would not recommend surgery and that it should be fine left alone. It had to have been a bruise because I cannot imagine her not indicating something as serious as a break!
He also took an x-ray of the bone and confirmed it's not cancer. 🤗
She does have a bit of arthritis where one of her back cruciates was torn. And that may be why she's limping on her right rear leg now, ever since we left the appt. yesterday.
We were there for 5 hours - including 3 hours waiting for her to wake up after the reversal agent was given. She originally popped up a few minutes after it was administered, walked around, then lay down outside the fenced yard and I could not get her up after that for 3 hours. So she snoozed while I sat next to her, until a vet tech came out to help rouse her, which worked since she's a stranger to Nelly. Nelly finally got up, and after walking around a bit, I was able to get her up her ramp into the car.
She was given the 3 year rabies vax, so we can resume walks again, which will make her very happy.
So...just as my vet and I have finally worked out a protocol that works...he is leaving practice next week. UGH! He's the go-to vet in the area for very difficult patients like Nelly. He said she's one of the most difficult he's worked with. 😕 Visits are during his lunch hour, always require research, and usually take at least a few hours. He's more fear-informed than many other vets. So now, I have to start searching for a new vet who is willing to take on such a difficult patient.
I also want to do a med change - I think she needs it - but I don't know if we can do that now, as most vets will want to examine a dog before changing behavioral meds, but that's just not possible for a good long while. This was a very costly visit, financially, emotionally and mentally, and I don't want her to have to be fully sedated any time soon again. I cannot afford a vet behaviorist at this time, either.
This journey with Nelly just seems fraught with obstacles...so many challenges, even in our daily life at home. Sometimes I feel mentally wiped out by it all...but at the end of the day I love her dearly and I'm relieved the lump wasn't cancer.
Go Team Nelly! 👊🐾👣❤️
