She was suffocating because of a condition called laryngeal paralysis (aka “lar par”). She couldn’t go on walks or function normally. Penny, a 7 year old Labrador, was in deep trouble. She is now rewarded with a beautiful, healthy cat who can enjoy life. I love Callie’s story because it’s such a perfect example of how one loving human can dedicate so much time of energy and save one tiny kitten’s life. She is a happy, energetic, precocious cat that looks like a kitten and we can’t imagine life without her.” “She just turned 1 year of age and now weighs about 9.5 lbs. She seems to prefer dry food over wet, now that she doesn’t have to worry about gagging it up.” “Since that second operation, she has had no problems eating or drinking anything. So we did another surgery, minor this time, to close the tiny pinhole. This can happen, and we had discussed that possibility during the consultation. What happened is that one tiny area didn’t heal properly. There was no sneezing, coughing or gagging.Ĭallie’s owner writes: “It was so amazing! I can hardly find words to describe how it felt to see her eat like a normal kitten.” She quickly put on a pound.Ībout 2 weeks after the surgery, bubbles started to come out of Callie’s nose after eating or drinking. Once home, she immediately started eating whatever was put in front of her. The picture below shows the stiched-up opening. The green arrow shows the hole in the back part of the roof of the mouth, ie the cleft palate.Ĭallie made it through surgery with flying colors and woke up smoothly after anesthesia. The red arrow shows the normal part of the front of the roof of the mouth. On the picture below, Callie is on her back on the surgery table. Long story short, Callie grew stronger and eventually had surgery at Brodheadsville Veterinary Clinic ( when she turned 8 months. Until then, family members had to take turns to feed Callie slurry every few hours. She needed to be a better candidate for anesthesia and surgery. So we agreed that we would try to hang in there until Callie is older and stronger. Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, Fear Free Certified This is the other reason we need to remove so much tissue (bone) around the mass.Įven though a large portion of her jaw had to be removed, Minnie has recovered very well and can now enjoy life again. What it means is that the tumor eats the bone away. The most amazing thing is that most dogs eat soon after surgery, sometimes the evening of surgery! In Minnie’s case, she ate the day after surgery.Ībout a week later, the biopsy came back as ameloblastoma, which is a “locally aggressive” tumor. Part of her upper jaw (maxilla) would have to be removed in order to hopefully “get it all.” Surgery went well.Įven though pet owners are typically horrified when such an invasive surgery is recommended, pets don’t look as grotesquely disfigured as they imagine. Īfter a physical exam, blood work and chest X-rays (to check for spreading to the lungs), it was decided that Minnie was a good candidate for anesthesia and surgery. She was referred for surgery at Mountain Shadow Veterinary Hospital (. It can be unimportant or extremely aggressive. Is it generically called an epulis, an unfortunate name that doesn’t mean much. The mass had been present for a while and kept growing. Minnie, a 9 year old beagle, had a cherry-sized mass behind her upper canine tooth.
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