Our newest medical success story is Rocky. Rocky came to us one Friday morning with a distended abdomen for several weeks and the complaint of just not doing well. Routine blood work did not give us any clues as to what might be ailing Rocky, so we moved on to an abdominal x-ray where we found a large space occupying mass. This mass was so large it filled about 3/4 of his abdominal cavity and was pressing on his intestines causing him to have difficult bowel movements. Not knowing the type of mass and given his age (which was 12), his prognosis was guarded. The next step would be to take Rocky to surgery and to remove, if possible, but at the very least take a sample for a biopsy in order to come to a definitive diagnosis .
This news, of course, was upsetting to the owners of Rocky and was a decision which needed to be made by the whole family; in the end they decided for him to have surgery. Rocky came back to us the next week. Once inside,what we found was a spleen 3 to 4 times its normal size. It was discolored, engorged with blood and very friable, meaning it felt delicate...so delicate that I was afraid it was going to fall apart in my hands. It was a tedious surgery ligating all the many vessels supplying the mass, but after what seemed to be hours we placed the last suture and Rocky began to wake up. Just out of curiosity we placed the removed mass on our scales and were shocked to find it weighed 3.2 pounds!! That is quite a sizable mass for a 12 pound dog! Three days later he went home feeling much better.
Ten days after his discharge, Rocky returned to have sutures removed and for a re-check. His owners state he is a different dog. Biopsy results revealed that Rocky's mass wa a splenic hematoma. No cancerous cells were found. So things are looking good for the Rocky!!
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