A Quick Good News Update

We have results on both Elsie and Kenya, and both sets of results fall into what we can call good news. :)  Yay!

First, Elsie.  Though the Elsie Bear's tumor came back as a Grade 2 tumor (right in the middle, 1 being least aggressive, 3 being most aggressive), the tumor itself had no tendrils or rough edges (very clean and self-contained).  A second scale (the Mitotic scale, used to assess/predict likelihood of the cancer spreading), ranked Elsie's tumor a "0"  (on a scale of 0-5). That means it's highly unlikely that the cancer has or will spread.  In other words, it appears that Elsie's tumor was an isolated skin cancer that hasn't spread anywhere else, and her prognosis is excellent.

It also means she does not need chemo or radiation treatments.  All we have to do is check her regularly (which we already do for all the dogs) for bumps or skin irritations, and if we spot anything, get her to the vet sooner than later for assessment.

She's rebounding very well from her surgery (is running now and acting much like her old self). :)  And she's back to being our bear. :)

Yay!

Second, Kenya:  The sweet Kenya bean is 100% her old self, like nothing was ever wrong.  :)  Her test results indicated that she has both an active and a chronic (longer term) infection, both of which we and the vet believe are rooted in her mastitis.  Since being on the antibiotics again Kenya's temp has come back to normal, her swelling (in her teats and hocks) has nearly disappeared, and she's walking, running, eating, and jumping normally.  She appears to be just fine.

We gave her only one dose of Rimadyl (Monday morning when she couldn't walk). She hasn't needed it since.  But we're still pushing the pups' weaning schedule up a little just in case Kenya relapses (it's unknown how Rimadyl might affect nursing puppies, so we don't want to take any chances). The little squirts are five weeks old now so it's really not that early (we would have weaned them by six weeks anyway) .  And they love puppy food, so they'll do just fine.

All in all both girls are doing fabulously, and we are incredibly relieved.  Elsie goes next week to get her stitches out.  And Kenya will go with us when we take the pups for their 6-week check-up (which will be closer to 6.5 weeks).

It's all good. Thanks for all your well-wishes and prayers. Just thought you'd like to know.

Phew.

'Til next time,
Joan