Two Surgeries

In early April, both Buford and Puddin went under anesthesia on the same day - Buford had a small tumor removed and Puddin had a dental with four extractions.  I was very nervous, especially for my boy since he will be 11 in June and doesn't handle vet visits well at all.  He did great though and I was so relieved a few days later when we got the test results back and the tumor was benign.  We were told it could either be a benign hemangioma or skin cancer given it's shape and the fact that it was growing.  Buford had this spot on his leg for a while, I remembering seeing it some time ago and thought it was a tick (can't remember how long ago that was).  It began to grow though and I took a picture of it one day when something that was so minor before looked huge all of a sudden.

It had never seemed to bother him before, but just a few days after I took that photo he started licking it and it began to bleed at which point we wrapped it and scheduled a doctor appointment.  Lauren was very concerned about his boo boo and also gave him a thorough checkup :)

His surgery was quick and easy, he came home with 2 stitches and as I said the results were all good - thankfully!  This picture was taken 3 days after the tumor removal and Tracy removed the sutures himself (at the direction of the vet) two weeks after the surgery.  He is all healed up now and you wouldn't even notice that there was ever anything there!

Puddin turned 9 in Dec and hadn't had a dental since she was adopted in 2009 (Buford hasn't had one since he was adopted in 2008 and his teeth still look great!).  We knew it was time for Puddin though so we took them both in on the same day so they could comfort each other.  Here's what was causing the stinky breath:

She ended up having those big molars in the back removed on each side, plus two little nubs extracted from the very front.  Poor girl!  I think she was in a lot of pain and the anesthesia really did a number on her.  She was awake at the vets office for two hours before they could get her to stand up.  Once we brought her home, she was so out of it with this distant look in her eyes that I got really worried.  Throughout the night, blood continued to slowly drip from her mouth also, but fortunately she started to get some life back in her the next day.  We gave her soft foods like pudding and yogurt and also made her some chicken and rice.  She didn't eat dog food for about 3 days, but then returned to her normal self. 

     

We're so thankful that both surgeries went well.  The dogs are doing great and we love having our sweet, silly, happy pups that make us smile!