Blind Bud Sees Dr. Dave
Our blind dog Bud has not been doing well the past few days. He's hasn't shown much interest in food, and what little food Bud does eat he often throws up ... but not all the time. He seems a bit disoriented, distant, lethargic, and just not his usual responsive self. Beth and Kathryn described him as suddenly acting and looking very old. Yet Kathryn checked his vital signs yesterday and everything was normal.
Bud has had his "off" spells in the past, but this didn't seem like one of those ... and at the very least, we didn't want to make that assumption. So I took him in to see our internal medicine specialist in Missoula, Dr. Dave Bostwick, this afternoon.
Dave did a complete physical exam and found nothing unusual, and Bud's vital signs were all within range today, too. Next up was the ultrasound, which is what we're doing in this photo. Dave found a small (1.8 cm) mass in Bud's spleen, which could be the source of the problem ... or could be coincidental.
Dave said that typically one-third of masses in the spleen are benign and two-thirds are malignant. (I didn't like the sound of those odds.) The only way to find out, of course, is a biopsy.
The ultrasound showed all of Bud's other organs looking normal, as did his heart. There was nothing abnormal in the urinalysis. Dave drew blood for a complete blood count and chemistry panel, and we should have those results in the next 24 hours. The blood work will probably answer a lot of questions, and then we'll go from there in terms of the biopsy.
Bud is wearing a muzzle during the ultrasound because he can get a wee-bit snappy when stressed -- not aggressive "I-want-to-hurt-you" snappy, but "please-don't-do-this-I-don't-like-it" snappy. He doesn't actually try to bite, it's more like snapping at the air, but we learned it's best to muzzle him during procedures like this.
(This has nothing to do with anything, but a few months ago we came up with a great name for a band: Dr. Dave and the Ultrasounds!)
(Click on photos for larger image.)
Bud, I hope you are feeling better very soon and that Dr. Dave is able to get to the reason why you are not feeling yourself.
Posted by: Nina | July 13, 2006 at 11:30 AM
Dr. Dave is just great! He's been treating one of our min pins, and I've been very impressed--and so has our min pin Brandy who is doing much better thanks to Dr. Dave.
Posted by: Dawn Moore | July 12, 2006 at 08:13 AM
Bud definitely doesn't look like he feels well. There is a real spark about him on his profile pictures which he certainly seems to be lacking now.
I'll keep him in my thoughts and hope for a benign mass result.
Take it easy guys!
Posted by: Leilani | July 12, 2006 at 07:43 AM
Bud, I hope your spleen biopsy comes out clean as a whistle and that you're feeling your best soon.
xoxo
Posted by: Roz | July 12, 2006 at 07:14 AM
We certainly hope Bud is alright. We're keeping our fingers crossed for him & sending positive thoughts his way.
ginger & Tobias
Posted by: ginger & Tobias (the greythound) | July 11, 2006 at 11:27 PM