Willie the blind Beagle needed to have his eyes removed because they had become painful, and we took him to our local vet clinic for the surgery last week. But on the physical exam before the procedure, our vet Dr. Nancy Lefavour detected a very pronounced heart murmur. She thought it might be as high as a Grade 5, and considered him too risky for surgery. She asked us to see if our veterinary ophthalomologist, Dr. Sarah Hoy, was comfortable doing an enucleation on him, or if she had other options to recommend.
Consequently, I scheduled two appointments for Willie last Friday in Burlington -- with our internal medicine specialist, Dr. Tanya Donovan, in the morning for an echocardiogram of his heart to find out just what kind of condition his heart is in, and then with Dr. Hoy in the afternoon for a consultation. I took the photo above of Tanya doing a physical exam on Willie.
I had mentioned to Tanya that Willie had a large fatty tumor in his pelvic region, and he'd had this for a few years. But we noticed it seemed to get larger in recent months, and I asked if she could put the ultrasound probe on it while she was doing the echocardiogram just to make sure nothing weird was going on.
Here's Willie during the echo:
The good news was that his heart actually looked pretty good, and Tanya graded his heart murmur closer to a Grade 3/4. She considered him a reasonable risk for surgery.
When the time came to ultrasound the fatty tumor, Tanya was stunned to find some loops of intestine inside it. At first she thought the probe was picking up the intestines inside the abdomen, i.e., scanning through the fatty tumor, but it became clear the intestinal loops she was seeing on the screen were actually inside what we -- and numerous vets over the years -- had considered a run-of-the-mill fatty tumor. It turns out he had an inguinal hernia -- a hole in the abdominal wall that part of his intestines had slipped through.
Tanya is ultrasounding Willie's fatty tumor in this shot:
Willie was so stressed out by this that he actually fell asleep and began snoring during the imaging. No, really. He was snoring away when I took that photo.
Fortunately, his intestines are still working fine, which is one reason we never suspected anything was wrong. At some point, obviously -- and presumably this was recently when we noticed the fatty tumor getting larger -- he developed the hernia and then the intestinal looped popped out inside it.
For an interesting quick animation on how inguinal hernias are repaired in people, see this.
This kind of surgery requires a board-certified veterinary surgeon, so Tanya scheduled Willie to have the procedure performed by her colleague, Dr. Josie Mallinckrodt, who practices at the same clinic. Rather than put Willie through two different surgeries -- one for the hernia and one for his eyes -- Dr. Mallinckrodt planned to do the enucleation at the same time.
Yesterday morning I drove Willie to Burlington for the surgery. Dr. Mallinckrodt called last night to say he had come through it in great shape, had recovered from anesthesia, and should be ready to come home on Saturday.
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My dog Stormie had enucleation surgery a few weeks ago. She is one happy pup - no more awful glaucoma pain, and she gets around just fine. Hugs and pats to Willie - best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Posted by: Judy | July 30, 2012 at 08:00 PM
So very happy for Willie's outcome. God's blessings to you, Alayne & Steve, for the great work you do at RDF. What a wonderful calling!
Posted by: Dave Shaw, Lakewood, WA | July 30, 2012 at 05:29 PM
Love me some Beagle snores; I am listening to some right now. SO glad Willie came through surgery! Sending good Beagle healing thoughts to the sweet little man.
Posted by: Heidi, Emmett the Beagle and Moxie the Kitty | July 29, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Scared me when I first started reading. What a relief. Wonderful news for dear dear Willie. Hugs and kisses!!!
Posted by: Mae - Jefferson City | July 28, 2012 at 02:43 PM
Love Willie's laid back style. Does he have any basset hound in him or does he just photograph that way sometimes? The Rowdy Rivard Gang wish him a very speedy, easy recovery! :)
Posted by: Kathleen Rivard | July 28, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Great job, Willie!
Much better days are coming.
Posted by: Glenda | July 28, 2012 at 05:58 AM
Willie must be such a strong little boy to be able to come through two different surgeries with flying colours! Bravo Willie!:-)
God bless you, Alayne & Steve, for taking such great care of your furkids.
Hope Willie will be back at the farm today, as planned. Please give him a huge hug for me.
Posted by: Carla Polastro-Nigro | July 28, 2012 at 04:13 AM
Willie is sure a handsome guy! I'm glad that he was able to get the 2 surgeries done at the same time as it's so much easier on him. I'm very happy that all is going to be ok and he can continue enjoying his happy life at RDF!
Posted by: Ann | July 27, 2012 at 11:57 PM
I didn't realize I was holding my breath while reading this post until the last paragraph. And Willy is coming home tomorrow....he must be feeling so much better.
Easy recovery to you brave boy!
Posted by: Chloe | July 27, 2012 at 05:19 PM
Poor Willie! Here he thought he was just going to go for a ride in the car, and ended up with double feature surgery. Hope he feels better soon! We look forward to photos of Willie modeling a cone.
Posted by: Tonya Allen | July 27, 2012 at 04:34 PM
As we're looking after a doggie with a BIG murmur now I'm ever so happy that he came through it all allright! For the title I guessed I was looking at an unexpected adoption photo, but a good surgery is sweet too :)
Posted by: Jessica, NL | July 27, 2012 at 03:46 PM
WOW - NEVER A DULL MOMENT AT ROLLING DOG. I'M SURE WILLIE WILL BE FEELING SO MUCH BETTER NOW. YOU ARE WONDERFUL IN WHAT TOU DO.
Posted by: FELICIA | July 27, 2012 at 03:08 PM
Yay Willie! You have lots of love to help you heal quickly.
Posted by: Leila K. - Western Wash. | July 27, 2012 at 02:43 PM
Please give dear Willie a BIG HUG from British Columbia for us...Dear boy, you are indeed a fortunate soul to have such caring people around you... xo
Posted by: Valerie | July 27, 2012 at 12:53 PM
Sending Willie much love and light!!! Here is to a quick recovery Willie. We love you.
Posted by: Shirley * James/Portland, OR | July 27, 2012 at 12:47 PM
What a little Trooper Willie is. And presumably awesome bedside manner to help him relax.
Get well soon!
Posted by: Margaret | July 27, 2012 at 11:56 AM
Wonderful report. Yeah Willie !!!
Posted by: Lynn (in Louisiana) | July 27, 2012 at 10:50 AM
During the ultrasound he had gentle hands on him on a padded table, was the center of attention and was getting a kind of belly rub...all lulling him into nap time....Glad to hear he came thru it all ok. And now he will be pain free in the eye department. You guys are great!!
Posted by: Anne in FL | July 27, 2012 at 10:46 AM
This post had me worried at first - but the outcome is wonderful! Sweet Willie.
Posted by: Linda | July 27, 2012 at 10:11 AM
Yeah!!! Glad to hear he came through his surgery. Always a worry!! Willie certainly has come out of his shell since being with Katie and then back to you. He felt comfortable enough to take a little snooze during the Imaging!! HA!
Posted by: Laura, Levi & Timmy | July 27, 2012 at 10:05 AM
Willie, you look to be such a sweet little guy. You will be feeling great in no time! Extra hugs to you as you recover.
Posted by: Mary H./Washington state | July 27, 2012 at 10:04 AM
Excellent, so that actually worked out rather well - no tumour after all.
Posted by: Lindsay | July 27, 2012 at 08:34 AM
It's so good that Willie was able to get everything fixed at once. It's such a shame he got so stressed out during his exam. Ha ha ha ha! That had to be one funny sight! Hope he makes a quick recovery. Thank you for taking such good care of him.
Posted by: Barb Ribinski | July 27, 2012 at 08:30 AM
I'm wishing Willie a speedy and easy recovery. I'm sure he will be receiving lots of extra attention and special treatment when he gets home.
Posted by: Kathy Hertzel | July 27, 2012 at 08:23 AM