Just got back from a very stressful morning at the vet. The good news is, Thirteen does not have cancer. They think. The bad news is, they have no idea what's wrong with her.
Thirteen's left front leg has been swollen and lame for a couple of months now. They checked it out back then, did X-rays, determined that it was probably just some inflammation and sent us on our way with a bottle of Rimadyl. In case that sounds a bit casual, I should say that we were all rather preoccupied with the crazy pacing at the time, and the leg really didn't seem like a big deal.
The leg has been about the same since then, until the last week or two when I noticed that the swelling and limping both seemed worse. Yesterday I had to refill Thirteen's perscription and while I was there, I made an appointment for next Thursday. Then last night I saw Thirteen really chewing at the inside of her leg, underneath the swelling, and I couldn't get her to stop. I made her roll over and show it to me (no small feat). The inside of her leg was looking raw and inflamed and the pad right behind the joint was also inflamed and kind of squishy.
Called them back this morning and hassled them into giving me an appointment today. Which meant rearranging my work to go in this afternoon instead, which my boss was totally cool about. They looked at Thirteen's leg, and said that the swelling was increasing more "aggressively" than they would like, and that cancer was a real concern. Which pretty much freaked me out. If did turn out to be cancer, they would have to amputate her leg. Which would not be good for a fat eldery dog who can barely walk as it is.
To cut to the chase they did another set of Xrays on the spot and they did not find evidence of cancer. What a relief! Apparently cancer would have look like destruction of the bone in a "starburst" pattern and there was nothing like that. Thirteen does have increased bone spurs over that joint, but the vet said it didn't look bad enough to warrant the swelling. So they're not sure what's wrong.
The vet is going to share the Xrays with a colleague and get back to me. But it sounds like the next step is to take Thirteen to the teaching hospital at NC State for a "joint tap." I gather this is sticking a needle into the joint to draw out fluid, like a spinal tap. Sounds awful.
In the meantime Thirteen has to lose weight. It's true, she is about 10 pounds overweight and has been for years. That's a lot for a dog! If her problem is osteoarthritis, then her weight is definitely making it worse. I have to figure out exactly how many calories Thirteen eats every day and report back to Dr. Broussard, who will draw up an eating plan. I already feed her weight loss food and no treats, except a nibble of cheese with her pills every morning. But I guess the quantity of food is too high. Especially since she gets so little exercise now that it's gotten hard for her to walk.
So I'm still kind of freaked out about the possibility of cancer, but Dr. Broussard seemed pretty well convinced that it's not there.
i had moseman on diet food for a long time with no real result; we finally found the right food (low carb, high protien, high fat.. sound familiar? :) and reduced the amount down a great deal. because it's high in protien and fat, he doesn't get hungry between meals so long as i keep him on schedule, and at this amount, he does seem to be losing some weight. and he basically never moves. so it is possible.
anyway, i hope thirteen is going to be ok.