kade
Took Kade to the vet last Monday for his annual check up; he weighs 39.5 lbs, which is the lowest he's weighed since he was a puppy. His normal weight is around 42 lbs in the summer and 45 lbs. in the winter, so I was surprised to see him so low. They also took some blood and found that his creatinine levels were elevated, which worried me, but the vet said it's common in senior dogs (Kade is 10 years old) and just a sign of aging and muscle loss. (I thought it was related to renal failure, but she said not necessarily. True? No?)
He received his boosters for lyme, distemper, and bortadella.. and we checked him for heartworm and several other markers. Blood results came back clear on all parasites.
We also discussed a lump on his back. He's had it for a few years now, but recently it has changed in color (from pink to black) and appears to have grown slightly in size (from a corn kernel to about a pea-size?), so we came back on Thursday to have it surgically removed.
He's now got sutures and it'll be taken out next Monday. The vet told me it's in a good spot because he can't bite at it (it's on his upper back, near his neck), but then to "restrict his activity" and I looked at her and said "uhh, he's a Border Collie?" and she laughed and said "you're right... well, just try your best." When we got home, we collected up all his toys (tennis balls, kongs, and a myriad of things!) and put them away in his toy chest, much to Kade's disappointment.
Erika has been great at not playing too rowdy with him or getting him excited, as she has had experience with surgical tumor removal too-- when she was 1 year old, they diagnosed her with a lipoma (fattty tumor) and she was put under for surgery, only to find out it was a benign hemangioma (blood clot) that would've resolved itself over time... so she said she understood how painful it was and that he needed rest. Such an awesome 4 year old!
He received his boosters for lyme, distemper, and bortadella.. and we checked him for heartworm and several other markers. Blood results came back clear on all parasites.
We also discussed a lump on his back. He's had it for a few years now, but recently it has changed in color (from pink to black) and appears to have grown slightly in size (from a corn kernel to about a pea-size?), so we came back on Thursday to have it surgically removed.
He's now got sutures and it'll be taken out next Monday. The vet told me it's in a good spot because he can't bite at it (it's on his upper back, near his neck), but then to "restrict his activity" and I looked at her and said "uhh, he's a Border Collie?" and she laughed and said "you're right... well, just try your best." When we got home, we collected up all his toys (tennis balls, kongs, and a myriad of things!) and put them away in his toy chest, much to Kade's disappointment.
Erika has been great at not playing too rowdy with him or getting him excited, as she has had experience with surgical tumor removal too-- when she was 1 year old, they diagnosed her with a lipoma (fattty tumor) and she was put under for surgery, only to find out it was a benign hemangioma (blood clot) that would've resolved itself over time... so she said she understood how painful it was and that he needed rest. Such an awesome 4 year old!