State of the Cone Report
Moose had his oncology recheck today and things are looking good, yay!
The bump on his leg is probably due to a combination of the surgery and the radiation. He measured it and the raw patch. I didn't bring the card we marked in, but I'm pretty sure the bump is smaller than when we measured it. I also brought a copy of his recent lab work in from my other vet's; the oncologist routinely sends all Moose's chart back to our main vet so I don't have to carry things back, but it doesn't work the other way. It's a lot easier to move animal vet records around than human, though; basically I just called them the day before and picked it up on my way to the appointment.
They liked the arrangement we have now to keep him from licking. (It's basically a piece of sturdy plastic that's taped around his leg in such a way to shield the raw spot from his tongue but let air in.) The raw spot is smaller than the last time he measured it, and not as raw, but still taking a long time to heal because he keeps getting at it and setting it back. It's just going to take a while and we need to watch it for infections, but otherwise it should be all right.
He has a few other small bumps but they're something else safe. (Basically a skin condition that develops in a sweat gland; he looked at it and said it was a classic example of that.)
He got a blood workup for basic metabolic stuff (CBC, blood sugar, liver function, etc.) and we should hear back on that tomorrow. His buffy coat, which tests for mast cells in the blood stream, should come back Friday. Our doctor is expecting both of those to come back good, based on what he sees. (Blood test normal, buffy coat clear.) His weight and activity and eating habits are all good.
He gets another recheck in six weeks and will only need blood work if this blood work is iffy. And it is fine to kennel him next week.
He's lost two pounds, down to 115, between putting him on a slight diet and getting him some playtime. His ideal weight is between 110 and 115 so that's putting him in the zone.
The bump on his leg is probably due to a combination of the surgery and the radiation. He measured it and the raw patch. I didn't bring the card we marked in, but I'm pretty sure the bump is smaller than when we measured it. I also brought a copy of his recent lab work in from my other vet's; the oncologist routinely sends all Moose's chart back to our main vet so I don't have to carry things back, but it doesn't work the other way. It's a lot easier to move animal vet records around than human, though; basically I just called them the day before and picked it up on my way to the appointment.
They liked the arrangement we have now to keep him from licking. (It's basically a piece of sturdy plastic that's taped around his leg in such a way to shield the raw spot from his tongue but let air in.) The raw spot is smaller than the last time he measured it, and not as raw, but still taking a long time to heal because he keeps getting at it and setting it back. It's just going to take a while and we need to watch it for infections, but otherwise it should be all right.
He has a few other small bumps but they're something else safe. (Basically a skin condition that develops in a sweat gland; he looked at it and said it was a classic example of that.)
He got a blood workup for basic metabolic stuff (CBC, blood sugar, liver function, etc.) and we should hear back on that tomorrow. His buffy coat, which tests for mast cells in the blood stream, should come back Friday. Our doctor is expecting both of those to come back good, based on what he sees. (Blood test normal, buffy coat clear.) His weight and activity and eating habits are all good.
He gets another recheck in six weeks and will only need blood work if this blood work is iffy. And it is fine to kennel him next week.
He's lost two pounds, down to 115, between putting him on a slight diet and getting him some playtime. His ideal weight is between 110 and 115 so that's putting him in the zone.