Betty

I thought the waiting was going to kill us.  The pathologist's report for Betty's mass stated it was "pre-cancerous" and was fully excised, with clean margins and with no sign of spreading.  Thank goodness!

 

Such a good girl, getting her stitches checked...

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile...

Stella's "sister", Betty (our other Pug adopted from a puppy mill 2 years ago), had surgery today for removal of a mass along her mammary chains.  Vet stated it looked "nasty" and is concerned it is cancerous; Mammary Gland Tumor (breast cancer).  Once again we play a round of the waiting game; Pathologist's report is due next week.

This can't possibly be happening again.....

Boodwork Results

Completely normal :)

She's Just As Beautiful On The Inside....

...as she is on the outside.  Stella had her one year post treatments abdominal ultrasound today and the oncologist said everything (the abdominal organs) looks great and there were no significant findings!!  Yahoo!!

Bloodwork was drawn and we will await those results but the oncologist is not anticipating anything.  She also is not too concerned with the bump that we found on the back of Stella's right rear leg.  Dr. F. said she believes that the bump is in the skin tag family and we are to watch it for any changes.  She did not feel the need to aspirate it.

As for the vomiting, Dr. F. believes it was indeed the heat and perhaps "grass ingestion" - I guess it's just too gross to say "Stella ate too many darn cicadas"!

So baby girl got a clean bill of health (pending bloodwork) and doesn't need another appointment for 5 to 6 months :)

Hopefully it's nothing...

Last week Stella had a few days of vomiting.  One day it was 100 degrees and we were working in our backyard going in and out of the house.  Each time we went inside and back out, Stella (and her sister Betty) followed us.  Being so distracted with what we were doing it didn’t occur to us that Stella (and possibly her sister) was drinking water each time she went inside only to go back out into the heat and continue panting and snorting.  This happened maybe 3 or 4 times over a period of about 20 minutes.  We are usually really careful with our Puggy girls knowing how hard the heat is on them but you Pug owners out there know that they always want to be with their people - and the girls always manage to find a shady place to lie under the tree.  But we did neglect to notice that she probably drank a lot of water each time.  :(

So after being in the house for about an hour Stella vomited a few times.  Each time it was mostly water and bile.  It occurred to us at that point that we had not been as attentive as we should have been and we assumed it was just too much heat, too much panting and snorting, and too much water combined.  But days later she vomited again and another day that week yet again.  Those last two times she threw up her food.  Incidentally we have not changed her diet and she is still eating the same brand of grain free dry kibble.

We're not alarmists when it comes to our pets vomiting for a day or two but we have been told over the past year to “watch for vomiting”.  Since it happened 3 times in one week, it’s better to be safe than sorry so we made an appointment for Stella to see the Oncologist tomorrow.  This appointment will replace the one we were supposed to schedule for September when the oncologist would do an abdominal ultrasound to check if any tumors are appearing on her organs; Stella will have the abdominal ultrasound at her check-up tomorrow.

On a side note, this time of year we have A LOT of cicadas and Stella does like her snacks (as did our Beagle) – yuck!  Our vet has told us that it is not harmful in any way – just gross.  Maybe this could be a reason for the vomiting – GROSS ALERT….we did find cicada wings in her vomit.  Ewwwww.

Meanwhile we gave the girls a bath this past weekend.  While bathing Stella I felt a bump on her back right leg; back of the thigh.  As you can see from the picture, it is flesh colored and about the size of a pea.  It does not bother her in the least but was not there the last time she had a bath; about 3 weeks ago.

We are hopeful that it is just a mole or a wart but if it is another MCT I suppose it’s good that it’s at least in a fleshy area where wide margins could be taken should she need surgery again.

Another Milestone!

One Year Post Radiation Treatments

Wow, I can't believe a year has gone by already!! Stella remains her beautiful silly self with nothing new to report - thank goodness!

This is Stella's arm and battle scar today.

Such a big change from this, immediately following her last treatment.

And even this, just a few weeks later.

10 Months Post Radiation Treatments

2 months ago we brought Stella in early (by 1 month) for her 9 month check-up as we thought she had been losing weight.  Turned out she was not but the oncologist requested we bring her back in 2 months for a re-check, so here we are; 10 months post-treatments.

Stella's weight remains the same and the oncologist says she looks great - no new lumps, bumps or anything unusual upon physical examination.  At home she also remains the same except that she limps a little when she first wakes up - Baby Girl is starting arthritis in the back left leg :(

Throughout this whole process we were told that Stella would have an appointment 12 months post-treatments for a thorough exam and abdominal ultrasound (to be sure no spots were appearing on any of her internal organs) but the oncologist stated that she does not need to see Stella for another 4 to 6 months. So we will enjoy the summer with Stella (& sister Betty) and then schedule her check-up and ultrasound in 5 months (September).

I Never Talked About Pet Insurance

It occurred to me today that I never talked about our experience with pet insurance. 

We do not have pet insurance on our current pets but we did have it for other pets in the past.  We had policies on 2 cats and 2 dogs. 

The policies we carried at that time were for catastrophic issues only; not for routine care or yearly check-ups.  In fact as I recall they did not even offer those years ago.  I do recall however that their care plans (with the specific company we were involved with) were offered in different levels; something like silver, gold and platinum levels.  We had the middle level.  The cost was around $30 per pet, per month.  We carried these policies for approximately 4 years and never used them even once for the cats (thankfully).

Incidentally, the coverage from the insurance company was around 35% to 40% reimbursement.  Not great but better than paying 100% out-of-pocket.

One of our dogs at that time was our Pug, Mugsy (he is also mentioned in an earlier post).  Mugsy had spinal surgery for ruptured discs in his lower back.  Prior to surgery the surgeon warned us that Mugsy may develop bladder issues as result of this surgery and healing - 10 months later, Mugsy had bladder surgery.

The insurance claim forms were about the size of a half sheet of paper; approximately 4”x6”.  Each form had 4 lines with boxes - we were supposed to fill in specific data in the boxes such as date, pet’s name, diagnosis, veterinarian’s signature and cost. We were required to list EACH cost separately – for example:

1/2/01 / Mugsy Smith / Pre-op for Spinal Surg / John Jones, DVM / $100

1/3/01 / Mugsy Smith / Spinal Herniation Repair / John Jones, DVM / $1000
1/3/01 / Mugsy Smith / Pain Meds Post Surgery / John Jones, DVM / $30
1/9/01 / Musgy Smith / Stitch Removal Post Surg / John Jones, DVM / $15
*This is just an example not actual cost or diagnosis description.


The instructions on the claim form stated that if we needed extra space (and of course we did since everything had to be itemized separately and there were only 4 lines to do so) we were to fill out an additional form.  The instructions were very explicit that we could not write on the back of the form nor could we use a blank sheet of paper – it had to be additional claim forms with the pre-printed boxes; but we were allowed to use as many as needed.  So we followed the instructions for both surgeries and all the costs involved; pre-op exams, surgeries, medications, post-op care, follow-up care, etc.

We received partial reimbursement for Mugsy’s spinal surgery and as we awaited reimbursement for the bladder surgery we received a notice that Mugsy’s annual premium had been bumped up 40% but without explanation.  I called the insurance company and was told that we had submitted too many claims for him.  They stated we were entitled to submit 2 claims per year (per pet) and every claim after that would trigger the premium to increase 20% per additional claim.  They stated we had already submitted 4 claims for the spinal surgery which is why the premium was now 40% higher and that they were denying coverage for Mugsy’s bladder surgery unless we were willing to pay an even higher premium.  Confused, I explained to the customer service rep that we had submitted only TWO claims in one calendar year for Mugsy; ONE for the spinal surgery and ONE for the bladder surgery.  The rep stated 4 claims were submitted for the spinal surgery alone.  I explained to her that we did submit multiple forms for ONE surgery but that was because they required itemization and only allowed 4 lines per form.  It did not matter that the multiple forms submitted together in one envelope obviously contained the information for the ONE surgery (as filled out by the veterinarian) – the rep stated EACH PIECE OF PAPER was considered a separate claim regardless what is was for; they counted the number of papers in the envelope period.   I canceled all 4 policies on the spot.

If pet insurance companies still operate in this same manner I can’t imagine what Stella’s premium would be today given that she had 2 major surgeries in one day followed by 20 separate radiation treatments in addition to the all the follow-up care and check-ups she’s had to date - and it hasn't even been a year yet.

Although we had a negative experience with pet insurance please keep in mind that this was 10 to 12 years ago and things may have changed and/or may be different for your pets depending on their healthcare needs.  If you choose to obtain pet insurance please read all the fine print, ask detailed questions about claims and ask about their cancellation policy. 

Correction / Update

As I re-reviewed some of my earlier posts I noticed one comment that needs to be corrected.

On April 30, 2011 I blogged that Stella's diet (and her sister Betty's) was being switched over to "grain free" dry kibble and "grain free" canned dog food.  At that time we did attempt this dietary change but we only half succeeded.

We started to slowly incorporate the new dry kibble into their usual dry food over a period of 2 weeks until their dietary tracts were well adjusted.  All went well and they loved the new food.

We then started to incorporate the canned food; at an even slower rate then the new kibble because we know that canned food is "richer".  We gave the girls about a half teaspoon with their dinner time meal (they are fed twice a day; breakfast & dinner).  Our goal was to end up feeding them half canned and half dry at each meal.

They both LOVED the canned food but it caused them both to have very loose runny stools.  We thought perhaps it was just an adjustment period so after consulting with our regular vet and Stella's oncologist we cut the canned portion down even lower for the next few weeks to no avail.  It was just not meant to be.

So both Stella & Betty have been on a grain free dry kibble diet ever since and are doing well on it.

8 Months Post Radiation Treatments - Lab Results

All of Stella's bloodwork came back normal.

The next appointment would have been the one year post treatment check in June but the oncologist would like to see Stella in 2 months to see if she is still losing weight - but the doctor does state that she is not too concerned about it.

8 Months Post Radiation Treatments

Stella was scheduled to have a 9 month check-up next month but we decided to move her appointment up one month because we noticed she appears to be losing weight.  Normally this would not necessarily concern us but the dogs usually gain weight in the winter season from less walks and less playtime in the backyard.

Sella has been eating normally and doing her "duties" normally as well.  Her personality and activites (in the house) have remained the same.  No changes that we've noticed except that she seems to be slimming down.  On physical exam the oncologist stated that she does not find any evidence of new lesions.  After weighing Stella we were told that she has lost weight but only half a pound.  Doesn't sound like much but for a smallish dog it is noticable - but nothing to be too alarmed about. 

Just to be safe the oncologist decided to run some blood tests to be sure nothing else was causing the weight loss.  We will have the results tomorrow.

Incidentally, Stella's weight today is 23.4 pounds.