[Franceen]

Tootsy had her season about 7 weeks ago and towards the end of the bleeding, she seemed to be unwell and was drinking more and seemed to be panting, for no good reason, every now and then. It was the weekend and we spoke to a vet we did not know, who felt it safe to wait until the morning as she had no temperature and he felt it was a little early for pyometria. By the morning she seemed better and improved, but she did not want to go for a walk, which was very unusual. She was eating normally and her stools were normal. She just did not seem herself. She was listless, did not want to jump up onto the sofa or bed and had to be lifted up, she was panting, when she was not hot or tired, and she started to drink more. She also started to itch and scatched and scratched everywhere, especially her ears. Then HORROR!! we found a lump on one of her mammory glands. This was also over a weekend and we had to see another vet. She said just too keep an eye on the lump for 10 days and see if it gets smaller. She said her ears looked okay, but she gave her an antihistamine shot and some antibiotics, Ceporex. We noticed that three times after taking the antibiotic, she started to pant and breathe fast and shallowly. We were too frightened to give her another tablet so stopped giving them to her. Toosy then started to eat ravenously and wanted as much food as we would give her!! We made an appointment with another vet the next week (our normal vet at the practice, had gone to live abroad) and this vet examined her far more thoroughly and found that she had an ear infection, milk in her teats, an irritated skin and a slight fever. She said that the lump must be removed and a mastectomy performed. She said that Tootsy was showing signs of a false pregnancy and that we must have her spayed at the same time as the mastectomy. This concerns me. It will be so painful for a little dog to have two big operations at the same time and I don't think the vet showed much interest in the fact that she would be in a great deal of pain. She said 'of course, she will be in pain but I will give you some painkillers and anyway, they are usually fine after 24-48hrs' (?!! is this true? are they painfree after 48hrs?) I spoke to a couple on one of my walks with Tootsy, and they had told me that their Yorkie had a great deal of pain with her spaying. They said it really upset them watching her suffer so much. They go to the same vet. I do know that the vet we are seeing (the last one) is very good and is highly thought of, but she is quite a hard person. I am trying to overlook that, as I want a good vet treating my baby. She is giving Tootsy hormones to halt the false pregnancy - I chose the drops, Galastop, as opposed to the injection, as she needs to be spayed after 4wks after the injection and I did not want to feel rushed into anything before finding out as much as I can. She has given her antibiotics, Clavucil, for 10 days and antibiotic ear drops. Tootsy is vomiting some mornings and her tummy is still distended. The lump is bigger! She is very uncomfortable and cannot rest comfortably at night. I have placed her on very soft cushions and she rests for a while and then tosses and turns. She is still not herself and does not want to walk. Her ears have cleared up completely and her skin has stopped itching. I took her temperature and it was 99 degrees, which is low isn't it? Another thing, she is wetting in the house which is so unusual. Today she is eating less, thank heavens. The ranvenous appetite has finally gone but she is shivering! I feel sick with worry about her.

The advice I want is: should I wait for 4 weeks to have that lump removed. The vet wants it done at the same time as the spaying so she only has one anaesthetic, but it is growing quickly. I feel it is too much surgery to do to a small dog at the same time, and I would like the lump removed next week anyway, not 4 wks time! Should I ask for the lump to be removed and tested for cancer before having the mastectomy? I feel that doing a mastectomy when it may not be necessary is not good. I do realise it may mean another anaesthetic. What do you think? Secondly, should she still be vomiting after having the Galastop for three days (three more doses to go)? Would you let your dog have a mastectomy and spay at the same time. Could you let me know your experiences with spaying as regards pain and most effective painkillers? ANY advice on any of the above would be so much appreciated. I am feeling very, very upset about the whole thing and terrified that my baby may have cancer. If she does have it, how do they treat it? I better stop now as this is getting far too long. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it all.

xxx