September 2008 - Poppy Sillifant
Poppy Sillifant’s on going bravery
Poppy is a 12 year old Labrador cross who has had a long and eventful history with Okeford vets. Her problems first started back in October 2004 when she developed a mass on her right flank, which needed removing. She recovered well from the surgery and was given the all clear.
Unfortunately 3 years later in 2007 she returned with another mass, this time on her left flanks, her owner also reported that she had been out of sorts recently. Samples taken from the mass this time revealed it to be a benign type of fatty lump called a lipoma which didn’t need removing, but an ultrasound scan of her abdomen showed her liver was enlarged and she had a large mass in her bladder which needed removing.
The surgery went well and we were successfully able to remove the mass from her bladder. During the operation she was also found to have an abnormal lobe on her liver and her uterus was very enlarged and abnormal looking and the decision was made to remove the abnormal liver lobe and Poppy’s uterus.
Despite having such major surgery Poppy recovered very well, however her troubles didnot end there. She returned again at the end of August this time with a hard, nodular mmmary mass which needed removal as soon as possible.
Her owner had also noticed that she had developed bad breath and examination of her mouth revealed that she had some rotten teeth. We would not normally advise carrying out dental work at the same time as other surgery because bacteria and infective particles can be spread to the op site by aerosols created by equipment used during the dental. However, given Poppy’s previous problems we were reluctant for her to have more than one anaesthetic so the decision was made to remove the rotten teeth at the same time as the mammary mass.
Again Poppy has made a brilliant recovery from the surgery and now has much fresher breath. She has demonstrated incredible bravery during her treatments and operations over the last few years and for this thoroughly deserves to be this months Braveheart winner.
