A Long Night For Gus And Us

[running_dog]

For those of you who don't know Gus, he's an 11 month old lab/collie.

Yesterday we took him to the vets to get a lump checked out, they removed it this morning and it had all the signs of being a tumour. It's gone for tests. What is an 11 month old pup doing with a tumour?

In the mean time Gus is left with a 6 or 8 inch incision with 12 stitches down behind his left shoulder. He has a buster collar to wear when unattended but it's become obvious he can't be left unattended as he can scratch the wound open. Also he's really stressed out if one of us is not holding him. He's in pain but had all the painkillers he can have until tomorrow.

So we'll have to stay up with him all night, poor brute.
And we have a fortnight to wait for the test results.

And I thought who better to share the misery than all the dogtrickacademians who have shared Gus's story for so long...

 

[southerngirl]

Oh my gosh poor Gus, I remember when you first got the little guy. Give him a hug for me. I really hope he is going to be okay. Please keep us updated on him and I would love to see pictures of him, I haven't seen any of him since you first got him. I'll keep him in my thoughts and my fingers crossed.

 

[Evie]

OMG poor little Gus

I'd be horrified if Evie had a tumour at this age Poor little man. Hope he pulls through ok.

**hugs**

 

[Dogster]

Oh no.... Poor little Gus (though I imagine he's not so little anymore..)

Hope Gus gets well soon, and gets back to his usual self. He's a strong pup, he'll make it through this. HUGS.

 

[Adrianna & Calvin]

I'm sorry to hear about this health scare Put a t-shirt on him, it will help keep him from doing too much damage to the incision while your back is turned. When my Catahoula was young, he had a tumor that turned out to be a histiocytoma (benign) so hopefully your Gus will have a tumor that's benign, or failing that, a cancer that the surgery has cured. If it is malignant, make sure the pathologist checks the margins to make sure it has been completely excised.

Please do keep us posted!

 

[jackienmutts]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear this, lumps are the scariest, aren't they? Hopefully, it's a histiocytoma, as A&C suggested - I've gone thru a few of those with my dogs, and as scary as they look and seem, they've been harmless. Please keep us posted. Lots of good thoughts coming your way, give Gus a hug from all of us.

 

[running_dog]

Thanks all of you, he's more settled and calmer now :-)
I appreciate all of your replies, suggestions and kind thoughts.
Will give an update, proper replies and a grown up photo of Gus when have more time.

 

[MaryK]

So very sorry to hear of Gus' health problems. Lumps are so scary, poor baby. Glad to hear he's a little calmer, lots of love and cuddles are needed. Hugs to Gus and to you all and loads of healing thoughts coming your way. Do keep us posted please.

If his incision is itching, put a little pure Aloe Vera on it, that will stop the itching and assist with the healing. I did this with one of my dogs.

 

[running_dog]

Hi Southerngirl, here's a photo from this morning for you :-)

As you say Dogster, Gus is not so little anymore. Despite what the photo looks like he's still a couple of inches shorter than Zac at the shoulder but he weighs half as much again.

A&C you can see the t'shirt :-) The vet mentioned the possibility of using a t'shirt on him but was not very hopeful of it making a difference. After your comment I insisted we tried one on him and it has worked brilliantly, thanks.

The vet warned us they had made a deep incision so they could take out as much of the area around the lump as possible. So they and we are hoping that the problem is out for good - and we are hoping even more that the problem isn't the problem it looks like.

Mary K - not quite at the healing stage yet but I'll remember the Aloe Vera. We often use a antiseptic cream that is for people but safe for dogs, but the vets said not to use anything yet if we can avoid it.

Evie & Jackienmutts, lumps are so scary, especially lumps that felt like this one. It's just so hard to comprehend how such a young dog could have a cancer. I used up most of my optimism in hoping they would be able to see it was nothing straight away. Nothing is ever simple or straightforward with Gus's health. On the other hand if only our health service could deal with removing potential cancers that fast - seen by the medics one day and the lump removed the next day.

Thanks again for everything.

 

[jackienmutts]

Oh my goodness, he's gotten so big! I do certainly understand your concern - and the wait seems F O R E V E R. Have had the news "it's nothing" - and have also dealt with the dreaded big C. Will be sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers your way til you get the news.

Must run off to work now, you guys will be on my mind today for sure..... Hang tough!

 

[southerngirl]

Glad to hear he settled down.
Oh my gosh Gus is definitely not little anymore, but he's still cute. How much does he weigh now. His Lab seems to be more dominate than the Border Collie as far as looks go.

 

[running_dog]

Thanks again Jackie.

Southerngirl - Gus is 32 kg, he's at the top end of what he should weigh. Yes, he looks like a purebred labrador which makes his border collie crouch/stalk look rather weird!

 

[southerngirl]

Oh wow, he is huge. Missy is also a Border Collie/Lab, but she is only 35-40 pounds(15kg-18 I think) Yes, I can imagine his crouch/stalk looks strange. What breed do you think shows most in his personality?

 

[MissyBC]

Hi Rdog! I've been following this post from the start.

Gus looks identical to the purebred Black Lab I walk every day (ever since he was 4 months), he's 5 years old now. He'll be turning 6 years next March.

I hope everything turns out okay for Gus. Keep us posted!

 

[Dlilly]

Gus has gotten so big! I'm so sorry to hear about this... I hope he has a smooth recovery.

 

[running_dog]

What breed do you think shows most in his personality?

Standard poodle.

A bit like that the only dog on here that seems to train like my lurcher is a doberman.

There's so much variety in the labs and collies I've met and the only real Gus-brother-under-the-skin I've met is a standard poodle. Gus retrieves more and swims more and is fixated if he sights a sheep but he and the poodle have so many similarities that we actually looked at the poodle's issues and tried to train Gus out of them before they happened!

 

[running_dog]

Thanks Dlilly and MissyBC :-)

 

[Dogster]

OMD!!!! He's so.... big. He's ADORABLE, I can't take my eyes off of him (and Zac, of course) Zac looks so small next to him, wow, he is a BIG dog!!! Great pic!!!

 

[Anneke]

I hope you get good news about the lump. Waiting is horrible!
Hope Gus gets well soon.
Oh boy has he grown!! Handsome boy!

 

[MaryK]

The waiting is ghastly, I've been through it, nothing worse. I hope the gorgeous boy is soon bounding around again, hang tough, it's the only thing you can do and try to stay positive.

Understand he's not at the healing stage yet, Aloe Vera is awesome though make sure it's pure organic not any synthetic ones.

So glad the T-shirt worked, and he looks so handsome in it too

Sending healing thoughts for you all.