November 2017

Dooley is a sweet older Lab-mix dog that presented lethargic and hunched up a bit. He seemed uncomfortable. Blood work, radiographs and ultrasound were performed and uncovered a large tumor or mass on the spleen. In dogs, half of splenic masses are malignant cancer and half are benign. Removal of the spleen and having a pathologist analyze it is the only way to know. If the splenic tumor or mass is benign, surgery is curative. If it is cancerous, survival time after surgery is typically only a few months. Dooley’s owner consented to surgical removal. The splenectomy went very well and Dooley did quite well afterward. The good news was the pathology report came back a week later and the mass was a benign hematoma. It is not uncommon for the spleen to develop nodules of normal tissue that sometime rupture and develop a large hematoma or blood clot.

This is very dangerous since the spleen is very vascular and houses a large volume of blood. Sometimes the hematoma will not stop hemorrhaging and ruptures into the abdomen and the animal can bleed to death. Luckily this had not occurred with Dooley and removal of the spleen prevented this from happening. Surgery was curative and provided an excellent prognosis. Dooley is currently doing well. We’re happy to name him our AHS Pet of the Month for November!

Harley is a sweet little boy that was found as a stray. He came to us covered in fleas, with gooey eyes and ear mites. Surviving the great outdoors on your own as a kitten is hard to do and an immature immune system makes infection more likely. He was initially tested for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus which are two diseases that can be contagious from other cats, even from this kitten’s mom. These viruses suppress the immune system and can make the pet very sick. It is important to know the viral status of all new cats or kittens. Fortunately, Harley tested negative for both of these. After a little preventative care, he is now developing into a handsome kitten. Kittens need to be dewormed for common intestinal parasites that can be zoonotic (contagious to people). They also need appropriate vaccines to protect them from diseases in the future. We believe strongly in preventative health care at the Animal Hospital of Statesville. We want our pets and patients to live long, happy lives! We are thankful Harley was saved from his previous life as a stray and this is why we chose Harley to be our Pet of the Month!