My Day At The Vet Clinic (I Feel Yucky Part II)

It's been a no good very bad day for me, but I'm feeling a little bit better now and I thought I'd tell all of you what happened.  As I posted previously, I've been vomiting a little the past few days and so I had some tests done. And to make things worse, my Dad decided to check the growth on my leg again to confirm what he thought it was (it was too small last time to get a diagnosis).

First, I got measured by this medal stick thingy by two nice women who put me on this table which they called the X-Ray table, whatever that is.

                                Next, I had to lay down on the table and get streeeeeetched out!

Just when I thought I couldn't hold still anymore, Deb put her gloves on and quickly took a picture of my guts.  I'm sure there's a medical term for guts, but I can't remember it. Just be thankful I remembered what X-Ray is!

Here are my guts. Everything is normal except I really have to poop!

But wait! There's more!  My Dad came in and turned all the lights out and put this little probe all over my tummy to see if there were any kid toys playing in there.  A little brag here about my Dad--he's the best Ultrasound Vet around!  Anyways, Betty held me for this and she was so nice that I just laid there for her. You can see the tumor on my leg too. It's red.

                 I'm getting a little tired now, but I have to be patient because there's more to do.

                                                         
                                                              Oh boy, what's next?!

This is what an aspirate looks like.  Sometimes dogs and cats get lumps, bumps and tumors.  My Dad can stick a fine needle into the lump, aspirate some cells and look at them under a microscope.  Some tumors like lipomas, histiocytomas and mast cell tumors can be quickly diagnosed this way.  Others have to be surgically removed and sent to a lab to find out what they are. It doesn't hurt too badly:

                                                   Looking at the cells under a microscope.

                                     
                                           OK, now what?!  He's putting alcohol on my neck!

                                                 
                                                     Why is he feeling my jugular??!!

                                      
                                           Blood! I'm not going to faint! I'm not going to faint!

Thank goodness my Mom showed up because I really needed a hug after all that!  My blood work was all normal except it showed that I was dehydrated from vomiting.  So my Mom gave me some subcutaneous fluids.  That's where you drip fluids through an I.V. line under the skin.  I looked like I had a humpback for a while, but it slowly absorbed and helped me feel better.  She also gave me 3 shots to help my tummy calm down and got some special food for me to eat for the next couple days too.

Nothing showed up on the X-Rays and Ultrasound so Dad thinks I may have gotten too many tastes of table scraps (he had a talk with the kids about that!).  My tumor is just a Histiocytoma. If you look at that link, you'll see what the cells look like under the microscope.  It's just benign and will hopefully go away on its own.

I'm home and resting now. Maggie and BC2 (Boy Child #2) are helping me feel better.