• Our Story
    • In the News
    • Contact Us
    • Rolling Dog Farm Privacy Policy
  • Meet the Animals
    • Animals For Adoption
    • Happy Endings
    • Gone But Not Forgotten
  • Support the Farm
    • Donate Online Now
    • Planned Giving
  • Our Blog
  • FAQs
    • Disabled Animal Myths
    • Top 5 Myths About Blind Horses
  • Resources & Books

Rolling Dog Farm

A special place where disabled animals enjoy life.

  • Support the Farm
  • Donate Online Now
  • Planned Giving
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • YouTube
You are here: Home / Dogs / Now It’s My Turn For Mast Cell Tumors

Now It’s My Turn For Mast Cell Tumors

May 1, 2017

As you may remember, our beloved Darla had five mast cell tumor surgeries over the past few years to remove these cancerous growths. We had scheduled her sixth mast cell surgery when we found out she had a blood disorder that ultimately cost Darla her life. So you can imagine our dismay when a few weeks ago, I felt a small growth on Tanner’s knee. Something just told me (too much experience, perhaps?) that it could be a mast cell tumor.

I know we are hyper-sensitive after Darla’s experience, but we realized we needed to get it tested. I took Tanner to our local clinic, where our primary care vet, Dr. Nancy Lefavour, did a fine-needle aspirate, put the cells on a slide, looked through the microscope, and pronounced the verdict: Yes, she said, it was indeed a mast cell tumor.

I said, “You’re kidding me.”

She said, “You’re really good at finding these.” I groaned.

Later that day I called our veterinary specialty hospital in Burlington, Peak Veterinary Referral Center, to schedule surgery to remove the growth. A week later, I took Tanner over to see our surgeon, Dr. Kurt Schulz, and the oncologist, Dr. Noelle Bergman. Kurt took Tanner into surgery early that afternoon.

I took the photo above of Tanner a couple of days after the operation. He came through it just fine. His only problem was that for the first day following the surgery, he was reluctant to walk, because of course the surgery was on his only knee, which made walking uncomfortable. No other rear leg to shift the weight to! We used slings to help him get around until he was ready to fully use the leg.

Kurt called last week with the pathology results, and it was good news all around: Clean margins on the incision site, and a low grade 2 tumor.

What now? Well, just like with Darla, we will have to constantly monitor Tanner for new growths.

As Noelle said when she saw Tanner, “There’s a saying: Once a mast cell dog, always a mast cell dog.” We just don’t know whether Tanner will be the once every few years type, or — as with Darla — once every several months. We know which we’re hoping for!

—

Technical note: We are going to migrate the website to new servers later this week, so if the website is unavailable or things look a bit weird, that’s probably why. Hopefully no one will notice anything, but just a heads up that there may be some brief downtime.

Comments

  1. Leila King says

    May 1, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    Oh, precious Tanner……..praying no more unhealthy cells in your little body! You guys don’t need any more hard news either………love to you all.

  2. Colleen & Sweet Kitty Andre says

    May 1, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    Awwww, Tanner!!! Get well soon!!! The blessing is y’all are good at noticing these tumors to get immediate care.. great result. I’m hoping also for very few over the years too.

  3. Karen Bringol says

    May 1, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Oh Tanner, bless your heart! Glad you are doing better!

  4. Tonya Allen says

    May 1, 2017 at 4:15 pm

    Oh no, poor Tanner! Let’s hope he only does this once every few years instead of every few months. He looks a bit sorry for himself, but very comfy on his bed.

  5. Betsy says

    May 1, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    Poor Tanner! This just doesn’t get any easier does it? In our family right now we are feeling the loss of our dog. She was not doing well and had to be euthanized the day before Easter. The house is very quiet and empty now. I can’t imagine how you deal with all the health issues for all your animals. It breaks your heart

  6. Kaaren Parma says

    May 1, 2017 at 9:41 pm

    Beloved Tanner feel better soon??

  7. Barbara Ribinski says

    May 2, 2017 at 8:14 am

    Poor Tanner; he looks so sad. Of course it had to be his one back leg, poor guy. Let’s hope this is the only tumor and he gets back to playing really soon. Hang in there, Steve and Alayne. Sometimes life just feels like a test. But it always gets better.

  8. Boundforglory says

    May 2, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    I’m a big fan of Tanner’s and am happy that you caught his cancer early.

    I too am hoping that the mast cells are few and far between.

    Tanner’s in great hands and care no matter what.

  9. My Dog Store says

    May 9, 2017 at 5:58 am

    Poor Tanner! Hope you get better soon.

Search our site

Check out our Blog!

Visit Our Blog!To keep up with our disabled dogs, check out our blog! Click here.

Most Recent Posts

  • Feeling The Warmth
  • I’ve Got An Eye Problem
  • Yes, I’m Still Here!

Stay updated on our animals

Subscribe to our Blog

Our Newsletter

Rolling Dog Farm Winter/Holiday 2022 NewsletterOur Winter/Holiday 2022 print newsletter is now in the mail. You can read it online here. Go

Check out our
BlindHorses.org website!

Blind Horses Dot Org

Watch our animals in action

YouTube
See videos of our disabled animals on our YouTube channel here.

Quick Links

  • In the News
  • Contact Us
  • Site Map

How can I help?

  • Support the Farm
  • Donate Online Now
  • Planned Giving

Copyright © 2023 · Rolling Dog Farm P.O. Box 150 Lancaster, New Hampshire 03584 · SITE MAP · PRIVACY POLICY