Flareon Under the Knife

Flareon had to go in for surgery this morning. For a while now she has had what we "affectionately" called...."the BOOB". It had first come up shortly before her pregnancy, and we (and the vet) took it for a lipoma on one of her breasts. She had her pups, and that particular breast was functioning fine in terms of the milk department - but when the milk bar went away after Lars and Zander were weaned..."the boob" remained. A dangly item which looked odd when we put racing silks on her. It seemed that one thing after another (financially) kept us from getting her in for its removal, the last event being the death of the Astro van's transmission. Nothing like driving a conspicuous, over-sized, bright blue van (aka the Zoibus) to work on a daily basis.

We finally got to take her in today for her "breast reduction surgery" (one must keep a sense of humor at times) and also opted for them to remove a little black mole on her left hip that made me a bit nervous. When we were searching for that mole, we came across what I originally thought was a callous from her choice of wanting to lay on the tile entry in the house. I got a call at work from Heather (the tech who petsits for us) saying that Dr. Lindsley was concerned about that "bump" and that she wanted to know if I would like it taken off. After learning that I had never given a vaccine in that area - they opted for sending it to a histopath for a diagnosis. It was hard as a rock. So I am a bit worried about that outcome - hopefully I will know something soon and it won't be a cause for further concern.

As to "the BOOB" - yup.....it was a lipoma. A big'un too and all contained on the outside with no "issues"...and apparently a brief source of entertainment at the clinic after its removal. No lasting effects or malignancy - hurrah!

Flareon is now resting [un]comfortably in the living room, dressed in an old McLane t-shirt (I guess it serves a better purpose than burning it as I curse that company) to keep any drippage off the carpet and/or couch. She has started to stiffen up now that the day has worn on and she's obviously not feeling her best. She's had her pain meds for the day - but something tells me we are going to get the drama routine in the morning, although she's normally a very stoic girl.