Flower, Schipperke-Border Collie Mix

January 24th: Friends, once again we have to share with you a sad, sad update. ;(

Our sweet Flower crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday, surrounded by the love of our awesome BAH family and her foster mom Michelle. We knew from day one that her time on earth was short, but she spent every day of that time playing, chasing pigeons and loving life.

To her foster mom – thank you for being the sun and the laughter and the rainbows in Flower’s last days. I’m so happy that she finally got a taste of the life she had always deserved!

R.I.P. precious one. Kelly

Meet Flower! Flower was rescued from county with a lage tumor that had burst overnight. She was rushed to Bethany Animal Hospital for an evaluation and blood work, which shows severe anemia and infection. Flower will have the large mass removed and may need a blood transfusion. She spent the night comfortable with pain medicine and will have surgery in the morning. As always, we will keep everyone updated on her progress.

Update, evening of Nov. 27th: Flower’s tumor is gone! Although she does have multiple other small mammary tumors, she’s alive today because the doctors and staff at Bethany Animal Hospital spent the day providing her with life-saving care. Here she is post-op receiving her blood transfusion from M.A.I.N. alum, Lacy, who was adopted by one of the PAWsome techs at Bethany Animal Hospital!

Medical update, Nov. 27th: Flower’s preliminary labwork is back: Tick Fever is negative, severe anemia with low protein and albumin, elevated white blood cell lines and elevated platelet numbers. Valley Fever and thyroid studies are pending.

From Dr. Katie: “Essentially the changes go along with whole blood and fluid loss from the mass and bone marrow that’s working over time trying to make new cells (red blood cells especially). However- the current number of red blood cells (as a percentage) is less than 50 percent of what the low normal value should be for a dog. Flower is at 15%. Low normal is 36%! Flower needs to have this necrotic mass removed, she needs to be spayed, and she has multiple other small mammary tumors in other glands that will need to be addressed. She MAY need a transfusion. The plan at this point is going to be somewhat extended time-wise. First we get that necrotic oozing mass off as quickly as possible. We may still have to give her blood- but we won’t get anywhere with this if we don’t stop the ongoing loss of blood cells and fluids. Then we take really good care of her for at least a couple of weeks until we get her CBC results back into more normal ranges before doing any further surgery. Given the amount of regeneration we’re able to see in today’s labs we’re hoping she’ll be able to replace what she’s lost fairly quickly and she will certainly feel much better.”

Flower’s Updates:

While Flower has metastatic cancer and will never make a full recovery, she will get to live out the rest of her doggy days in a loving and comfortable foster home. She is doing well so far and her foster mom reports she is coming out of her shell more and more each day.

From Flower’s foster mom, Dec. 27th: Flower is doing really well! She is adjusting to the household daily schedule and has greatly reduced her frenetic barking & crazy behavior. She has begun to accept the fact that there are other dogs in the house. She is also more readily accepting my obnoxious cuddling – she used to panic when I’d try to cuddle her tight and close, but now she just lays there very quiet and still. Super cute! She is really growing on me.

Medical Update, Dec. 5th: On her most recent visit to the hospital today, Flower’s x-rays show the tumors have metastasized into her lungs and are inoperable. This isn’t the news we were all expecting but we want everyone to know she’s doing ok….she’s coming out of her shell, wags her tail when she sees the leash and has gained 1/2 a pound…even after the large mass was removed! It’s not her time yet and she’s making small improvements, so we’ll do everything to keep her comfortable and happy until she says “no more” and wants to make that journey to The Bridge…

Update from Flower’s foster mom, Dec. 1st: She is doing very good. When she woke up this morning she did not seem to be in as much pain. When I walk her to go potty she picks her little tail up and carries her head up; I really think she is feeling better. She comes over for pets now. Just a sweet little girl. She sleeps through the night and takes her cheese wrapped medicine so gently. She crawled in my lap today for pets and is not as wobbly on her feet.

Update from Flower’s foster mom, Nov. 29th: Flower is doing so good! She had her bowl of wet food for breakfast and some wet food meatballs for a snack. She is house-trained and puddle pad trained. We went for a short potty walk outside and she enjoyed sniffing the backyard smells. The walk wore her out as you can see in the picture! Also note, NO MORE TUMOR! YAY!