Dr. Jyl Rubin of the Mobile Vet Connection with a vet clinic in Orangevale took Olivia in on February 18th to see what could be done regarding her tumor. First chest x-rays were done to see if there were any tumors in her lungs. The x-rays looked good and Dr. Jyl consulted with another vet to get a second opinion. The facial mass was becoming infected and Dr. Jyl determined it had to be causing some level of discomfort to Olivia. Dr. Jyl has a surgical laser and decided to remove some of the mass to improve Olivia’s quality of life and try to close the open wound. Three and a half hours later Dr. Jyl had removed not one but two fairly large tumors, one that is visible in the photo and one that is difficult to see since it was under the skin. Dr. Jyl was able to completely close the wound site and Olivia was up and around the next day, obviously feeling better. It was then that we learned she has quite an ‘appetite’ for cats!
Olivia has spent the past week in recovery at Dr Jyl’s clinic and the swelling is starting to go down on her head. She receives daily treatments with a different laser that promotes healing, as well as some ointments. Her eye is now functional again though the skin had to be stretched quite a bit to close the wound. The cancer had destroyed most of the skin so there wasn’t much to work with. There have been a couple of minor complications, mostly due to Olivia’s activity level, but Dr. Jyl is taking care of them as they arise. Olivia will be returning to her foster home at the end of the week to continue her recovery. The stitches and staples will be removed in another couple of weeks. We’ll be starting Olivia on some eastern medicine soon, some herbs and a special diet that will help her body heal and be strong.
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March 3rd, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Great news! She looks much better and hopefully is feeling better too.