As many of you know, Bentley has a significant heart murmur. We're not sure yet if he has heart disease as well, but our hopes obviously are that he doesn't. We knew he needed to get an electrocardiogram (to get a better idea of his heart issues) but were told by his vet here on base that nowhere on the island could do that. I started exploring options for taking Bentley to Japan or Australia or even Hawaii and kept running into hurdles. Japan has a tough quarantine policy and wouldn't allow Bentley into the country without a looooong quarantine. So that was out. Australia was ridiculously expensive to fly to and taking a military flight was out because they wouldn't allow Bentley to travel with me. Hawaii was looking like the only option and it's hard arranging that right now since I'm pregnant and Benjamin's deploying soon. So I was really frustrated because I didn't want Bentley's health to suffer because of our geographical situation.
Add to this whole issue that Bentley has this mysterious lump that suddenly popped up on his paw. I think it's a histiocytoma which is a benign tumor that will clear up on it's own. Well, the base vet decided that he wanted to chop the lump off under general anesthesia. This presents huge problems for Benjamin and I because we know how dangerous it is to put an animal with a heart murmur under general anesthesia without first knowing the extent of the heart murmur. The base vet seemed very non-chalant about our concerns and we felt very uncomfortable with his approach. (My main peeve was that he wouldn't agree to do a needle aspirate cytology which would have been quick, easy and not required general anesthesia. He just wanted to chop up Bentley's foot without first even knowing if there was a reason for that drastic of a measure.) He also made us feel uncomfortable because the first time we walked into his office (which was so that he could drain Bentley's anal glands) he said "Oh a boxer. These guys are ticking time bombs. It's not IF they'll get cancer, it's WHEN." We were just like "Uh, ok, thanks?" What do you say to that? So anyway, with Bentley's surgery looming just around the corner, I decided to cancel. I just didn't feel good about the whole thing.
And thank goodness I cancelled... because I happened to find a vet here in Guam that CAN perform an Electrocardiogram! This has been the best news I could have gotten. Now we can get a better idea of what's going on with Bentley's heart. I'm also going to have this new veterinarian look at Bentley's paw for a second opinion. I am excited. I know Bentley is "just a dog" but to us, he's basically our firstborn. We joke around that if Bentley and the baby don't get along, we'll have to find a new home for the baby. ;) We adore him and want the best for him. And I'm sure the baby will love him too. If she knows what's good for her at least...
So tomorrow is the big day at the new vet's office for Bentley. We're really excited about getting some definitive answers about Bentley's heart as well as a better idea of what's going on with his paw. Please keep your fingers crossed for him! We'd love to hear some good news! :)
1 comment:
Oh my gosh, he's so cute! I hope that he and Harley can have a play date someday.
Do you think his lump might be an extra digit? I ask because Harley has one on his paw. Might not be since it happened so quickly, but that's one option to look into.
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