Back from Dr Munn's - Tonka RIP :( Monkey did Fine :)

[lilspaz68]

Original patient: Chenoa with her CHF that is not responding as well.
Dilemma: Tonka has a huge round mass in her abdomen, I know its not really operable because its deep inside and only surfaced recently, but I still want Dr Munn to see her. BUT Chenoa stays calmer with Monkeyface than Tonka and I don't need my girl stressed.
Solution: Bring all 3 :thumbup:

Chenoa now has some respiratory involvement so we are throwing the kitchen sink at her. Enalapril and doxy twice a day, and rescue shots (dex/gentocin sub-q with Ringer's Lactate Solution) every 2nd day (along with Wilbur and Linny...blech).
She's very thin, and her breathing is laboured but she's active and very bright and ONLY 16 months...

Tonka. The mass is not a tumour. Its a cyst, a small chicken egg-sized cyst. When you push on the side its not solid but fluid and the skin bounces back right after. Tonka had a cyst removed and was spayed (cysts in uterus) so I should've guessed. :doh:
I asked if we could do an FNA (fine needle aspiration of the lump) and he said she really didn't want to at this point. If we were going to stick a needle in, it was to drain it. He said since she's in no discomfort he wanted to leave it since its deep inside her body. We don't know what its full of and a needle stuck in it could end up nasty or dangerous. But I will watch it very carefully, if it grows or she shows any sign of discomfort she goes in for it to be drained.

Chenoa is happy to be home

Tonka's cyst...you literally can just lift it up, but its hard when the rat is on the move, much easier on the exam table :cheeky:

And Monkeyface just because she's fabulous with her little hobbit feet. :lol:

 

[jorats]

Wow. That's a big cyst!! Lets hope it's one of those that just stop growing.
Good thoughts for Chenoa and her breathing.

 

[Godmother]

The sweeties! :heart: I am glad that Tonka doesn't have a tumour, and I sure hope that Chenoa will make some improvements. CHF is nasty.

 

[Moon]

Oh Ashe, you do have such hobbity feeties...

 

[lj]

She sure does. :giggle:

 

[M0onkist]

I definitely have my fingers crossed for Chenoa and Tonka - labored breathing is such a worry... but if anyone can solve it, Dr. Munn can!

 

[Dahlas]

I am wishing them all well.....they are three very beautiful girls.

 

[mamarat]

Good thoughts for your sweeties, as always. They are such beautiful girls. :heart:

 

[lilspaz68]

Poor Tonka, the cyst is bigger and today when I picked her up she gave that little pain sound that is like a quiet whine on the intake breath.

She will be dropped off (with her mom Monkey) on Friday to have her cyst drained and I will pick her up after work. :sad3:

 

[lj]

Hope it drains well.

 

[Catibrie]

Aww poor Tonka. I hope all goes well for her. :redbud:

 

[SQ]

All the best to you, her mom Monkey, and to little Tonka.
Hope everything goes well.

 

[henry's_mum]

:hugs:
sweet girls.... i'll be thinking of you all hun

 

[M0onkist]

Oh no...

Good luck, Tonka! Be a good girl and Monkeyface will take good care of you (with help from Dr. Munn!).

 

[Nezumi]

I hope for the best. I've never seen a cyst that big.

 

[lilspaz68]

Long day.

Dropped off Tonka to have her egg-sized cyst drained. Chris calls with a funny sound in her voice at about 2:20 pm, and says "Dr. Munn needs to talk to you". My heart sinks. Is his perfect record of no rats dying on the table or after waking up at the clinic finally ruined?
No, but he told me that when he stuck the needle in, tons of pus came out, not cystic material. It couldn’t be lanced since it wasn’t under the skin but deep inside the body cavity. He kept her under anesthetic and called me. We decided the abscess needed to be surgically removed or she would have to be pts. I was warned that he would have NO clue what was going on, until he had gotten in there to look. It could be wrapped around intestines or organs, and I told him that if he felt she couldn’t survive or would only suffer, to let her go. *sniff*

Forty minutes later I get another call from my vet. He couldn’t do the removal, couldn’t even figure out where it originated deep inside the body. Instead he thought “What would I do if it was MY rat”, and he ended up sewing the abscess capsule to the bottom of her abdominal wall (in a circle called marsupialization) and then was able to open it up and drain it. It was FULL of pus, nice toothpaste texture pus…over a handful of it. My poor baby! He said it was pushing all the organs out of the way but if it had been any bigger there would’ve been nothing we could do.
So Tonka has a hole in her abdomen INTO the abscess capsule, and she will be taking metronidazole and zithromax to catch any possible obscure bacteria. She will be on metacam and may also need other pain meds. Her prognosis is very guarded and I will be watching for any complications and rushing her to my vet to be pts. If she makes it to Monday, I will be dropping her off for a followup.

My poor Tonka Truck. :sad-p:

 

[SQ]

:heart: :heart:


:hugs: to both of you

 

[henry's_mum]

:hugs: :hugs: :hugs:
she looks great hun, as great as to be expected...
and Cole had a TON of questions for me regarding why her belly looked 'sewed up' :doh:

 

[ryelle]

poor babe!

i hope everything goes well *hug*

 

[lilspaz68]

I looked up the procedure and now know exactly what my vet did. I hope it works, because they he can use it on other small domestics that may have a similar issue in the future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsupialization