A Rough Day for Ride

Those of you who know me, or have been following my Blog for a while, know that my husband Lee and I have two lovely ex-racing greyhounds, Harley and Ride.

The photo on the left is one of my favorite pics of Ride, taken a year or so ago. We adopted Ride in 1999, and over the past 9 years, she's given Lee and me a great deal of love and enriched our lives greatly, as all wonderful pets do. She is now is 12 years old, which is somewhat elderly for a greyhound.

Yesterday was a rough day for Ride. We had brought her and Harley back home from the kennel the afternoon before, after being there for 12 days while Lee and I were on our trip to Oregon. She hadn't been eating well for a week or so before we left, but we'd started to supplement her dry kibble with some tastier canned dog food and she was eating it right up. And when I called to check on her from Oregon, she was still eating well and doing fine.

But as it turns out, a few days before we got back from our trip, she went off her food again. And as of yesterday morning, I couldn't get her to eat even a nibble of dry dog food, or even canned. The only thing she ate yesterday was a cooked hamburger, and a fried egg. That, plus the fact that she was looking WAY skinny to me, made us decide to get her in to see the vet as soon as we could.

So, off I went with Ride to the veterinarian's office and we both spent most of the afternoon there while she had an exam, ultrasound, and several x-rays. Turns out that she had a large tumor in her abdomen, but neither vet could say for sure if it was on her spleen or her liver, so she underwent exploratory surgery last evening.

What was found was a very large tumor on her spleen, so both her spleen and the tumor were removed. (The vet told us that the tumor actually weighed 12.5 lbs, which is truly astonishing to me.) There IS a chance that the tumor is benign, and that is our hope. A biopsy of the tumor and of a spot on her liver were both taken, and we'll know the results by next Wednesday.

Ride did well with the surgery but is still not out of the woods in terms of the possibility of bleeding. Lee and I are going to go see her in a little while, and the vet said they were going to try to get her to eat some food today. If all goes well post-surgically, we may be able to bring her back home on Monday or Tuesday.

Please send your positive thoughts and prayers our way today for our sweet Ride.

Until we meet again . . . . .May you and your loved ones (including your furry family members) find enjoyment and comfort in each other's company each and every day.