vetspeak Lovely Lily
Lily is a 7-year-old Staffie who came to see us a few weeks ago because she had lost her bounce and sparkle. Initially it looked like she had picked up one of the tummy bugs that were going around but, when she didn’t respond to the usual treatment and didn’t pick up, her owners brought her back for us to have another look.
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blood sample to the external laboratory and they confirmed that Lily was anaemic, and that the shape of her red blood cells suggested she had a problem either in her spleen or her liver. Lily is a deep chested dog so we were not able to feel her liver or spleen while she was awake, as they are hidden by her ribs. Once she was asleep, the vet could feel that her spleen was larger than normal but the ultrasound did not show any tumours, so initially she was treated for an infection. Lily’s anaemia continued to get worse despite her treatment, so the next step was to open up her abdomen under anaesthesia and look at her spleen. When we did, the vet could see that her spleen looked very abnormal, so it was removed and sent to the laboratory for diagnosis. While we were waiting for the results, Lily’s condition started to improve and her red blood cells increased, but unfortunately the biopsy showed that Lily’s spleen contained a very unusual form of cancer, which was responsible for destroying Lily’s red blood cells and had a high potential to spread elsewhere. Lily has been referred to the Veterinary Specialist Group, where she has begun chemotherapy. Luckily, dogs do not suffer the same side effects as humans with chemotherapy and Lily continues to be her usual peppy self.
The vet took some blood and while the biochemistry (organ function) showed only minor changes, her haematology (red and white cell count) indicated she was developing anaemia. To get some more information on these changes we sent her
Lily is very lucky to have an owner who knows her well enough to tell when just not being right is serious and, as she is insured, she is able to have the best treatment available.
