Album One | Album Two | Album Three | Video's
Enter the name for this tabbed section:
Link
Link passed away on August 28, 2013
We saw Link's picture on Petfinder.com. He looked part lab and all the labs we previously owned were great pets. After visiting him at his foster home, we put in an application for him. Our application was accepted and he became ours. Because Link had some behavioral problems, we decided not to change his name.
Background - Link arrived, as a stray, at the Baltimore Animal Shelter on Jan. 31, 2006. Link was described as a shy and gentle dog who warmed up to people and liked to play.
Fears - Link's foster mother noticed he was afraid of most men and of people holding big items.
Early days - We found out quickly that Link was also afraid of the dark and he didn't like doors closed. For the first 6-8 months, instead of sleeping at night, Link would pace. He would lay down for a little while, but then would be up walking around. Link would also pace when big trucks would drive by the house.
Today - We turn night lights on when it gets dark and turn a fan on when Link goes to sleep to help drown out loud noises. Link hates to step on grass. When he goes in the back yard, he races to the driveway. He loves trotting around the driveway. We aren't sure why Link isn't fond of rass. Link is a good natured dog who gets along with cats and dogs alike. Link loves walks and his nightly treats. He seems to have more fun running around with the treat in his mouth than eating it.
Ed and I love Link - he is such a sweetheart
Enter the name for this tabbed section: Jan. 18 2011
In Dec. of 2010 I noticed a small, hard lump on Link’s stomach. Link had an appt. at Norbeck Animal Clinic on Dec. 28, 2010.Dr. Ivanov did a biopsy and discovered that the lump was a classic mast cell tumor.
Link had previously been diagnosed with a heart murmur, that didn’t seem to worry the vets who had seen Link. But now that Link needed surgery, his heart murmur was an issue. The severity of a heart murmur determines what kind of anesthesia can be used during surgery.
Our vet said Link needed to see a Cardiologist. On January 14, 2011 Link saw Dr. Cain at the Chesapeake Veterinary Cardiology Assoc. (CVCA).
Link’s diagnosis:
Moderate degenerative valve disease; moderately large mitral regurgitation;
mild tricuspid regurgitation and moderate left atrial enlargement
The diagnosis means that even though there is some risk, Link can have surgery. The surgeon will have to complete the normal preop blood work, monitor Link carefully for shortness of breath and/or coughing and use ½ the normal rate of surgical fluids.
After reviewing the cardiology report, Dr. Ivanov said that Norbeck could do the surgery. The surgery date is set for February 16, 2011. It will be a tricky surgery because there is not a lot of extra skin where the tumor sits. Generally, mast cell tumors are removed aggressively, meaning the area surrounding the tumor is also removed to make sure that none of the tumor remains.
Once the tumor is removed, some form of chemotherapy is required.
The type of chemotherapy will depend on the pathology report following the surgery.
Our fingers crossed.
Enter the name for this tabbed section: Feb. 19 2011
The surgeon was Dr. Kashin. She is a visiting surgeon that performs surgeries at various animal hospitals. She called Mary Kay after performing the surgery at Norbeck Animal Clinic. She said Link is a very strong dog and everything went well. She said that the tumor was small enough for her to remove additional layers of skin around the tumor. Mary Kay and I are hoping this will help the tumor not return.
Link has to keep his stitches in for 10 days with no bandage. The vet wants Link to wear an e-collar during his 10 day recuperation. Mary Kay chose a large e-collar for Link. On the way in the house, Link tripped over the curb and steps because the e-collar was a little too big.
Once Link got in the house we took off the e-collar. Poor guy, he was whining and didn’t know what to do with himself. I stayed up most of the night making sure Link didn’t lick or bite his stitches. I kept my hand on his collar so if he tried to move I would wake up. Neither Link nor I slept much. The next day Mary Kay bought Link a soft e-collar. Thursday night Link wore the e-collar and was able to sleep through the night. I got a good night sleep too. On Friday, if I needed to do something and couldn’t watch Link, I would use the e-collar.
Link is doing great.
If it wasn’t for Dr. Ivanov, we wouldn’t have been able to afford the surgery.
Enter the name for this tabbed section: Aug. 28 2013
Link started to cough someone when he got excited or when he would lay down. I thought it might be his heart so I asked Mary Kay to see if the heart specialist took Care Credit yet and they did so we took him. Link had gone to a heart specialist a couple years ago. Click here to read more about Link.
Well Link saw the Oncologist at CVCA. When we left the specialist, it seem like everything was OK. Link reasonable he was put on two medicines he had been taking for the last two years. The specialist added Lasix and Pimobendan. That visit cost us $700. Within 10 days of starting his medicine, link stopped eating and was doing really bad. When we called CVCA, they told us to take Link to our vet. We were in shock. We asked them what they wanted our vet to do and we got a list.
Of course, our primary vet could not see us until the next day at 4 o'clock. So we call Banfield Pet Hospital which are located in the Petsmart stores. This was the second time Banfield had come to the our rescue. The first time was wants with our cat Fluffy. She was in bad shape. She was at our primary vet the day before, but they still told us they couldn’t see her and we needed to take her to emergency care. Pretty sad considering they had just seen Fluffy less then 24 hours ago and it was an emergency.
Banfield Link right in the room. The first thing the vet said was why did CVCA send you here? We said we were wondering the same thing. The vet did all the stuff that the specialist wanted done and said you need to get him back there now. That visit cost $500.
We called CVCA to make an appt. but they really didn't want to see us. They just wanted to make medicine adjustments over the phone. We said no you need to see him now. So we went and met with a different specialist. I asked him if he had gotten the x-rays I had sent him by email he said yes. When he was finished looking at the report that Banfield Pet Hospital had sent him he walked over to the other side of the room and asked, “Why are you here.” Mary Kay and I were in shock. We told him the vet at Banfield said Link is very sick. His blood is not circulating and his upper lip is practically white. Then he looked at Link and recommended three other medicines.
When the tech left the room, I was petting Link and the doctor said, “Your dog is very sick and if he doesn't get better in 7 days then I would put him down.” Well it went from why are you here tooif he's not better than seven days put him to sleep. Then we were given three more medications were going to take. They were Diltiazem, Digoxin and Mirtazapine. So bottom line is we started force-feeding link hoping that the medicine will kick in and help. it did not we had to put the sleep.
Cost for that visit $300.
I believe it should have been free since we paid $700.
