Cider's Story

Our dog Cider successfully recovered from her Cancer Surgery in March 2009. Her post surgery healing took about 2 months.

I have opened this blog to the public now, so I can share Cider's story with other pet owners that may be experiencing the same thing. Cider had an egg sized Soft Tissue Sarcoma removed from her front left leg. It was a rather aggressive "de-bulking" surgery that stretched her remaining skin to the max. We chose this option over amputation or chemotherapy. We knew it would be a difficult road, as the first two Vets we talked to recommended amputation.

Cider's story and her 2 months of post surgery challenges are summarized in the blog posts below. I would like to thank Dr. Julius Liptak and Dr. Charles Bruce of the Alta Vista Animal Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario for saving Cider's leg. To "shake a paw" is a wonderful thing : )

Scary Days - Skin Splitting - Post Surgery

Things certainly get worse before they get better. We were bandaging her wounds at this point but every time we took the bandage off it looked worse. Feeling very worried.

The doggy meds were working re: pain management . . . so at least that wasn't an issue.

First Day Home

Friday March 20th was Cider's first day home. We were told to let the air at her wound and not to bandage it up. We purchased an e-collar (elizabethan collar) to stop her from licking her leg. This was not needed on the first evening home as she was too exhausted to move. We thought the worst was over at this point . . . . little did we know!

Note to others: Listen carefully to the Vet's instructions about what to do and what NOT to do. We had just put our 20 year old cat down at our local vet . . . . before picking up Cider to bring her home from Alta Vista. I don't think I listened carefully enough to the post-op instructions. I should have kept Cider off the couch and totally minimized the amount of motion and movement in her leg. Her skin was far more fragile that I was aware.

Our Sweet Casey 1989 ~ 2009