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  #121  
Old November 6th, 2008, 03:05 PM
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Isn't it wonderful that she's doing so well. I'm so glad she's eating and getting back to normal. I'm sure you're so relieved.

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  #122  
Old November 6th, 2008, 04:21 PM
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YAY Pepper.....what a wonderful update.

I am so happy to hear that she is getting her appetite back and that the incision is looking so good. You must absolutely be on cloud nine.

Looking forward to the pics.
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  #123  
Old November 7th, 2008, 02:02 AM
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Sounds like Pepper is well on her way to a full & speedy recovery. You've done a great job getting her to where she needs to be
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  #124  
Old November 12th, 2008, 03:38 AM
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How is Pepper doing?
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  #125  
Old December 5th, 2008, 04:29 PM
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I must apologize to everyone for not sending the pictures I promised or answering anyone. We had a family emergency that took me offline since I last posted.

Pepper is doing fabulously and is totally back to normal. She is eating everything I give her and more if she can get it. Her weigh-in at the vet two weeks after surgery put her at 58 lbs so she lost almost 12 lbs with the Lipoma. Apparently there were actually two of them the 10 lb one that the vet weighed and a smaller one which she thought was about 3 lbs but it came out in pieces so was never weighed. By the time of the weigh-in Pepper appeared to have gained a little weight around her hips so she actually might have weighed less than 58 right after surgery.

She is still receiving her Geri Tabs daily and I will probably keep her on them because of she is receiving a homemade diet that may not be as balanced as it could be. Most of her meals consist of Ground Chicken or Beef, an egg, two egg whites, 2 egg shells to cut down of the phosphorus in her diet, yams and spinach or other vegetables and rice with either homemade chicken or beef gravy to flavour it. She loves this diet and seems to be thriving on it.

I would like to thank everyone for the help and suggestions they have given me throughout this ordeal and hope you all will accept my apology for not answering sooner.

My son took 2 pictures today which aren't very good but do show her with her fur growing back and skinny again.

The first picture actually looks to me as though she still has a swelling on her side which in real life is not there, it is the way she is standing.(the one where she is reaching for her toy carrot)

The second picture shows just the operation area and it is flat. The incision runs vertically from just below her shoulder down to her chest and seems to be shrinking as her extra skin shrinks. There is now very little extra skin left from her Lipoma which amazes me because none had been removed at the time of her surgery. Her skin seems to be shrinking back to normal fast. She is a very happy girl now that she can run around unimpeded by the huge lump. There are no signs of regrowth or growth of the other very small Lipomas elsewhere on her body.
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  #126  
Old December 5th, 2008, 04:39 PM
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What a wonderful update and what a tenacious pup you have...good for her. How nice that she can run and play unimpeded now

Sounds like you are doing a great job with her rehab. That diet sounds yummy too...I have two pooches here who wouldn't mind sinking their teeth into it. I am sure one the more knowledgeable member will be able to advise whether further supplements are needed with the home made diet.

Regardless, she is certainly thriving now and that must be a HUGE relief to the whole family
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  #127  
Old December 5th, 2008, 04:56 PM
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That is such great news, I have checked the thread from time to time to see if there were any updates and this one is fantastic. She must feel so relieved. Personally I cannot see any sign of a lump at all. She looks just great .
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  #128  
Old December 5th, 2008, 05:00 PM
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Aww,that's great news,Pepper looks wonderful
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  #129  
Old December 5th, 2008, 05:44 PM
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Thanks everyone The only sign she has of the pouch that was left is a small area about the size of a baseball that hangs down from her chest at the bottom of the incision. It is soft now but when my vet saw her last it was hard in the center and my vet hoped it wasn't a third Lipoma that she had missed with all the blood she lost during the surgery but she hoped it was a hematoma because the drain was in the middle of the pouch before she pulled it out. I thought it was the skin that was left from the empty "pouch" and probably a hematoma and since it is now soft, it must have been the hematoma my vet suggested. You can't see it in the picture because when my son took it, he didn't include the bottom of her chest.

Anyway I am very happy it has turned out so well and I know my vet will be thrilled when she sees her next to find that it wasn't a third Lipoma that she missed.

Now that she is healthy but has the chronic renal failure, my goal is to improve her creatinine level as my vet thought it was higher because of the stress her body was under from the Lipoma. Pepper is scheduled to go back for her blood work in January.

BTW the reason she looks so sad in the pics I was holding her carrot so my son could take the picture and I wouldn't give it to her until he was done because she would have immediately run off with it. :LOL:
Thanks everyone
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Last edited by dbg10; December 5th, 2008 at 05:47 PM. Reason: addition
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  #130  
Old December 5th, 2008, 06:18 PM
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She's looking absolutely marvelous and must be feeling even better than she looks!!! So happy to hear how well she's doing--saw you starting to post earlier in the day but you left before updating--had us worried We're worrywarts, y'know! Thanks for the report.

Sorry to hear about your family emergency! I hope that all worked out well
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  #131  
Old December 5th, 2008, 11:02 PM
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I was going to post today and inquire about Pepper but I was getting bumped off line, I finally gave up.....
She looks Marvelous! You are doing a superb job.
I could use a bowl of what she's eating ...yum!
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  #132  
Old December 5th, 2008, 11:21 PM
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I'm so happy for you and for her !! She must feel so much more comfy she looks good !

Good job dbg10
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  #133  
Old December 6th, 2008, 01:13 AM
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Originally Posted by hazelrunpack View Post
saw you starting to post earlier in the day but you left before updating--had us worried We're worrywarts, y'know! Thanks for the report.

Sorry to hear about your family emergency! I hope that all worked out well
Yep, me and Hazel were both wondering what happened when you left without finishing your post. I hope everything is okay re the family emergency.

Glad that Pepper is continuing to do well

I also couldn't see any sign of a lump.....she looks great.

Please keep us updated.
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  #134  
Old December 7th, 2008, 01:03 AM
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Pepper looks great I'm so glad she's doing really well & back to eating lots Yay for skin shrinkage too!
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  #135  
Old December 7th, 2008, 03:38 PM
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I was puzzled when you guys said I left without finishing my post. For the life of me I couldn't remember leaving Then I remembered I had to resize and crop Pepper's pics before posting them and I had to leave to do that. :duh:

The family emergency is over and done with and everyone is fine now. I never stopped thinking about my promise to post more pics and tell you how she was. But a couple of days ago when I finally had time to post, I was embarrassed for not answering sooner and wondered if anyone would still be interested after all this time, not having been a member at pets.ca, for long. Everyone has been so supportive I decided it didn't really matter how long it had been, the point was to finish what I promised, then anyone who was still interested could hear about Pepper's recovery.

After all the help everyone gave me, I hope to be able to spend more time here helping others if I can


One incident that sticks out in my mind as being really cute. Pepper had been wearing the little shirt you see in the following picture since she came home from the vet. We used the shirt instead of an E-collar to prevent her licking her incision or taking off the bandage. The shirt is an XL bought at Petsmart, and was the only one I could find anywhere that would fit her, there were no larger sizes available. It was difficult to put on her because it could have been a size larger, so we decided to leave it on because I knew we'd be in for a fight if I tried to replace it.

So after her stitches were removed, we took it off and sent it to the laundry though she wasn't happy and kept going to my laundry basket to look at it.
When it was clean it had unfortunately shrunk and would have been impossible to put back on her. I was putting away the laundry and picked her shirt out of the laundry basket. As soon a she saw it she started trying to put her head inside it, so I draped it over he back and she went running off with it. When it dropped to the floor I decided to show her it was too small by putting it over her head. It was too tight but she spent the afternoon with the shirt around her neck, happy as a clam. I was amazed at her behaviour, she obviously recognized this shirt as hers and was going to have it no matter what She was so cute I wish I had another one that is bigger than the last so when it shrunk she could still wear it.

Pepper came from a man who was going into a nursing home 3 years ago and I think she must have worn her own shirt when she was younger. Too bad they didn't bring it with her when I adopted her.

She is such a character
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  #136  
Old December 7th, 2008, 05:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbg10 View Post

But a couple of days ago when I finally had time to post, I was embarrassed for not answering sooner and wondered if anyone would still be interested after all this time
Of course we're still interested !
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  #137  
Old December 7th, 2008, 06:21 PM
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What Frenchy said...I have been worried about her! Sometimes no news means, well, enough of that.

That last pic....she looks like she is thinking.."you toucha my bone & I'm gonna breaka yur arm"
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  #138  
Old December 7th, 2008, 08:18 PM
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How could we not be interested in Pepper! She's such a doll! And she has an for an owner!

She looks absolutely stunning in her shirt. And she seems to know it. Are you going to get her another, larger T this summer?
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  #139  
Old December 7th, 2008, 08:26 PM
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I agree with everyone. You are such a good fuzzbutt mom and we love folks like that.

Pepper looks lovely in her t-shirt and hope she gets a new one for Christmas.

And then, of course, we want pics posted in the Photo Forum here so more members will get to see how adorable she is.
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  #140  
Old December 7th, 2008, 08:31 PM
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Originally Posted by rainbow View Post

And then, of course, we want pics posted in the Photo Forum here so more members will get to see how adorable she is.
oh yes ! Pepper must have her own picture thread , will lots of pics !

And don't worry if you can't come back for a while , we'll still be here , waiting ....

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  #141  
Old December 12th, 2008, 01:42 AM
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So cute how much she loves her t-shirt, Pepper definately needs a new one for xmas

Very glad to hear she's been recovering well
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  #142  
Old December 20th, 2008, 08:21 PM
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Pepper had her first major outing today, since her surgery. She has tired very easily until the last week or so, probably because of the anemia she had from the blood loss during her surgery. Today we took her for pictures with Santa sponsored by the Durham Humane Society and she was running like she used to before the Lipoma got so big it interfered with her walking. She pulled all the way through Vandemeer's Nursery running up to people and dogs to sniff them. She smiled almost continually while we were there.

Then we took her to Petsmart to look for a new T-shirt and some presents from Santa for both Pepper and the cats. She ran around Petsmart and tried to play with a GR puppy and her mate an adult black lab in the store. We had trouble getting them separated during play time. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a T-shirt that she was the least bit interested in, so I bought her a new bed to sleep on and a foot long soft vinyl squeeky turkey to play with. She will also have her treats from Santa but I cut back on them this year in hopes that her creatinine will be lower when we take her in January for her check-up. It was really thrilling to see her so happy and energetic for the entire afternoon out. I guess it is now time to increase the length of her walks to more than a block.

This afternoon I knew that the surgery was more than worth it for her because she is enjoying her freedom now that it's gone and obviously healed. There is still a small pouch of skin hanging down behind her right front leg but I know now that it is only extra skin left after the Lipoma removal and may well disappear in the next few months. She will be 12 years old at the end of January and I believe we may have several more years with her.

She is still enjoying her homemade diet of ground beef or chicken, sweet potatoes, spinach, rice soaked in gravy, eggs, egg whites and egg shells and I have recently added oatmeal to the mix to reduce the amount of meat/protein that she is getting.

I thought I'd bring everyone up-to-date on her progress because everyone has been wonderful throughout her illness
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  #143  
Old December 20th, 2008, 09:58 PM
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What a great report!! I can't tell you how heartwarming it is to hear that she's doing so well.

Well, maybe I can...I'm sure your heart must be warmed even more than mine!



Merry Christmas to you and Pepper!!
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  #144  
Old December 20th, 2008, 10:24 PM
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Such a nice update , of course she must be feeling so much better , and I'm sure you are too ! Pepper is back !

Too bad you couldn't find a new shirt but you can still post a pic of her in her new bed
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  #145  
Old December 21st, 2008, 07:36 AM
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Great news,I'm very happy for you and Pepper
You said you went for pics with Santa,did I miss them somewhere???
Got to check
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  #146  
Old December 21st, 2008, 02:08 PM
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What great news to hear that Pepper has progressed so well.
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  #147  
Old December 21st, 2008, 02:26 PM
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What a wonderful update ......YAY Pepper.
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  #148  
Old December 21st, 2008, 02:31 PM
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Thank you for the update, I am so glad she is doing well.
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  #149  
Old December 21st, 2008, 04:16 PM
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Pepper ~ you are GORGEOUS! And what good news that, without the BIG LUMP you can make snow-angels like every other gal in the park. We call them the "happy dance" in my house ~ but there is no mistaking the pure, unleashed (bad pun I know) glee !
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  #150  
Old December 22nd, 2008, 12:27 AM
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Wonderful update on Pepper I'm glad she was running around & playing again
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