GREENVILLE, SC......We were contacted yesterday by a person that was fostering a dog from Greenville County Animal Control. She agreed to take a 3 year old Pitbull that was covered with scars all over his face and legs. His teeth had been filed down so he could be used as a bait dog. She got him out and he was doing great. They went for walks and he let kids that were playing in the park love on him. The next two days he developed a terrible upper respiratory problem He was taken back to Animal Control to have the vets there check him out and his fever spiked to 107. He appeared to have a hard time breathing. An X-Ray showed he had a mass that was pushing on his airway. After talking to everyone I could, i decided if I was going to do anything, it had to happen now. The foster got Spencer to one of our vets to get him as stable as possible. We then had our transporter rush him to ICU. He was literally crashing the minute he came in the door. The Critical Care Physicians were waiting for him and jumped into action. He was intubated with a plastic tube to keep his airway open and was given oxygen. Scans were done and they found a large mass above his heart and very enlarged lymph nodes. The mass and the swelling in his neck were shutting off his airway. This incredibly sweet dog is in critical condition. This morning it was determined he has Lymphoma. He was given enzymes last night that caused the mass to almost disappear. The problem is that it will come back. He will need to be treated with Chemotherapy to get the cancer into remission. Lymphoma's generally respond well to chemo in dogs. We cannot get rid of this but we can hopefully give him two great years. The problem right now is not the Lymphoma but the swelling he has and the complications he is having because of it. We have him in a controlled sleep while the Critical Care Physicians do everything they can to deal with all of his complications. The outcome would have been very different if we had known about him sooner. We have a 50/50 chance of saving him. If you were saving out to decide which one of our dogs to donate toward, this is it. We will need every penny we can get our hands on to give him the best chance possible. I hear sob stories all day long about animals needing help. I listen to them all and if I can help, I will. There is only one of me and a lot of sad unfortunate cases that break my heart. When i saw the picture of Spencer, surrounded by children he didn't even know, loving and petting him, I knew I was going to help him. The unconditional love he showed those children is why I am going to do everything possible to save him. He needs to live so all the unconditional love he has given will be showered on him for the rest of his life. Please, do whatever you can to help us with his medical care and say a lot of prayers for this beautiful Angel.
