Rafe Home

Hi!

Rafe had his surgery today and is home, minus the lump. For those of you who hadn’t heard, he suddenly had a growth under his collar, so I took him in–Dane (my vet) did the needle aspiration and found no evil cells but a few “not quite normal” skin cells, so we decided to remove the thing now. Apparently it is the same kind of mass Mac had on his tail a couple of years ago.

Rafe is in great shape–he came out in his bandanna, stood on his back feet, and announced that he was ready to go home. All the clinic people have been raving about what a NICE dog he is–of course, we knew that. Now I am supposed to keep him quiet for 14 days, which means separation from the Mac. I can see Mac taking over inspection of the stitches, etc., and probably removal of the stitches. They will have to take turns for a few days, until the novelty wears off.

Julie, Dane was totally amazed at what a great blood panel they found. I have been given a copy of the results to forward to you–you turned out an amazingly healthy “veteran.”

The only negative part so far is that Rafe took apart his harness last night. I had to drop him off then because I could not get to campus for my 8 a.m. class in time if I waited until this morning, and they left the harness on. Somehow he got it off and amused himself overnight. Just ordered a replacement, and for now he is marching around in the tracking harness. He is busy telling me that he is hungry, despite the snack the vet tech gave him early this afternoon.

It is good to have him back.