Vestor

Dan Keenan writes:

Approximately 5 years ago I adopted a greyhound who was a successful racer, but had to retire early due to a rear leg fracture.  Fortunately the crew at the Wichita track where he had raced took care of him, and placed his leg in a cast.  An Atlanta-area adoption agency picked him up, and I was able to take him right after the cast was removed.  I’m explaining all this because he certainly worked hard early in his life, and has already endured tough times.

Well, it didn’t take long for me to realize how goofy and sweet greyhounds are.  He has a unique personality, and seems to really enjoy life.  Three years ago I started noticing some build-up of an unknown substance in his ear.  It was very tender for him, too.  I took him to my regular vet, who could tell something was wrong, but didn’t have the equipment to get a detailed look deep inside his ear.  The preliminary analysis was that the substance was dried blood, and he had a growth inside his ear canal.  I was referred to the University of Georgia Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

At UGA, they removed the growth and performed a biopsy.  It was negative.  After bringing him home, he was on antibiotics and pain medication for a few days.  Still, he seemed uncomfortable, and the ear continued to be tender.  I took him back to UGA, and he underwent some more tests,  including a CT scan.  The vets found that he had a couple of other growths deeper in the ear canal, and a large one in the middle ear that had burst his ear drum.  It wasn’t a good situation.  The large growth was suspected to be cancerous, and the team faced the difficulty of how to remove it.  My options were to have them remove the ear canal and entirely close off the ear, or to attempt to remove the growths in the ear canal – and then drill through his skull to remove the growth in the middle ear.  The latter option would save his hearing in that ear.  It also ran the risk that the growths would simply come back in a few months.  And with all of that, there was also the possibility that he would need long-term cancer treatment.

They recommended that we remove the ear canal, and I eventually agreed.  My heart was in my stomach because I only wanted to do what was best for my sweet greyhound.  It wasn’t an easy decision, because they warned me that the surgery had a risk of partial facial paralysis.  During surgery, they also performed a biopsy on the large mass in his middle ear.

The best of all possible outcomes happened:  the biopsy came back negative.  The growths turned out to be polyps instead of tumors.  After the surgery, my heart sank when I saw his half-shaved head, and the stitches which closed the ear canal.  Slowly, though, he recovered and became accustomed to the loss of hearing in that ear.  His fur grew back, and no one can even notice that one of his ears is sewn shut.

All of this happened two years ago, and I’m happy to say that he isn’t showing any residual effects from his affliction or the surgeries.  I can’t recall how many trips I took between Atlanta and Athens to drop him off and pick him up, or how much it all cost.  It was probably about 10 round trips and about four thousand dollars.  It doesn’t really matter.  I’d do it all again.  The staff at the UGA Vet Hospital were incredibly supportive and professional.  I was truly impressed with their effort, and also their passion.  They really know that when people bring in animals, those animals are very, very important.  I’m so grateful to be close enough to Athens that I was able to have my buddy treated there.

My greyhound’s name is Vestor.  He just woke up from a nap, and decided he wants to go out.  It’s wonderful to be able to do the routine things for him, and that’s only possible because of the extraordinary things done for him at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.  Everyone, from the students to the vets to those providing administrative and management assistance, was very kind and understanding.  I hope I don’t need to take Vestor back there, but if I do I will have total confidence in what they can offer.