Cupid is our 15 year old Maltese. She still seems like a puppy to us even with her age. Stella's family has had her since she was about a year old. We've had her with us here in Chapel Hill for about three years now. She is a fun loving, food loving, playful, needy, sweet sweet little dog. We love her dearly. She's been through a lot this past year:
Medical History:
She was diagnosed with Lymphoma in January 2010. It started in the liver area and spots of it were shown in other organs nearby. We did chemotherapy (from February 2010 to August 2010) and beat the cancer. She handled the chemotherapy surprisingly well. She seemed a little fatigued but ate, slept, and even played well through the whole process. She did lose a little bit of hair but it wasn't noticeable until her new coat grew back (it grew back a strawberry blond color). Her ears, lower back, and the top of the tail is where the new color came in. We actually like new colors.
She also had a mammary mass removed and hysterectomy in August 2010. She recovered from that
fully. We initially noticed/felt the mass in her lower belly area. She couldn't get the surgery due to her
heart murmur because the doctors didn't know if her heart could handle the anesthesia. But after tests showed that she could, we went with it. After surgery, she was like a new dog. Her first day home from surgery, we had to keep her calm due to her stitches but she wanted to jump and play like nothing was wrong. She did very well for a couple of months but in late October early November we noticed a slight cough. This was due to the heart failure (enlarged heart which was pushing up against her trachea and gave her trouble in her airway). She also had some fluid in lungs. The coughing persisted and became worse and worse. It was to the point where she was coughing constantly. She was already on medications for the heart murmur but we had to add 4 more.
She has a heart murmur and is also going through heart failure at the moment. But by looking at her,
you can't tell that she's sick. The doctors at NC State say she's a super dog. She's been through almost every department there and all the doctors know her. She is currently on six different medications to treat all of her symptoms and we are very happy to say that she seems happy and
comfortable at the moment.
Place of Treatment: Cupid is currently a patient at North Carolina State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. During her fight with cancer, she had to get a dosage of the chemotherapy once every week, then every 2 weeks and sometimes, depending on her white blood cell count, we waited a little longer between the sessions. We have been going back on average once every month since her surgery, either for a regular check up, or for a problem, or an emergency. Currently her medications consist of pills, liquid cough suppressant, and an asthma inhaler.
Here is the hospital's website if you're interested: http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/
Also, please feel free to ask any questions if you are going through a similar situation with your pet. I'm no doctor but we can at least share with you what we have tried and had to go through with Cupid.
