Rafiki needs your prayers

[Rafiki]

I received a bit of info on the bloodwork. ALT is normal. AST was 72 and Bilirubin was 0.4 so they are both elevated but nothing like what she has presented with in the past. I started adding milk thistle (with my vet's knowledge and consent) to their food over a year ago and I think that it has helped.

Nothing from the pathology report.

 

[Rafiki]

Vet called but I was in an area without cell towers so I could not pick it up to speak to him and left a message to have him call me back this afternoon.

According to the voicemail, the mass is not a tumor nor is it cancerous. In spite of it being in a bit of an odd location (further up the leg, not so close to the knee), it appears to be a lymph node that has inflammation. There is no bacteria so they do not know what triggered it. So for now he wants to just keep an eye on it. If it gets bigger or painful, the next step would be antibiotics.

As far as the ear infection, he did not tell me what bacteria it is but that it should respond to the ear drops he gave me.

Two of the liver values (AST and Bilirubin) are elevated but only slightly so. The bilirubin is so close that it may just be a lab error so he is not alarmed by it.

So hopefully I will have a chance to talk to him this afternoon. I would like some additional reassurances that it is not a plasmacytic tumor. But at least I can breath again......!

Forgot to hit SEND earlier. Oops. Well here is the rest:

I finally spoke to the vet this afternoon. He is very insistent that the mass is not malignant. It is her lymph node but the cells indicate an immune process and not a cancer one. He said that it should go down on its own (but maybe not all the way) but that if it doesn't and it bother her we will treat with antibiotics and possibly steroids over surgery.

The ear infection is from one of the more common bacteria and the drops should take care of it in 15 days. She needs to go back in 2 weeks.

Photo: Rafiki having a celebratory chicken neck.

 

[David Z]

Glad to hear the good news, hoping that the lymph node swelling goes down and Rafiki makes a full recovery.

 

[Patti]

This is wonderful news, I'm so glad to hear it's nothing serious!!!

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

Yaaaaaay! I'm so glad that you can breathe again. Nothing is gonna keep Rafiki down, not after the life victory she's had, strong girl!

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Hoping the mass does as it is told and just goes away now! And the antibiotics work and Rafiki is back to "normal" soon

 

[Renee]

Oh my gosh! I'm so thankful everything is ok. You two have been through so much.

Keeping you both in my thoughts.

 

[Rafiki]

She is being surprisingly tolerant regarding the ear drops. We have a morning routine where we both get ready to start the day. With me it involves a shower (properly supervised by Rafiki) and skin creams. For her it involves many pets and kisses, a jar of coconut oil and brushing her from head to toe. While brushing her, I have administered the ear drops. She despises them but is allowing me to mush her ears and get the drops down deep instead of bolting out the door. Now whether or not she will remain tolerant for the entire 2 weeks of treatment remains to be seen.

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

What's the jar of coconut oil for? Glad she's feeling better!

 

[Rafiki]

It's part of her beauty routine. She loves the flavor of coconut oil and she has dry skin. So when I put on face cream, I pull out her jar and she happily licks away!