[Gpdd] HEALTH - Mimi has a tumor

[Janneke Staaks]

Hi Jaime,

My sister alerted me that your Mimi has a very (very!) similar condition as my Igor (same age, same symptoms). So I thought I'd write what we went through.

I consulted a friend who is a physician and specialised in radiology. She told me that tumors that are that hard and grow that fast are very likely to be malignant. They usually don't hurt that much, but you have to look out for the surrounding tissue/limbs/organs, also, there will be a stage where the tumor becomes too big and will not get enough blood. The tissue will die, and that is very painful. 

So I decided, just like you, to make him as happy as possible. And indeed he was. I took a gamble and got 4 week old Bo out of a shelter and Igor really took to her. He was a daddy pig all the way and enjoyed popcorning with her every day (literally). The interesting thing was that once we got Bo, the tumor stopped growing for a quite a while (it was growing very fast in the beginning). 

After a few months Igor started being in pain. And then I took him to the vet and he went to the bridge in my arms (pff.. I still cry when I think about that) I indeed had painkillers, and they did work. But the vet told me that he probably was in pain because the tissue had started to die, and that it was probably a matter of days before the skin would tear. He advised me to put him to sleep right there because that would be extremely painful for Igor.

Btw, the vet that diagnosed him and the vet that sent him to the bridge were different vets, the latter being the better (by far!). He expressed regret that I hadn't gotten in sooner because he thinks he could have operated on Igor. I'm not sure if he could, because Igor was always miserable being away from me. On the other hand, Igor really liked this vet. He licked his hands and gave him a very loving look during his examination. But well.. I don't do regrets, so let's not dwell on that.

Big hug for Mimi, I still remember that you got her and shared her stories with  us. 

Hug!
Janneke & the winky team (Bo, Coco and Sjeuf)