Poor lumpy Walter

Walter developed yet another lump, this one on top of a toe. It grew a lot quicker than lumps he's had before. It was removed today so now he's got a great big bandage on his foot. Looks pretty dramatic but as usual the lump was just sitting under the skin so the only chunk of him that's missing is the lump and some skin, no bone or muscle or anything like that.

Walter is such a good, patient patient. But the poor guy: After having been in twice for two blood draws earlier this week, this morning while waiting in the reception area he dove under the chairs every time a tech came out to bring the next patient in for their appointment. But he's always so good at the vet's, so scared but doesn't put up a fuss, nobly going along with everything they do to him. Quite different from Ms. Lucy, Drama Queen Extraordinaire!

Needless to say I scratched him from all of the agility trials and fun matches he was to be in over the next few weeks. And given the location of the incision which doesn't lend itself to fast healing, there's a good chance he'll need to be scratched from Regionals, last weekend of May. Bummer since it's in town this year so it would have been our first time participating. Disappointing, yes, but it was a stressful week and day not without a few complications and worries so I'm really just so relieved that the lump is gone and Walter can start to heal. There is however a chance they may have to open him up again later on if they didn't get enough of a margin (depending on what the biopsy shows) but they took off as much of the area as they could given the limited amount of skin in that area available for stitching him back up.

Now it's a matter of keeping the wound dry and limiting how much he flexes his foot so we're all camping out in the living room for the next week, sleeping on the floor so there's no jumping on and off couches and beds and going up and down stairs.

One thing's for sure: if by chance he heals up super fast and gets the vet's ok for entering Regionals, he sure won't have been burnt out from too much practicing! Lol.