BE THE PERSON YOUR DOG THINKS YOU ARE.

As Ellie grew older, there were, thankfully, few health scares. At around seven years old, she progressively developed a limp in her left front paw. I was angry with myself when I allowed us to be temporarily taken down the wrong track by a less than thorough examination by a vet at our practice. I later found out that he had returned to work that day following a recent vasectomy! Maybe he was distracted by his problems, but I wish I had seen the partner I consulted subsequently.

On this first visit, I explained what was happening; he knelt down, gripped her on either side of her first joint (her wrist?), and twisted his hands in opposite directions; unsurprisingly, she yelped! “It’s arthritis’, he said. I’m no expert, but his technique seemed remarkably similar to those ‘burns’ we gave each other as kids, and don’t they hurt? However, arthritic problems are common in older Golden Retrievers, so initially, I took his diagnosis at face value and began researching natural remedies for inflammatory conditions. ‘Green-lipped Mussel’ extract is well spoken of, for humans too, and, in its natural form, is also a tasty started in some restaurants.

The limping didn’t improve, and I realised the severity varied depending on the surface under Ellie’s paws. I made a second vet’s appointment. Beforehand, I filmed Ellie on one of our walks, taking us along a pavement into a park. It was clear that on the grass, she barely limped at all! When I showed the film to the vet, he immediately said the problem must be in her pad. He gently examined it and concluded a foreign body, probably a grass seed, was in the webbing between her toes. (As so-called water dogs, Golden Retrievers have webbing to help them swim.) A scan confirmed his diagnosis, and the limp disappeared after she had an operation to remove it. She was in good health, moving into her ‘third age’, but we still decided to employ as much preventative therapy as possible. We found a lady who specialised in dog massage, and once a month, she came to us to treat Ellie. It has to be said, she didn’t like it much, but she seemed to know it was important to us, so she tolerated 45 minutes of gentle manipulation. When we began the treatments, I guess we were just thinking about the direct health benefits. We didn’t foresee the potential of getting a very early warning!

In the summer of 2017, Ellie was about ten and three-quarters. As Mel massaged her, she said something like, ‘This is new!’ Her hand was splayed across what would be Ellie’s left armpit. When I put my hand there, I gently touched the large lump discovered by Mel. ‘That wasn’t there last month,’ she said. Part of me was pretty matter-of-fact, thinking about what we needed to do next. Deep down, I felt quite sick with worry, and of course, with health matters, a period of uncertainty can be almost as bad as the moment of diagnosis.

Within 10 days, the lump was biopsied, identifies as a Grade 3 Mast Cell Tumour (the worst), and removed. The surgeon was confident that the operation was successful because the location was very fleshy with plenty of margins. She was also optimistic because it had been spotted so early. We did loads of research on Google to find out as much as possible about what Ellie was facing. One article, in particular, caught my eye. It was written by a retired American Vet who wrote about growing up with Golden Retrievers in the 1970s when typically, a life span of 17 years was not unusual. He talked about encountering, in his work, an ‘epidemic of cancer’ in Retrievers that was inexorably reducing that life span. I guess it points to the recessive nature of pedigree breeding.

Immediately after the surgery, Ellie started eight chemotherapy sessions at 3-weekly intervals. We’d drop her off at the Vets, and she’d be given an infusion into her leg. Each time we collected her, the nurse would always tell us that she was a perfect patient. After the final session, she saw the Oncologist again, and he was happy to discharge her as cancer-free. On the drive home from the specialist clinic near Newmarket, I remember making a mental promise to enjoy and value every day with Ellie. I was reminded of a quote – ‘Be the person your dog thinks you are.’ I’ll try!

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