Lars' latest health scare; living with the Huskies!
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| Lars Lindwall, my best friend!!!! |
Lars is our male Siberian husky that we adopted back in 2018 from The Little Red Dog animal rescue in Lake Forest, CA, to be our other husky
Misha’s companion. Lars had originally
come from Louisiana (not a great place for a Siberian husky, given the hot and
humid climate), and he had been given up for adoption twice already. My wife Kathy had already fallen in love with
Lars, just from the picture; however, when we saw him in “person”, we both said
“he is soooo big!”. Never mind, we both loved him, and we couldn't wait to take him home! At the time we adopted him, he was about 10
months old, and about 65 lbs. However,
when we took him to our veterinarian in Mission Viejo, CA, they said
that he should be at least 70 lbs, which he packed on quite rapidly! At first we thought that he was part
Malamute, because of his somewhat rounded ears and short snout (as compared to
our other husky Misha, who, with one blue eye and one brown eye and sharp nose
is the quintessential husky), but when we did his genetic testing, we found out
that he is 96% Siberian husky, and only 4% German Shepherd! Anyway, he is built like a sled dog, and
given the sled dog hierarchy, he would definitely be a “wheel dog”, the dogs
who are closest to the sled, and the strongest and most powerful dogs in the
team. (Misha, our female husky would
definitely be the lead dog, no question!).
However, even though Lars is built like a wheel dog, due to his multiple
injuries and health issues over the years he is much more suited to his role as
my best friend! He stays close, and gets me out for our walks three times per
day, and we usually walk some three to five miles per day!
So, you would think that a sled dog like Lars would be as fit as a flea, but already when we got him he had health issues; hook worm
(which took several treatments to cure), a big hot spot on his back, and an
infection at the site where he got neutered.
Coupled with torn ligament surgeries on both back legs (1.5 years apart), two cracked molars that had to be removed and ongoing medication for his allergies, he is quite fragile, but being my
best friend, we will do whatever it takes to keep him healthy and happy!
Sometime in the second week of June 2025, our son Matthew said that he felt a lump on Lars’ neck; I tried to locate the lump, but since
Lars has a very thick coat, I couldn’t feel anything. However, a few days later, Kathy also
noticed the lump, and with her help, I could now feel it. It felt like a lump the size of a Roma tomato,
to the left of this throat. So on Thursday,
June 19, we called our veterinarian in Mission Viejo, CA, to set up an
appointment to have Lars’ lump checked out.
On Monday, June 23, we took Lars to our veterinarian in Mission
Viejo, to have the lump checked out. We
have known our veterinarian Dr. G for almost two decades, and we trust her with
all of our animals. She always puts the
interest of the animal first, and this time it was no different. Due to the size of the lump and its proximity
to the submandibular lymph node (located just below the lower jaw) she was rightfully
concerned, and she performed x-rays and ordered a full battery of blood tests, in
order to get the most accurate diagnosis.
She also suggested that we contact the animal surgery center / emergency
animal hospital in Laguna Hills, CA, to set up an appointment for possible
surgery.
On Tuesday, June 24, we had already set up an appointment
for Wednesday morning at the Laguna Hills animal hospital, when Dr. G called us
with the news that the test showed no cancer, just a nasty abscess. We were soooo relieved, having spend some 24
hours being worried sick and thinking the worst!
So on Wednesday June 25, we got up to walk the dogs, and as
I’m putting on Lars’ collar, I noticed that he was all wet on the front of his
neck with some pink ooze; come to find out that the abscess had already burst
in the middle of the night! Rather than
taking our usual walk, we got Lars in the car, and drove straight to the animal
hospital in Laguna Hills. Good thing
that the animal hospital was well stocked with snacks, since we didn’t have any
breakfast!
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Wednesday morning June 25, 2025, Lars and his burst abscess
waiting to see the veterinary surgeon; you can see how he was all wet on his neck. |
Around 9 AM we got to see the animal surgeon, Dr. S. He is a great guy, and we both felt very comfortable with him; in fact, the whole staff at the animal hospital is great. He explained that in order to make the most accurate image of the abscess, he would need to do a computed tomography scan (CT scan) of the area, which of course we agreed to. Then off he went with Lars, and told us that he would call after the surgery, and let us know how it went. Around 3 PM he called back, to let us know that everything went well with Lars, the abscess had been cleaned out and was in the process of being drained, and that we could come and get him.
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Wednesday June 25, 2025: Lars right after the surgery; he got his
cone on, and a tee shirt to cover up the Jackson-Pratt (JP) drainage catheter, so that
the catheter is somewhat protected. He was
also given antibiotics. |
We brought him home; since he had the cone on, he had to ride in the front seat of the Jeep, which he liked, and I was relegated to the back seat. Dang that back seat in the Jeep Unlimited is cramped! But anything for little Lars! Also, since he couldn’t roughhouse with Misha, we had to put him in our big 4’ x 4’ x 5’ kennel, so he could rest and stay out of trouble.
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Wednesday June 25, 2025: Lars is back in the big kennel; every time
I have to take it out I pray it is the last time, but with Lars in the house,
we never know. We got the kennel at
Home Depot some 10 years ago for our Border Collie / Australian Shepherd mix Sydney
when she busted her ligament, and I’m glad we kept it all this time. We lost Sydney to pancreatitis in 2017,
something I will never forget… Since
the kennel is downstairs, we took turns sleeping on the couch, in order to
keep him company… |
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Thursday morning, June 26, 2025. The JP catheter is attached to a silicone
bulb, which is under vacuum by squeezing it and collapsing it. It creates a suction to evacuate the abscess. We had to empty out the bulb twice a day
and keep track of how much gunk came out, in order to assess the healing of
the abscess. This went on for a week… |
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Thursday morning, June 26, 2025. All the gunk that was pulled out of Lars’
abscess that morning; over the course of a week it got less and less, as
expected. BTW, Cheerios are some of
our dogs favorite little treats! |
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Monday, June 30, 2025:
Lars is resting in one of his favorite spots in our office / bunk
room / guest room. Oftentimes when I’m
working, he likes to come upstairs and keep me company! You can see the drainage catheter coming
out of his neck… |
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July 04, 2025:
Lars and Misha hanging out in the hallway. Whenever somebody leaves the house, this is
where they usually lay around, waiting…
Lars’ tee shirt is off, but the
dastardly cone is still on! |
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Wednesday, July 09, 2025: The stiches are out, and the cone is
off! |
So on Wednesday, July 09, Lars got his stitches out, and he doesn't have to wear the cone anymore, and he is back to his jolly old self, and the abscess is pretty much gone! Dr. S still didn’t really know what caused the abscess, but to be sure, he is to finish a 6-week course of antibiotics, just in case it was something bacterial. Nevertheless, he is just fine; we walk as usual, no more kennel, and he sleeps upstairs just like before!
Now, some of you may ask “how much did all of this cost?” to which my reply is “there goes the European vacation!” We weren’t planning on going anyway, and Lars is worth every penny! We love him soooo much!
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Lars’ new harness; in order to not put any pressure on
his neck, I bought this harness that goes under the chest. Now he can pull me like the sled dog that
he is!!!! |
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