Meet Stella!
Stella first came to Markham Vet Clinic as an adorable little 8-week old ball of golden fluff. After watching her grow into a rambunctious young dog over the next few months, it was finally time for her spay. During her pre-operative examination, we noticed some unusual tissue under her tongue. Not wanting to take any chances, her owners allowed us to take a small sample for testing. Unfortunately, the result came back as bad news – poor little Stella had a type of growth called a mast cell tumor. We were as shocked as her owners…we had never seen such an aggressive growth in such a young dog.
No time was wasted as Stella quickly got an appointment with the local surgical oncologist (cancer
specialist) and had the rest of the tumor removed from her tongue and local lymph nodes. Her road to
recovery was long and rocky, but thanks to the steadfast dedication and perseverance of her owners,
she made a full recovery with great news – the tumor was completely and successfully removed!
Today, Stella is back to being an exuberant, playful puppy and it is hard to think of the hardships she has
had to go through in her short life. She doesn’t seem to dwell on it much because she is too busy living
life to the fullest, sharing long romps through the park and well-deserved cuddles at home with her
family.
Written by Dr. Cathy Leung
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