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In this week’s blog, we meet Bonnie, a beautiful 8 year old female Labrador who recently came to The Ralph following the discovery of a suspected mass in her abdomen (belly).

Bonnie’s carer was concerned that Bonnie had recently been vomiting and decided to have her checked out at her local vets. During a thorough clinical examination by her local vet, it was suspected that Bonnie had a growth in her abdomen (belly). Bonnie was then immediately referred to The Ralph for further investigations.

Despite the seriousness of her condition, when Bonnie presented to The Ralph she was extremely bright and happy. After initial blood tests, we performed a CT scan to examine the internal organs with a particular focus on the site of the mass. The CT confirmed Bonnie had a large mass which was growing in her right kidney. Thankfully there appeared to be no spread of the mass to her lungs or other organs.

CT scan showing the mass on Bonnie’s kidney.

In order to remove the mass, our surgical team also had to remove Bonnie’s right kidney. This can be a challenging surgery; bleeding is a common occurrence because the tumour causes an increase in blood supply to the area. To mitigate the effects of this blood loss, Bonnie had a blood transfusion during the surgery. Following surgery, Bonnie was closely monitored in our ICU department and made a remarkable recovery from her major surgery. Two days later, Bonnie was discharged to continue her recovery at home with her carer.

To find out what the mass was, and assess any need for further treatment, samples were taken and analysed in the lab. The tests identified the mass was a renal sarcoma (a type of kidney cancer). Although there is an option to give follow-up treatment with chemotherapy, it does not always provide any benefit following a nephrectomy (removal of the kidney). Therefore, the decision was made to not follow-up with any chemotherapy and to let Bonnie recuperate at home.

We were delighted to see Bonnie doing so well at her recent post-operative check, and with her happy wagging tail as usual.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Bonnie’s story. Stay tuned for more tales from Team Ralph.

Take care,

Team Ralph