Meet Tigger

A couple weeks ago I casually mentioned that we are now a 4 dog household. I’m sure that completely took a lot of you by surprise because I had not mentioned anything up until that point, plus it may seem a bit crazy with a baby on the way. Well, I haven’t been putting off explaining but I felt like this topic deserved a lot more than a simple introduction of the newbies. So I’m going to give them each their own post and I’ll start with Tigger because she’s the oldest.

Over 7 years ago Chris adopted Tigger, previously named Angel, when her former owners wanted to get rid of the 2 year old boxer/shepherd mix. I will never understand why or how anyone could give this girl up. Chris didn’t think her name was fitting and with her new home came a new name. Her brindle coat gives the appearance of tiger stripes all down her back and I guess Tigger just seemed better fitting than Tiger. The name also happens to suit her in that like Tigger from Winne the Pooh, she bounces around when she’s excited. Our oldest dog is around 9 years old now and although her muzzle has gone gray with age, she’s got quite the pep in her step and loves to wiggle around for belly rubs. I was so happy to capture her silly personality in some pictures this weekend. Big Shepherd ears, a Boxer physique and tail and a thick fluffy coat make her pretty adorable but also well suited for romping around outside, which is where she used to spend a lot of her time. When Chris lived at home there was a fenced in yard where the dogs stayed all day and then slept in a cozy little spot of the garage at night (or if the weather was bad).  I knew Chris was never thrilled about having to leave his girls behind when living in the condo with me and vowed to pick them up when we purchased a house with room for 4 dogs. These days Tig has retired to mostly indoor living with the occasional romp in the yard, and she’s not complaining.

One of the first things Chris did when he picked Tigger up was give her a bath. While scrubbing her belly he felt something that didn’t seem quite right. A lump on the belly of an older spayed female dog is definitely a red flag and he didn’t hesitate to let me know he was scheduling her a vet appointment ASAP. Blood work from that appointment confirmed she was in stellar health and the recommendation was to proceed with surgical removal of the lump. There was no way to know if we were dealing with a benign growth or cancer without sending a biopsy out to the lab. Our vet advised the lump should come off anyway so skipping ahead to surgery would be best. The following week she was scheduled for the removal and a chest x-ray that morning confirmed the isolated location of the tumor in her mammary gland. Thankfully the surgery went smoothly, the lump came off easily with no indication of internal spread and Tigger woke up groggy but doing well. They kept her overnight for observation and she was all smiles by the time Chris picked her up in the morning. She had 2 weeks of pain meds and antibiotics plus TLC and rest before the stitches came out and we found out the results of the tumor biopsy. We were incredibly relieved that it was the lowest grade of cancer possible and not likely to return. Tigger has healed like it never happened and will have check-ups every 6 months just to make sure the cancer doesn’t return. The poor thing even trooped through the virus the dogs passed around during her recovery like a champ. So her first weeks with us were quite the adventure. Now that everything has settled down, she’s completely adapted to her new schedule, lifestyle and housemates. We love having her and hope she has the best golden years with us a dog could hope for.