Garrison's Story of Jaw Cancer
Pet owners are often horrified at the thought of removing part of a jaw to treat a tumor, benign or cancerous. Yet dogs typically do amazingly well after the surgery. We recently did surgery to treat an acanthomatous epulis (a cancerous mass) on Garrison, an 8 year old Akita. We removed the entire front part of the lower jaw (rostral mandibulectomy). Here is what his vet wrote on the very next day:
"Just wanted to let you know Garrison looks great today. This morning, he is up and about, tail wagging, and ate a whole can of food, including licking the bowl completely clean. Still has some minor bleeding but very little swelling. Seems very comfortable and I think cosmetically it looks really good."
3 WEEKS AFTER SURGERY:
After 3 weeks, Garrison's vet writes: "I rechecked him yesterday and I think it looks fantastic. He is acting completely normally. He definitely drools a little more than normal (as expected) but really that is the only difference I see. Thanks so much for another successful surgery :-)"