Written by Vasiliki A. Ntavlourou. BVM, MRCVS, GPCert(ExAP).
Little Alicia is happy and healthy and her story will inspire us all and show us that there is Love and Kindness around us ............We just have to BELIEVE!!!
So, our little and sweet heroine was wandering around the streets feeling lonely and helpless. Hungry and in a lot of pain caused by the condition she was suffering from, she didn't know where to go and who to approach for help!
Help was on the way though, because the Universe is always .............listening!!!
That "lucky" day for her, all those "coincidences" happened that brought little Alicia in warm and loving hands which took good care of her!
Her guardian angel with a human appearance, called "FOTINI", was driving home when she saw little Alicia running in the streets in a terrible state! Thin, almost emaciated, covered in mud and with a horrible bloody "tumor" hanging off her back end.
Fotini had no second thoughts. She stopped the car, picked up our little girl and took her to the local vets for emergency care to be offered.
The initial diagnosis was that Alicia suffered a uterine prolapse and therefore ovariohysterectomy surgery (neutering) was performed immediately and successfully.
Alicia recovered from the procedure very fast and the "tumor" disappeared within a few days after the operation.
Fotini kept Alicia under her care and continued to look after her for the following months when one morning she realized that the "tumor" had come back! Initially it looked like a small lump inside Alicia's vagina. It would protrude and then hide back in again. As the days went by though, this lump was getting bigger and bigger. It ended up bleeding and looking extremely painful!
Fotini got really worried about Alicia and contacted us fearing that this was once again a prolapse from the little dog's genital system. We were happy to see Alicia and we advised that a first consultation and examination was necessary before we reach a conclusion as to what exactly was going on with Alicia.
A definitive diagnosis was reached without delay. Our initial suspiscion that the protruding mass from Alicia's vagina was a true tumor, was confirmed by the report on the biopsies we sent to the Veterinary laboratory Nation Wide in England. The laboratory confirmed that the mass was a true neoplasm called TRANSMISSIBLE VENEREAL TUMOR!
This type of neoplasm (tumor) which most of the times is benign (although it can progress into malignancy), is extremely contagious!
It is transmitted mainly through sexual intercourse between dogs and its frequency among the population of stray dogs is quite high! Apart from the genital system though, this tumor can also develop in other parts of a dog's body (face, legs etc),
One of the main and most dangerous complications this tumor can cause when located inside the vagina of a female dog, is obstruction of the urethra and preclusion of normal urination!
The treatment of choice for this condition is CHEMOTHERAPY and the success rate is really high! The drug of choice is VINCRISTINE and it is administered intravenously once a week for 3-4 treatments.
Without second thougths or delays, we started Alicia's CHEMOTHERAPY!
Fotini would drive all the way to our practice once a week and would stay for about 2 hours with little Alicia patiently sitting on the exanimation table and receiving her life saving treatment!
The first signs of improvement started showing after the second administration of the intravenous therapy. Alicia was looking a lot more comfortable and happy!
On the fourth treatment Alicia's tumor had disappeared!!!!! and we were so excited for her!
Little Alicia can now wag her tail and be proud of her victory against the cancer she suffered from and of course, show off her amazing beauty!
Alicia is grateful to her guardian angel and shows her gratitude every day by being the most adorable and well behaved dog!
She is sending us the message that ...........THERE IS STILL HOPE OUT THERE IN THE WORLD! YOU JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE IT!!!!!
***We would like to thank Mrs Svetlana-Fotini Volzhanina for the love and care she offered little Alicia and for the amazing photos she allowed us to publish on our website!
BIG THANK YOU FOTINI!
WELLDONE!!!!!!!!