Meet Oreo; he’s a poodle from Connecticut that lived a normal life up until he developed a massive tumor, as large as a soccer ball, on his chest. What started as a small growth eventually became almost a third of his body size, and other health complications later ensued.
Image Credit: Poodle Rescue Connecticut/Facebook
A non-profit group dubbed Poodle Rescue Connecticut gained custody of the dog after a neighbor of the group’s very own Daryl Masone discovered him in rough shape. The dog reportedly had issues walking and exhibited symptoms of fleas and Lyme disease.
The group and local veterinarians both concluded that it was time to make life better for Oreo, and so they moved forward with an expensive operation to remove the abnormally-large tumor.
The 2.5-hour surgical procedure succeeded, and the surgeons were able to remove the massive tumor from Oreo’s body without any complications.
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While Oreo weighed 26 pounds initially, the tumor was somewhere around 6.4 pounds in and of itself. Oreo now weighs just 19 pounds after the surgery, which speaks for just how massive it really was.
Removing the tumor left behind quite a bit of extra skin that stretched out to accommodate for the extra mass. Right now, that skin is flapping around with no practical use. To fix that, Oreo will go in for a second operation that should take care of the extraneous skin.
“There is a spot that may need to be adjusted skin wise but not until all the swelling is down and the sutures are out on September 1st,” Poodle Rescue Connecticut wrote in a Facebook post.
Image Credit: Poodle Rescue Connecticut/Facebook
As it would appear from the Facebook page, which regularly shares updates about Oreo’s progress throughout the adventure, Oreo is doing well and making a speedy recovery. Most would agree that his quality of life has improved ten-fold since the operation.
For now, you can continue to follow Oreo’s progress from the Poodle Rescue Connecticut Facebook page. Now that he’s in good hands, he’ll get the care he needs (and deserves).
Source: Poodle Rescue Connecticut via WFSB
