Small name, Big Heart

When I first met Shrimpy I envisioned something like this

Instead, I was greeted by an 80 lb American Bulldog who cowered behind her owner's legs in the exam room. It took some offerings of yummy cookies to convince Shrimpy that I was not as scary as she imagined. Once she sniffed me, and decided that since others had approved of me I must not be a  monster, she and I became good friends. Unfortunately for Shrimpy she was soon diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma ( lymphoma noted in her stomach on an endoscopic exam). This type of cancer is tough to diagnose, because often there are no outward signs, such as the case with Shrimpy. It was diagnosed after Shrimpy developed severe bloody vomiting that could not be controlled with routine medications. 

Luckily for her, Shrimpy's dad is an outstanding pet parent and would do anything for his girl. He has been meticulously caring for her since her diagnosis and brings her to us for all her necessary lab work and monitoring. Shrimpy recently developed  facial nerve paralysis, a side effect from her cancer spreading to other parts of her body. The facial nerve allows us to feel sensation on our face as well as blink our eye and produce tears. Because her facial nerve is no longer working on the right side of her face Shrimpy developed an ulcer on her right eye. The ulcer, or abrasion to the surface of the eye, started out very superficial and we attempted to treat it like any other ulcer. Normally a dog's blink reflex and tear production will help protect the eye and help us treat any ulceration. In Shrimpy's case she lacked this normal protective mechanism so the ulcer and her eye were left open to the world for further damage. Shrimpy developed a desmetocele which is a very deep ulcer through the outermost layers of the cornea. It actually appears like a small divot in the surface of the eye as seen in the picture below

We attempted to do a temporary eyelid tacking procedure to provide some protection for her eye. Our hope was that this would allow enough time for the ulcer to heal. Unfortunately that did not happen and we elected to remove her eye a few weeks ago. Since her surgery Shrimpy has continued to do well. She always wags her tail when I see her despite her visual limitations. Her facial nerve paralysis has progressed and she has a head tilt now but she still loves to see everyone when she comes to visit us. We know that Shrimpy's time with us is limited but despite her small name, she has a big heart and we plan to get as much love from her as we can while she is here.