Stick to Your Pet’s Normal Routine This Holiday Season
A predictable routine can be very important for pets- especially…
Wally’s Rough Year
Last year Wally had a rough year. It started around New Years 2018 when Wally had discharge coming out of one nostril, was eating less, and having labored breathing, more than usual for a French Bulldog. His primary vet ruled out pneumonia after an X-ray and put him on a course of antibiotics but as the problem persisted we took him to a secondary hospital which was able to perform a head CT on him. There was an obstruction in his left nostril which was causing his labored breathing and after some tests it was revealed to be a cyst. After multiple procedures to drain his cyst, only to see it grow back, we decided to take Wally to the world renowned UC Davis Veterinary Hospital where they would try an experimental procedure to “sclerose” the cyst deep in his nasal passage, a procedure which would spare him a more intrusive procedure requiring removing parts of his jaw to get access to the cyst. The sclerosing procedure involved injecting a chemical into the cyst so that the cyst walls would be damaged from the inside, reducing the likelihood of its occurrence.
The procedure was successful and since then Wally has been breathing much better. He will still occasionally have discharge which a short course of antibiotics is able to fix and on his last CT check-up the cyst had shrank in size by 20% with hopes of it continuing to shrink further. Later the same year we also removed a benign tumor that was growing on Wally’s head for over a year. This would be Wally’s fifth time being under anesthesia in the same year after his episode with the nasal cyst. Poor guy.
PetFirst insurance was there when we needed it most. The bill mounted to over $10,000 over the course of the year and PetFirst covered the vast majority of these expenses to make sure Wally got the best possible care. Wally is a happy camper now and even though other ailments may and will likely happen, we have confidence that we won’t need to second-guess his treatment because we have the support of a great insurance policy.
-Justin, Wally’s Dad
