Bader was found heartworm positive on the streets of East St. Louis and made her way to Gateway Pet Guardians rescue. They believed her to probably have been a breeding dog for fighting pit bulls. At some point during Bader’s time in the shelter, she was attacked by another pup and her reactivity emerged. She was put in their Unicorn Pet Program – meaning she was special and a bit trickier to find a home for since she needed to be an only pet.
Bader was at Gateway for about 9 months before she started to rapidly deteriorate in the shelter environment. She refused to eat, but the staff could convince her to eat cheeseburgers and ice cream. Bader was a favorite because of her crazy eyes when she ate special treats. Gateway finally found a foster placement for Bader, a grad student named Bridgette. Bridgette worked hard to help Bader get adopted, featuring her couch potato personality and how far she had come in her training and manners. Alli saw the social media feature of Bader, known in the shelter as Gillian and Jelly Bean, on Gateway’s instagram and thought Bader would be a perfect match. Alli adopted Bader in January 2020 from Gateway Pet Guardians in St. Louis while in law school – naming Bader after Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Bader was initially men reactive, but fell in love with Alli’s partner, Ross, and Bader quickly adopted him. Ross (and lots of dedicated training) helped Bader overcome her fear of men. Bader moved from downtown St. Louis, to Washington D.C., and finally to Columbia, MO with Alli and Ross. Bader’s mom and dad were SO excited to finally get Bader.
Bader first came to Rock Bridge Animal Hospital for a suture removal following a mast cell tumor removal at another clinic. The staff instantly fell in love with Bader. She loves butt scratches and licking the cheese spoon so hard that is goes flying! Bader did great for her suture removal and exam, and her owners appreciated how patient we were with her. Unfortunately, Bader soon came back into the clinic for two lumps-on her chest and her back rear leg-that had been growing and changing in size. We took a sample of the masses and upon looking at them under the microscope we were suspicious of another mast cell tumor.
A mast cell is a type of white blood cell that plays a role in the immune system. A mast cell tumor forms when a mass of mast cells forms and become malignant. There is not one single know cause of mast cell tumors, but environmental factors seem to play a role and certain breeds like Boxers, Labrador Retrievers, and some Terriers are more prone to them.
Once we had diagnosed that Bader did have mast cell tumors, the next best treatment was removal. This was performed under anesthesia and we also took chest x rays to confirm that the tumors had not spread to other parts of Bader’s body.
Unfortunately, due to one of the tumors being on a high movement area on Bader’s leg, the incision site did start to reopen. This required Bader to come back in every day for a week for sedated bandage changes until the wound had healed enough to finally reclose it.
Through all of this process we utilized fear free techniques to make these experiences as pleasant as possible for Bader. Being as food motivated as she is, we offered lots of treats to give Bader something to focus on besides sedation pokes and wound treatment. Bader also benefited from minimal restraint for procedures, as she gets nervous with too many people trying to touch her at one time. Bader is doing great now! Her incisions have healed nicely and she is back to her happy, wiggly self.