A South Carolina rescue dog is recovering after University of Florida veterinarians were able to remove a 9-pound tumor from its head.
Bubbles, a 5-year-old Neapolitan mastiff mix, underwent the complicated surgery to remove the tumor from her skull on Nov. 25. UF veterinary oncologists said she suffered from multiobular osteochondrosarcoma, an aggressive tumor often found in the flat bones in the skull.
It will be about six weeks before Bubbles can undergo any chemotherapy or radiation, Jennifer Smith, director of Noah's Arks Rescue, said in a blog. Bubbles is responding very well, holding her head upright and playing.
"Bubbles was having a field day chasing me around, and I was so busy watching her that I tripped over a garden hose. Before I knew it, she was on the ground next to me with her really big paws wrapped around my neck and showering me with sloppy kisses," she wrote.
Bubble's journey to Gainesville is somewhat amazing, as she had been a stray in Baltimore, Maryland before being rescued by Smith's organization in Okatie, South Carolina. Smith said she searched desperately to find help for Bubbles before finding the oncology team at UF Health's Veterinary Hospitals. She drove Bubbles 10 hours to Gainesville for the surgery.