Seriously, people?

The whiteboard read as follows:

Patient: Missy
Room #2
Complaint: draining mass

What I actually found was an intact, unvaccinated, 7 year old female German Shepherd. Draining mass didn't prepare me much for what I saw. The dog was wearing a teeshirt. The teeshirt was soaked with fluid - pus, blood, serum...it was a rank mess. Underneath it was a mass that was - conservatively - the size of a basketball. It smelled pretty bad.

I recommended sedation so I could remove the teeshirt from the (very sweet) GSD and examine the mass. The owner agreed.

When the teeshirt came off, my stomach contents almost came up. The poor dog had a giant, basketball-sized, infected, necrotic mammary mass. It was oozing pus and blood. It was horrifying.

Mom reported that the mass had been present for a year, and it never bothered her. It had only gotten really bad recently.

I didn't know what to say. My options were 2: get infuriated that this poor, sweet dog had never had good preventative health care (spaying would have prevented this) such as vaccines and a spay or just give her my recommendations and let it go.

I chose the latter. Surprisingly, the dog is now at our hospital after having a radical mastectomy today. She's not doing well, from what I understand. Shocking.