Hi friends! Reef the fox here with your weekly “Reef’s Report.”
Last Saturday, Jasper the fox visited Key West to have a mass removed from his foot. Jasper’s in-home veterinarian, Dr. Geraldine Diethelm, noticed it a few months ago, so we were monitoring it. During her last visit she decided it was time to remove it.
We are lucky to have so many friends throughout the Florida Keys. The procedure was done at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm in their new state-of-the-art veterinary clinic located at the jail farm on Stock Island. Jeanne Selander, who supervises the farm, always hoped the trailer would be used to help other nonprofits throughout the Keys, and Jasper was the first recipient of that generosity. This vet clinic is not open to the public due to it sitting on the actual jail grounds.
I reached out to my friend Dr. Doug Mader for a quote about Jasper’s procedure.
“Jasper came in for his 2,000-mile check up. A small mass was noted on his rear foot. In addition, he had some minor dental tartar and crusties in his ears,” he said. “He was anesthetized and the mass was removed using a radio scalpel — a high-tech surgical instrument that cuts with a ‘radio wave’ instead of a scalpel. There is very little blood loss when using this amazing cutting device. While he was under anesthesia his teeth and ears were thoroughly cleaned. The mass from his foot has been sent to a pathologist to determine what caused it.”
Overall, Jasper is expected to make a full recovery. The hope is the mass on Jasper’s foot is nothing serious. My mom, Nicole Navarro, always makes sure we get the care we need, even if we don’t always appreciate seeing the vet. It is part of life.
Anywho, that’s all for this week. Keep up with all things fox by visiting our website at pawsitivebeginnings.org and make sure to see our daily photos and videos on all of our popular social media accounts.
Until next time, Reef, over and out!
