At Faithful Friends Veterinary Clinic, every patient holds a special place in our hearts — and sometimes, the case hits even closer to home.
Dr. Michael Henricks and Dr. Ashlie Saffire, owners and veterinarians at Faithful Friends, were preparing for a special evening — a dinner to celebrate Dr. Henricks’ birthday. Prior to that, they were spending time outside with their children and their 7-year-old golden retriever, Odin, where everything seemed perfectly normal.
But when the family headed inside, Odin — usually glued to their side — didn’t follow. Their-12 year-old daughter went back out to check on him, only to find him lying still in the yard, unable to get up.
“We of course rushed out there,” said Dr. Henricks. “In addition to suddenly collapsing, Odin was pale as a ghost, concerning for a possible splenic rupture and blood loss. We knew Golden Retrievers were a breed especially prone to tumors on the spleen, but just six months earlier, we had performed an abdominal ultrasound, and everything was clear.”
Understanding the urgency, they quickly loaded Odin and the family into the car. On the way to the Faithful Friends clinic, they called ahead so the team could prep the X-ray equipment and ultrasound machine. They also reached out to local emergency facilities to locate a blood supply, knowing a ruptured spleen often requires a transfusion. Unfortunately, there was no blood available immediately.
Quick Action and Expert Care
At the Faithful Friends clinic, the team sprang into action. An ultrasound confirmed fluid — blood — in Odin’s abdomen. A tumor was also identified on his spleen.
“We assumed roughhousing in the backyard caused the tumor to rupture,” explained Dr. Saffire. “It began hemorrhaging – and we needed to address the internal bleeding or we were going to lose him. This was probably one of the scariest moments for me as a pet parent. ”
What made matters even more challenging was that due to the blood Odin had already lost, they were unable to take him right into surgery to address the rupture and stop the bleed. In these situations, animals need supportive care first, and the Faithful Friends team was quick to spring into action. The nurses immediately placed an intravenous catheter, began oxygen support, and administered stabilizing fluids. The team then proceeded with a blood transfusion — even without access to a donor blood supply.
“Because we weren’t able to get blood, Odin actually received a liter of his own blood back,” explained Dr. Henricks. “In the abdomen, blood is still sterile, so we had one team drawing the blood directly out of his abdomen, and then another team filtering the blood to remove clots and administering it right back to him. We’re lucky to have all the equipment to perform a procedure like this in-house.”
As this process went on, Odin quickly began to gain his strength back and even tried to stand up. Before getting him into surgery, however, they ran additional blood work and diagnostic tests to rule out other complications.
“He was anemic but stable – his kidneys and liver looked fine, and the tumor hadn’t spread beyond his spleen, so we were able to proceed with an emergency splenectomy,” said Dr. Saffire. “Working along side Michael in the OR that night was a surreal experience. My own dog’s life was literally in our hands.”
Surgery, Recovery, and Uncertainty
The emergency splenectomy was successful; we were able to control the bleeding and remove the tumor. But after the surgery came another scary moment– the post-op period.
“Our job as veterinarians was done at this point and we went into pet parent mode,” said Dr. Henricks. “You don’t know what’s going to happen after surgery, and you’re asking yourself, ‘How long is it going to take him to wake up? Is he even going to wake up?’ And having to explain this to our kids, who were waiting and watching their parents try to save their dog, was not an easy thing to do”
It took a while, but Odin did wake up. And while he was beginning to heal physically, the Faithful Friends team soon received the tumor analysis results.
“The tumor analysis confirmed it was a malignant cancer,” Dr. Saffire shared. “We were devastated as you can imagine. After receiving this news, we decided it would be best to meet with the medical oncology team at The Ohio State Veterinary Medical Center to figure out what our options were.”
The team at OSU outlined two possibilities:
- No treatment, which would likely give Odin about three months of survival.
- Chemotherapy, which could extend his time by about nine months.
Because Odin did so well during the surgery and throughout his recovery, Dr. Henricks and Dr. Saffire opted to move forward with chemotherapy, giving their family more time with Odin. The plan called for six treatments, spaced three weeks apart.
Odin’s first treatment, however, didn’t go as planned. He had a strong adverse reaction and was diagnosed with chemo toxicity.
“It was essentially too much for him, and his bone marrow took a really hard hit” said Dr. Henricks. “We asked ourselves — should we keep going?”
With guidance from the oncology team, they made an adjustment to his plan, reducing Odin’s dosage to see if he could better handle another treatment. Thankfully, he tolerated the remaining treatments much better. While he lost a lot of fur and some muscle mass, Odin completed all six rounds of chemo and is now back to being his playful, tail-wagging self.
Moving Forward
Since finishing chemotherapy, Odin has been closely monitored with rechecks at Faithful Friends — including repeat ultrasounds and X-rays to watch for any signs of tumor progression.
“Usually, we would see signs of metastasis in the chest and abdomen by this point,” explained Dr. Henricks. “It will likely come back at some point, but we haven’t seen anything yet.”
Now, every day with Odin now feels like a gift to Dr. Henricks, Dr. Saffire, and their children. Their story is a reminder that, even as veterinarians, they’ve stood in the same place as other pet parents—scared, overwhelmed, and confronted with impossible decisions.
At Faithful Friends, it doesn’t matter if you’re coming to us for a routine appointment or an emergency surgery, our team is here to provide more than just expert medical care. We’re all pet parents ourselves, and we are here to offer real support, empathy, and compassion — because we understand how much your pet means to you.
Learn more about our services today.
