Cassie Brass is a 14-year-old Blue Heeler belonging to Lucas of Diamond Creek.
We first met Cassie as a 12-week-old puppy for her vaccination and microchip. Lucas is a tradesman who works locally, with his best mate with him on all jobs. Many years ago, Lucas would drop in regularly and ask if we could give Cassie a quick bath after being on a jobsite.
Over the years Cassie has had a few surgical procedures. In October 2013, Cassie ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament. Also known as the “footballers” injury, the recovery process after surgery is slow and takes commitment from the owner to monitor and restrict the patient. With Lucas as the caregiver, she made a great recovery. In February 2016, Cassie’s cruciate in her right hind leg ruptured. This is not unusual for the other hind leg to rupture, but normally it is seen within 12 months, Cassie lasted 2 ½ years until the other side needed to be repaired.
Other than routine check ups and dental work, Cassie has been a model patient over the years. To Lucas’ credit, she has always been fed quality food and received treatment as required. His best mate has always had a gold standard of care and love.
February 2022 and Cassie is presented with a lump on her abdomen. Upon obtaining an aspirate sample from the mass, it was diagnosed as a Mast Cell tumour. Mast cell tumours are malignant and aggressive cancers of cells. They are found in the dermis and subcutaneous tissues of the skin. The tumour is biopsied so that it may be graded to decide upon a treatment plan with X/rays and blood work to check on metastasis. This affected everyone. Firstly, Lucas was devastated. Our staff felt like it was one of our own. Cassie was surgically admitted for removal of a mast cell on her left lateral abdomen. She did exceptionally well during the anaesthetic and had a good recovery. For her age, she was spritely, but had a lot of pain relief onboard, along with a fentanyl patch for a few days. It was now a waiting period for the biopsy results.
We wont print Lucas’ reply when we notified him the mast cell was completely excised with <10% chance of metastasis. Wow, what a fantastic result, Cassie will be on the jobsite for much longer now.
Recently, Lucas Brass was awarded Life Membership at the Panton Hill Football Club. In recognition of Cassie’s 14 years attendance, she was also awarded life membership. Not only is she the only known dog to have NFNL accreditation, but she is also listed on Panton Hills Honor Board as Lucas & Cassie Brass.
A great result for a dedicated relationship of man and dog, with many years of fun and jobs still ahead of them.
