Rufus has always been your typically rambunctious and lovable Labrador, greeting everybody he meets with an enthusiastic grin and a bunch of sloppy kisses. Even after his owners Debra Fritz and Tim Leist started noticing some painful looking growths on his paws, they say Rufus’ exuberance for life hardly ever wavered.“
He never really let the cysts on his paws stop him from doing anything, but it became increasingly obvious that they were bothering him because he was licking and gnawing at them more frequently,” Fritz recalls. “Eventually the cysts between his paws grew so large and weepy that we knew we had to do something about it.”
Fritz and Leist took Rufus to multiple veterinarians near their home in Appleton, WI, where he was eventually diagnosed with interdigital cysts (image 1), a painful condition in which the hairs between a dog’s toes become ingrown and cause chronic and deep bacterial infections that are difficult to treat. Rufus was eventually referred to UW Veterinary Care in Madison, where he was seen by the dermatologist Neoklis Apostolopoulos. After the initial visit, Apostolopoulos suggested to Rufus’ owners that he have his condition treated using CO2 laser surgery—a procedure that allows doctors to remove more of the affected tissue and is significantly less painful post-operatively than conventional surgery. In most cases, the patient can walk immediately after the operation.
“When we first saw Rufus his paws were in pretty bad shape, and we knew almost immediately that laser surgery was going to be the best option for him,” said Apostolopoulos. “We were able to get him in for the procedure in February and we successfully removed his cysts using our CO2 laser.”
Apostolopoulos says a lot of people still don’t know about this treatment, but that there are many more dogs in the regions suffering from this condition and for whom CO2 surgical management should be considered.
Since his procedure in February, Rufus has recovered nicely and has been charming his entire care team with his lovable personality and gentle nature at each of his subsequent follow-up appointments. It’s fair to say that Rufus is equally smitten with them.
“It’s so obvious to us that Rufus loves coming here because he can’t wait to get in the door and then doesn’t ever seem like he wants to leave,” Fritz says. “Although we were afraid to do the surgery at first, Dr. Apostolopoulos explained the procedure to us in detail and relieved our anxiety. The day after his surgery, Rufus was able to walk even better than before! Everybody at UW Veterinary Care has been so kind and wonderful, from the moment we walked in that first day to every interaction and visit since. We couldn’t be more appreciative of the care he’s received here.”
Gian Galassi
This article was featured in the Winter 2023-24 issue of On Call magazine.