Thanks, guys! The suggestions have been wonderful! I had to just push her mid-morning pills down her throat today because she wasn't hungry for anything. I also posted on my facebook last night for suggestions, and braunschweiger was a popular response there. Our vet had suggested it too because the smell/flavor is so strong that it masks nearly all pill smell. I've never eaten it before but my grandpa always loved it. My boyfriend is going to pick some up on his way home from work today.

Lexi is a 7 year old terrier or sheepdog mix (I've seen both on her vet chart). Her mom was the neighbor's dog, but no one knows who her dad was. She's seriously the sweetest dog I've met (I might be a little biased, though I've only been in her life for 5 months now). She does agility courses and is a certified therapy dog.

We noticed her front left leg was swollen in early May following a weekend at our farm so we took her to the vet who put her on meds for a possible tick reaction. Nearly three months and several rounds of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories without much change later, our vet finally referred us to a specialist. Within three minutes of our specialist appointment, Lexi was diagnosed with a mast cell tumor just above the back pad of her foot. We did a round of chemo and attempted removal of the tumor but due to the nature of mast cell tumors, the surgeon wasn't able to get all of it. The tentacles of the tumor (surgeon's term) were wrapped around her tendons so he feared nerve damage had he gone any further. Unfortunately, the remaining tumor was not allowing the leg to heal. Prior to getting the results of her biopsy, the specialist was afraid the tumor may have been such a high grade that Lex would only have a few months to live, mostly due to how badly her leg was swelling following the surgery (that was not a fun evening). Thankfully the biopsy results got pushed through the next afternoon and showed it was a low-grade mast cell tumor and nearly benign. Since her leg wasn't healing, our only remaining option was amputation. She had her leg removed this past Tuesday and was doing so well she was able to come home Wednesday evening.  We're slowing learning how to navigate our new situation.