Ali Fedotowsky-Manno is praising her dog, Owen, for being a good boy in the face of radiation treatments.
On Friday, March 21, The Bachelorette alum, 40, shared an Instagram health update on her dog, Owen. “He did it! Cancer (soft tissue sarcoma) removal on his leg, [an] MRI, a CT scan, and 5 Stereotactic radiation treatments!” she wrote in the caption. “I’m so proud of him and SO relieved to be done with the treatment.”
Ali continued the emotional caption by sharing the reality of “what the future looks like for our sweet bud,” writing, “Yes, he still has a brain tumor and always will. He’ll be on medication for the rest of his life to hopefully help manage his seizures.”
Across 16 slides of photos and videos, Ali documented what Owen went through while also giving the backstory for why she and her husband, Kevin Manno, 41, went the radiation route to help treat the “large tumor” on the dog’s brain.
Ali Manno/Instagram
On top of a video of a shivering Owen, Ali stated that the decision wasn’t easy, mainly because it would involve six vet visits within a short period and would involve him “being put under anesthesia each time.”
The post explained that Owen couldn’t receive the treatment in Nashville, where the dog lives with the couple, because a local radiation oncology unit for dogs wasn’t immediately available. Therefore, the dog had to travel over two hours to Chattanooga, Tenn., for treatments.
Ali — who shares a daughter, Molly Sullivan, 8, and son, Riley Doran, 6, with Kevin — explained on social media that she didn’t want to drive that distance multiple times, especially since Owen wasn’t a fan of car rides. So, she booked a pet-friendly hotel for Owen’s sessions.
During their week-long stay, Ali treated Owen like a king. “He slept in a big comfy bed with me,” according to the reality star’s Instagram, “and ate salmon and steak room service.”
The mother of two also shared details about Owen’s diagnosis, adding in her post that the dog has a large tumor on his brain. She opted to sign Owen up for radiation treatments because his neurologist determined he wouldn’t be alive for another month if he went without them.
“I could not bear that thought. I vowed to do everything in my power to help him,” she wrote.
After consulting with a radiologist, Ali said she and Kevin learned that “by doing one CT scan and then Stereotactic radiation treatments over 5 days, we could (on average) give Owen 1.5 years of GOOD life! Even upwards of 2+ years!”
Ali Manno/Instagram
Ali added that she and Kevin chose the treatments because they believed Owen’s “short amount of anxiety and discomfort would be worth it for him in the long run.”
She also explained that the radiation wouldn’t cure the pet’s cancer but would hopefully “shrink the tumor” or slow its overall growth to give the pup more time.
Accompanied by a video of Owen falling asleep on their drive back home, Ali wrote that Owen is now “sleeping peacefully in his own home” with his loved ones. She added that her family hopes to have another “good year or two” with Owen. “We will never take a single moment for granted,” she wrote.
The last slide of Ali’s social media update includes a photo of Owen in an adorable doggy graduation cap. “This week was a lot – logistically, financially, and emotionally,” the reality star wrote. “But there’s nothing I won’t do for this little guy.” She thanked her followers for all the well wishes before congratulating the pup on a “happy radiation graduation.”
Owen’s health update comes less than two months after Kevin’s cancer diagnosis. In an Instagram video shared on Sunday, Jan. 26, the couple sat together and revealed that Kevin had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Kevin reassured viewers that he’s not “freaking out” about the diagnosis as “the prognosis is very good.”
“It looks good,” Kevin said. “It’s going to be something that I can go in, Feb. 10 is the surgery, and we’re going to knock it out and it’ll be behind us.”
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On Feb. 27, Ali shared a six-slide Instagram carousel documenting Kevin’s surgery journey, sharing that the surgeons only removed half of the thyroid, which was “really the best possible scenario.”
“Happy to report that we officially found out today that Kevin’s pathology report came back negative!” Ali wrote. “He is officially cancer-free!”
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