Hug your pups

[raindove]

A friend has a littermate to one of my dogs. She's been treated for a recurring UTI for a couple of months now. She went for an ultrasound on Thursday. It's TCC - transitional cell carcinoma - bladder cancer. In the past week her lymph nodes in the groin area have enlarged tremendously.

The oncologist wants to operate and do chemo and radiation. From what I've read and the symptoms my friend is seeing, this is pretty aggressive stuff.

Makes us wonder why.... sounds like some breeds are susceptible to it, but our breed is not listed. However pesticide and herbicide chemicals are a potential cause. My friend has neighbors on both sides of her who use the professional sprayer companies for their lawns.

Very sad situation. With all the surgery and heroics involved, and the small amount of time it could buy for her, my friend is opting to let her go peacefully when she becomes uncomfortable. The way it is progressing, I guess it will be a few days at best. I'm going to say my good-byes tomorrow.

Hug your pups.... every day is a gift.

[Scottiemom]

raindove wrote:

Scottiemom wrote:

raindove wrote:

Scottiemom wrote:
Your friend has made the right decision

Dale

I'm grateful that my husband and I had the opportunity to go see her and sadog ppl with the same mind set as us, and I can't help caring about their pups.

It appears our wee girlie may have some form of cancer as well. The vet is now convinced that's what it is. We had to leave our winter roost and are headed back to Indiana and we will take her to Purdue for a definitive diagnosis. We won't do any chemo or radiation, but we do want to keep her comfortable as long as we can.

Dale

Hopefully you caught it early enough to buy her some quality time. What Sophie had, seemed to progress extremely fast Best of luck to you.

I don't think it's early, raindove. We've been treating what we thought was a bladder infection for over a year now. That's how long she's been peeing blood. If it gets to where she can't pee, I'm afraid we are done. So far she's still voiding.

Dale

[raindove]

Scottiemom wrote:

raindove wrote:

Scottiemom wrote:
Your friend has made the right decision

Dale

I'm grateful that my husband and I had the opportunity to go see her and sadog ppl with the same mind set as us, and I can't help caring about their pups.

It appears our wee girlie may have some form of cancer as well. The vet is now convinced that's what it is. We had to leave our winter roost and are headed back to Indiana and we will take her to Purdue for a definitive diagnosis. We won't do any chemo or radiation, but we do want to keep her comfortable as long as we can.

Dale

Hopefully you caught it early enough to buy her some quality time. What Sophie had, seemed to progress extremely fast Best of luck to you.

[Scottiemom]

raindove wrote:

Scottiemom wrote:
Your friend has made the right decision. I would have done the same. I have Scottish Terriers. They are 18X more likely to develop TCC than other breeds. My white Scottie has a repeat cystoscopy on Friday, but so far there hasn't been any cancer. They did run a test this week to see if she is shedding any cancer cells. But she isn't well, I can tell. Not sure what the vet will see, but we will not extend her suffering if we get bad news. I don't think her time is upon us though.

Praying for your friend.

Dale

Thank you for the support and prayers. I will pass this along to my friend. I think when going through this kind of stuff, it's helpful to have friends who really understand or have gone through it. They are tough decisions to make. This is the worst part of loving these furry creatures.

I'm grateful that my husband and I had the opportunity to go see her and say our good-byes.
Maybe it sounds odd to be that involved with a friend's dogs. But most of our closest friends are dog ppl with the same mind set as us, and I can't help caring about their pups.

It appears our wee girlie may have some form of cancer as well. The vet is now convinced that's what it is. We had to leave our winter roost and are headed back to Indiana and we will take her to Purdue for a definitive diagnosis. We won't do any chemo or radiation, but we do want to keep her comfortable as long as we can.

Dale

[ReneeG]

Any illness that is life threatening breaks all our hearts. Our lab had Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia, a life threatening illness. How she got it, we don't know, but she spent many days at the vet on an IV and meds. Her blood levels got low to warrant a transfusion, but our vet held on and she bounced back. She is on what they consider chemotherapy, oral medication that she will be on for a year. It has been reduced to a therapeutic level, but she still goes to the vet monthly for blood work. If she rebounds it most likely will be fatal, so we live each day to the fullest with her and she is happy which is what counts the most. She is 11 1/2 and acts like a much younger dog, so we are very grateful. I'm so sorry, for your friend's dog and basically a relative of yours since it's your dog's littermate. It's a tough decision and heartbreaking. Anytime you have to euthanize a beloved pet it's not easy. We've had to do it four times and it never gets easier.

[raindove]

Scottiemom wrote:
Your friend has made the right decision. I would have done the same. I have Scottish Terriers. They are 18X more likely to develop TCC than other breeds. My white Scottie has a repeat cystoscopy on Friday, but so far there hasn't been any cancer. They did run a test this week to see if she is shedding any cancer cells. But she isn't well, I can tell. Not sure what the vet will see, but we will not extend her suffering if we get bad news. I don't think her time is upon us though.

Praying for your friend.

Dale

Thank you for the support and prayers. I will pass this along to my friend. I think when going through this kind of stuff, it's helpful to have friends who really understand or have gone through it. They are tough decisions to make. This is the worst part of loving these furry creatures.

I'm grateful that my husband and I had the opportunity to go see her and say our good-byes.
Maybe it sounds odd to be that involved with a friend's dogs. But most of our closest friends are dog ppl with the same mind set as us, and I can't help caring about their pups.

[Scottiemom]

Your friend has made the right decision. I would have done the same. I have Scottish Terriers. They are 18X more likely to develop TCC than other breeds. My white Scottie has a repeat cystoscopy on Friday, but so far there hasn't been any cancer. They did run a test this week to see if she is shedding any cancer cells. But she isn't well, I can tell. Not sure what the vet will see, but we will not extend her suffering if we get bad news. I don't think her time is upon us though.

Praying for your friend.

Dale

[ReneeG]

I'm so so sorry to hear this. She made the right decision for her beloved pet.

[mabynack]

raindove wrote:
A friend has a littermate to one of my dogs. She's been treated for a recurring UTI for a couple of months now. She went for an ultrasound on Thursday. It's TCC - transitional cell carcinoma - bladder cancer. In the past week her lymph nodes in the groin area have enlarged tremendously.

The oncologist wants to operate and do chemo and radiation. From what I've read and the symptoms my friend is seeing, this is pretty aggressive stuff.

Makes us wonder why.... sounds like some breeds are susceptible to it, but our breed is not listed. However pesticide and herbicide chemicals are a potential cause. My friend has neighbors on both sides of her who use the professional sprayer companies for their lawns.

Very sad situation. With all the surgery and heroics involved, and the small amount of time it could buy for her, my friend is opting to let her go peacefully when she becomes uncomfortable. The way it is progressing, I guess it will be a few days at best. I'm going to say my good-byes tomorrow.

Hug your pups.... every day is a gift.

My Chow developed a lump in his side and the vet wanted to do an exploratory. She called us during the surgery to say that he was full of cancer and wouldn't last much longer and suggested we have him put down right then and not have him come out of surgery.

That really tore me up because it was so unexpected. I've had other dogs put down before and we've always had a little time to say goodbye.

I'm very sorry about your dog and I hope you make the most out of the short time you have left together.

[Greydennyhawk]

Our Josie is 10 years old and hasn't slowed down much yet, she had one small tumor removed a couple of years ago, and nothing came back there! She loves the RV season, and I don't know how much I would even enjoy it if she wasn't with us on trips?
We always tell folks that the main reason we even got an RV, is that we didn't want to go on vacations without her.
Dogs are great, people are well................

[colliehauler]

After going through chemo with two Collies I think your friend made the best decision. I was at K-State every week for treatment for Strider, (if you do a search you can read the story from discovery to end of life).

I am convinced it has more to do with the gene's then outside influence, my opinion.

And you are correct some breeds are more susceptible then others. One lady had 2 Goldens that had cancer at the same time.

My opinion is subject to change as treatment advances.

I just lost my Bud boy at the end of January to what they believe to be a brain tumor, don't know if it was cancerous. I sure do miss him.

[raindove]

Thank you for the support on the decision that was made. In a situation like this, one's heart is screaming to "save them". But when you think about it logically for all the suffering the dog would go through, and best chance scenario would be a very short life extension.... well, my friend and I are of the same mind. We need to do what is best for the dog, and put our heartbreak aside. This is always a heart wrenching decision to make.

Again, thanks for the support.

There has just been too much, in a short time span. We lost two of ours last fall, just weeks apart. Today is the anniversary of her losing her other female last year on this very day.

[magnusfide]

Prayers for fur kid and the family. I agree with their decision as difficult as it was to make.

[amandasgramma]

Kinda makes you wonder what the chemicals are doing to humans, doesn't it??? I'm thinking of children that play on the lawns.

[Little_Kopit]

Yes, it is time for you to get active, hopefully with Vet and other animal organizations speaking out with you.

Poisons are poisons are poisons. No two ways about it. & remember lots of folks let their toddlers crawl around on those lawns.

& I for one think the term 'cosmetic pesticide'/cosmetic herbicides' needs to be put down big time. Still poisons those are.

One interesting question, does an unmowed lawn difuse the poisons concentration or does that lack of mowing make the poison stay around longer.

A lot of cities and towns up here in Canada have managed to put very strong bylaws restricting use of 'costmetic pesticides'.

& I'll kick out another theory. When I bought my present 1.5 acres around my house, the lawn was almost all grass, just grass, no clover, no herbs, no 'weeds'. It made me think someone had used a lot of the poison called 'weed and feed'. :h

About 1.75 million species of plants, animals, and microorganisms have been identified out of the 13 million total species estimated by scientists (Sustaining, 2000). The services these species provide contribute to the delicately-running natural cycles that help make earth habitable to humans and contribute to our way of life in many ways, from providing us food and pharmaceuticals to helping reduce the impact of natural disasters such as floods.

Source: http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2015/2015/benefits_humans.html

Or my maxim, if you have diversity in plants you will have greater variety of bugs............thus, you are less likely to be complaining about having too many of one kind of insect to bug you or your pet.

Keep us posted on your success, please.

:C