To be just devastated about our dog?

[follyfoot]

Our lovely labrador had a lump suddenly appear on her head. After passing through every emotion with it may be cancer, it may not, it may be operable, it may not, it may have spread or maybe not, we now find ourselves with a dog who has had surgery to remove as much tumour as possible but some remained, and she is about to undergo palliative radiotherapy.

Am just knocked sideways by this - and its been a few weeks, so I really should have got used to it by now. Keep looking at her and thinking 'you're dying, you're bloody dying and we love you so much'

Have lost lots of people in life through cancer, and suppose I've coped OK with that all things told. My DH has been life threateningly ill recently and I coped OK with that. So why has this news knocked me off my feet. I've even cried at work. How embarrassing is that. Anyone?

So for you.
Losing an animal you love is so painful.
Everybody with a dog will understand how you feel.
They love you unconditionally.

follyfoot my lovely golden retriever had cancer and died peacefully in her sleep last week at the ripe old age of 15 and a half. No better way to go but I still miss her dreadfully. I have her collar and some of her hair in a plastic bag (as suggested by some of the 'doghouse' ladies) and I get great comfort from that.

Last month, not last week. Bank Holiday weekend:(

sorry to hear that OP.

for you...

Well I'm thinking of you folly and your precious lab.
Just take each day as it comes my lovely.
How you feeling today?

oh, so sorry to hear that - poor you. However, thankyou for posting this, because a similar thing happened to me. I lost my dog about ten years ago - i actually needed sedating i was in a terrible state, then five years ago i lost my lovely wonderful dad :( I didn't even really cry - he had been ill for some time and it was a release but i still don't know why i wasn't greif stricken like i was when i lost my dog. I think is because when i lost the dog, the greif was cathartic, but with my dad, i think if i had let go, well, i dont think i could have ever stopped - this is not healthy, one nervous breakdown later and i know i still haven't come to terms with losing my dad. I just think its easier to cope with the greif at the loss of a pet than face up to the greif of losing a parent etc.

You said one thing in your OP that actually you should take comfort from, you look at your dog and think, oh god, shes dying and she doesn't know it - she doesn't and that is massively comforting.

i have had my heart broken so many times because of animals i really feel for you, posts like this always bring tears to my eyes.i wish i could say something to make you feel better but i know i cant other than take one day at a time and take comfort that your dog is happy and knows he is loved forget all the rules and spoil him rotton.

YANBU, I remember what it is like to lose a cat. Pets are part of the family.

Just thought I'd update this thread. Our lovely girl has been really well for some time but I noticed a tiny bump where the original tumour was last week. She has an appointment on Wednesday to see the vet who diagnosed her in the first place. We were having a cuddle tonight when I noticed there was a smear of blood on my hand where she had been resting her nose on me. Am absolutely fairly certain the bloody illness is back as the lump has also grown a bit

DH is being very practical 'lets wait and see what the vet says, you've been writing her off since the start of the year' etc, but you know when you just know something........

The specialist did mention chemo which is apparently well tolerated, but who knows eh?

Our lovely lovely blonde

Just seen this thread folly. Sending you an MN hug. We had out lovely old dog PTS in July this year, he had had heart failure for 2.5 yrs and then got cushings disease and in the end his kidneys stopped and we had no choice. This is our first xmas without him and its a sad one. Hope you get Ok news this week.

Thank you diet. Everything crossed. Hopefully she will be up to coming away for a few days with us over New Year, she loves her trips to the sea. When this thread started, I remember thinking that she wouldnt be around for New Year, so hopefully she will prove that theory wrong x

Oh dear, after everything she and you have been through, if you feel like you need any more online support (not that MN isnt brilliant ) then labrador forums is a fab little forum too.

Good luck OP, I hope it all turns out okay and she enjoys her trip to the seaside :)