will this be the beginning of the end

[furbaby]

Our darling staffy who we have had since a pup has been slowing down , he is now 12 .
He seems hungry all the time after a tummy bug about a month ago .
He has lost 4 kilos in weight :(
Took him to very nice vet today who said he was anemic ..... she has done full bloods and we have an appointment tomorrow night to talk about the results .
Vet is saying he could be bleeding internally from a cancer :(
Don, t think life will ever be the same if we lost him... just can, t believe it as we have a 16 year old staffy as well and always thought she would go before him .
He is our life , he is our son and brother for our dd .
We are both gutted and worried about what tomorrow will bring , vet is talking scans after blood test but how far do you go to save your pet without it being about you and how far do you go so they don, t suffer . The whole family love this dog soooo much .

Oh I am sorry. See what happens tomorrow. It sounds like both your dogs are fab and much loved. Take care. I love our little puppy so much, it must hurt. X

Thank you needastrongone just praying its just anemia and not the big c . Think hubby is blaming me for booking vets as he was being head in the sand about our boy slowing down and did, nt want to be told any different .
To some he is just a dog but to us he is our life . X

So sorry to hear this. Your dogs sound very loved.

Just wanted to say good luck for the appointment today.

Both my dogs are very ill at the moment and it's just horrible. My old girl is going in for xrays tomorrow morning. We pretty much know what the results will be and I am dreading it . We are going through the same thing with trying to decide what to do and make sure our choices are about her and not our feelings - it's so hard.

Thank you so much moosemama
I feel for you too . Its just so bloody hard is, nt it , can, t stop crying .
Today at vets went as expected , they think he has an ulcer in stomach which I thought was good and treatable but vet said dogs don, t tend to get an ulcer on own its usually connected to a tumor .
He is on 2 different tablets to calm the tum and is on fish and rice dinners but vet said he could go down hill very fast .
Wishing you so much luck tomorrow .
Please do let me know how she gets on I will be thinking of her . How old is she ?

Are they doing further tests for a tumour then furbaby? I am sorry that it wasn't good news today. Take care.

Fancy a puppy that is severely accident prone but soft as butter and friends with anyone and all dogs? He's free to a good home!!!!!

So sorry it wasn't better news furbaby.

Our girl is almost 13 and a half.

We know she has osteosarcoma in her hind leg and it's incurable. Prognosis even with amputation, radiation and chemo is only a few months. Tomorrow's xray is to check for lung mets, but she's been coughing this week, so we think we know what the answer will be. Lung mets are already there at diagnosis in over 90% of cases of osteosarcoma, but we want to know how big/bad they are to help us make quality of life choices for her, iyswim. They don't want to risk a general anaesthetic this time, so they're just going to give her a little sedation and I'm going to wait at the surgery for her while they do it. At least it's at 9.00 am, so I won't have to wait long to know.

She's on tramadol and anti-inflammatories and they seem to be keeping her comfortable, but she gets restless, whiny and pacey about an hour before her next dose is due.

The problem is, she is still eating well, asking to go out, bringing us her toys and coming for cuddles. She's slowed a lot and is very different than she was even back in the Autumn, but she's still her and just not the picture of a terminally ill dog that you would expect. I have never had this before, she is our sixth dog and we've always known the right time with all our others. This time it's a case of trying to choose a time that is right, but not leave it too late so that she is suffering, but the vet said she is a strong and stoic dog and could well be masking her suffering in an attempt to please us - which makes it even harder.

We are into three weeks of this now and the longer it goes on, the harder it gets. I've spent such a lot of time crying and poor old dh had to walk out of his office today because he felt like he was going to cry.

I hope the meds and diet work and your boy is more comfortable.

needastrongone Thanks for offer of pup lol .
They wanted him back in on friday but thats not long enough for meds to kick in . So have made appointment for tuesday as this gives him long enough to make a come back (fingers crossed)
They will then xray or scan to see what is going on but they have said its not good idea due to age to operate and have chemo as he is such a stressy dog and will only make him unhappy and stressed . I just don, t know how far we will go in treatment , vets are great but are saying that If we go the whole hog and spend shit loads then we will won, t prolong his life by more than 6 months ..... I just don, t know whats best . Love him so much :)

moosemama this is such a sad time
for you , It sounds like you are both doing your very best for you darling dog .
Our boy is still eating so well , thats the hard thing is, nt it you feel if they are fighting then you have to as well .
I so wish they could live forever .
Yes our boy gets restless and whiney too and keeps licking his paws which I am sure its a sign that he, s in pain , mind you he is on his back snoring and farting at mo so all seems ok at mo , if only !

moosemama how did xray go ? Been thinking about your darling girl :(

When we arrived the vet felt the leg felt unstable, which it hadn't when we last saw her on Monday.

Xray showed lots of lung mets and that she'd sustained a pathological fracture to her bad leg. It would only have taken a slight knock or twist with her bone as badly damaged as it was by the tumour.

The vet kept her sedated with pain relief and Dh came straight home from work. We both held her while they put her out of her pain at half past twelve this morning.

It's been a long hard day and our other dog has covered the kitchen in slobber through the stress of being on his own at home for the first time ever in his life. We took him for a long walk this afternoon and he's sleeping now. Think we will have to do a lot of work to get him through this.

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

ahh Moosemama we do pay such a high price for loving our pets don't we?
But you and the OP and others can eventually get great comfort from knowing that you gave your pets the very best life they could have had.
You cant do anymore than that - but this comparatively short life span of theirs to ours is really heartbreaking. But they are all of course worth it.

to anyone affected by a similiar situation, it is so sad.
I saw an elderly lady walk past the other day without her old spaniel (she lost her husband last year) and l made enquiries at our local shop and her dog has had to be pts. I just feel so sorry for her. Am going to try and catch her tomorrow walking past when l walk my dog whom she adores. He is 11 now too

Oh furbaby, so sorry to hear this. I remember you saying on a thread about dogs sleeping in kennels outside that your dogs were like your children and shared your bed.

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. It's horrible.

Wish you all the best.

moosemama my heart goes out to you, you and dh and your darling boy dog must feel lost without her :(
I am sure she is in a happy place now .
I know you did the right thing for her .
You loved her and you will never forget her .
pigsDofly thank you for support your right it is bloody horrible , am thinking of doing a bucket list for our darling boy and doing and visiting all the places he loves before we have to lose him .
He has had a restless day , does, nt seem comfortable :( dd came over and dog sat today , he seemed to enjoy that .
He has had a busy day with family dropping by tonight just to give him cuddles .
I have spent most of day near to tears :(
But my thoughts tonight are with moosemama and her family at there big loss today .

sudaname That made me cry even more when you said about ladys dog , poor her , I imagine her dog was a great companion. Good for you wanting to catch up with her .
Maybe she could get another dog :)

Yes l might ask her how she feels about that as she still gets out and about every day although getting on in years. I will even offer to take her round the rescue places but l think she has some family but don't live nearby.
I felt so sad for her because l know her dog was what kept her sane when her DH passed away and a reason to get up every day etc.so now shes lost him aswell .
Also last week l was having a 'paper mountain' clear out and came across a heartrending appeal for a missing cat that had been posted through our door just before Xmas with a pic of the cat(gorgeous) which l kept in our hall to remind us to look out for him. So l texted the mobile no. and asked if they minded me asking but did they ever find their cat as l still always kept an eye out for him.

Well they texted back and he had been found dead on a nearby busy road , driver hadn't stopped / didn't realise and a man found his body and very caringly wrapped him in a blanket and took him to a local vets. So when he got the flyer he rang them and told them the bad news. They contacted the vets, this was a couple of weeks later and the vets had very kindly kept the poor cats body and wouldn't accept any payment the man had offered for doing so. The couple were able to collect him (he was in a proper little garden 'casket') bury him in their garden and told me they had planted lots of daffodils over him. The vets still would not accept any payments from the owners either.
They thanked me for caring and for looking out for him from 'the bottom of their hearts'.
I texted back and said was very sorry and hoped l hadn't opened up old wounds.
They said l hadn't as they often spoke about him anyway and it was nice to know there were such lovely caring people about - the man who found him, the vets and me looking out for him every day even though it was in vain sadly.

God, l'm in absolute titters now !

An update on our darling boy .....
Things all looking bleak today he threw up his breakfast twice :( ate it back up each time .
He has been whiney and unsettled all day , has had tea but threw that up as well .
I look a right state my eyes are so swollen from crying all the time .
Wonder what vet will say on tuesday :(

Oh dear fur l am sorry. No words really but just saw your post and just wanted to let you know someone is thinking about you and moose and anyone else who is going through similar.

Thank you so much sudaname ... don, t think I will ever recover from this , had about 1 hours sleep last night I got up and did a 2 hour walk on my own felt so lonely without my boy :(

Oh furbaby, I am so sorry to hear this. I wish I could think of something to say to make you feel better.

Thank you moosemama ... he has now taken himself off up to our bed . Found another pile of sick on the stairs :(
Hows things with you ? Is your darling boy dog coping without your girl ?

He's very sad furbaby. Only time he's perked up is when we've taken him for his walks really.

Lurcherboy is howling whenever he's left and in the middle of the night. Dh ended up coming down and sleeping on the sofa, with the kitchen door ajar and the dog gate shut, for the first couple of nights. He didn't interact with him at all, so that he didn't reinforce the howling, but as I suspected, just knowing he wasn't on his own was enough to stop the howling and allow him to sleep.

Last night I had a brainwave and we put dd's old baby monitor in our bedroom with the parent/receiver bit in the kitchen, so he could hear us and know we were still there. I remembered we did this for a while when we first got him. Fortunately it worked and he didn't howl, pace or dribble for the first time last night. He did start to whine a little once, so I just calmly said "go to sleep" and he stopped. Not sure what to do when we have to go out without him though, might try doing the same but leaving a radio on by the monitor or something. We also tried DAP spray on his bedding last night, so that might have had something to do with him being more relaxed as well.

Dh is out mowing the lawn at the moment and it's very odd not to have our old girl barking at it the whole time. It's funny what you miss, as it used to drive dh nuts when she did that.

moosemama I am sorry to hear that he is so unsettled , mind you it has,nt been long . Fingers crossed he can get over this and enjoy being an only dog with all your attention .
Brilliant idea with baby moniter well done you :)
Not heard of DAP spray ? Sorry am I being thick .
Lets hope its onwards and upwards for all of you and you can get over your big loss . Never forgotten but I hope each day will get a tad easier .
Our boy has had a better day today :)
He has, nt been sick and has been less whiney , he had tea 2 hours ago (egg , soya milk and rice ) and he has, nt thrown it up yet . I checked his gums today and they do look more pink then when vet checked them :):):)
Also he seems to have put on a little weight , he had a ridge above his tail where his spine was showing but its flat again now :)
I am so worried that I am getting hopeful then tomorrow he, s bad again . Got vets on tuesday and hope they say he has put on weight and no longer anemic ,,,, would be so nice to have a bit longer withour darling boy :)

I am so glad to hear your boy is feeling a bit better today.

DAP is Dog Appeasing Pheromone. Basically a copy of the hormone mother dogs give off when their pups are little, that helps to keep them feeling contented and relaxed. It's often used to help settle pups into their new homes and can sometimes help with separation anxiety and fear of fireworks etc as well.

I will be keeping everything crossed for your boy to continue gaining weight and getting stronger.

DAP sounds goods , Thanks for info , that could be handy as both ours don, t like fireworks .
Not feeling so positive now as he had a good day I wanted to take him up the field , he seemed keen to have coller on but only just left garden and he stopped and would, nt walk , we came back in doors :( maybe I was just hoping too much :(