Posted on 07/14/2010 12:47:36 AM PDT by Judith Anne
I have two dogs, a mastiff, and a minpin. The minpin is 14 years old, blind, and has been officially diagnosed with a brain tumor accompanied by epilepsy about 7 months ago, although the epilepsy started before that, and a brain tumor was suspected.
It's not as bad as it sounds, for her. She started having seizures about once a month, and the vet said they would increase in frequency. Due to her age, no treatment was judged likely to help much, for very long. He said her lifespan would depend on how fast it grew, and how well she tolerated the changes. She's been doing very well until July 4, when she suddenly went blind.
The seizures have become more frequent, about twice a week, but they've gotten milder. I pick her up and take her outside about 4 times a day, and she is able to find and eat her food and drink water in her crate with no problem. I keep her in her crate most of the time now, because she seems happy there, or on my lap, and to keep her safe from being hurt during a seizure. The seizure meds don't help.
I'm not explaining this very well, I hope it's clear enough. Anyway, she's been with me since she was a pup, and since she is not suffering I can't bring myself to have her put down. I've decided to take care of her until she goes.
This is a dainty and beautiful tiny dog. She "mothered" the mastiff when we brought him home 6 1/2 years ago; she has been a faithful little shadow to me, all her life.
She has "accidents" now, but it's no fuss to clean up, I have several cushions I rotate through the laundry, and usually manage to get her outdoors often enough.
The problem now is some odd behavior: She has been vigorously digging in her pillows, sometimes for an hour at a time, about three times a day. She's too weak and small to damage the pillows; but it's surprisingly noisy, esp at night. I have told her to stop, and for a second or two, she does. Then starts up again. She also walks in tight circles for 10-15 minutes at a time. Plus, she has totally stopped barking, which is uncharacteristic for her.
I am assuming that these are behaviors related to the tumor; could these behaviors be a type of seizure? The meds we tried completely knocked her out, or didn't work at all.
Again, she doesn't seem to be in pain, still eats and goes to the BR outside, except for more frequent accidents.
Is it time? Any suggestions? I'm willing to keep her with me until she goes, but I do not want to make her suffer...
Thank you so much. I love Siamese, they are brilliant...my fawn mastiff has pretty much siamese coloring, except light tan feet and tail.
No. You are NOT crazy. Dogs are healthy to have as companions: they are protection, even the small ones can alert us to danger; they are huggable, and we all need hugs, big time; they are uncritical, and that’s good for us psychologically; they are funny, they will study us and think of the goofiest things to do; and they teach us, because if we all loved God the way our dogs love us, we would be saints.
I love dogs, almost all of them. I’ve only met a couple of bad dogs in my whole life.
Your story hit home. I had a 13 1/2 yr old border collie, and know how bad it is. To the original poster: I waited (different type of cancer). In the end, I am glad I did, but it’s all a roll of the dice. It’s so hard to tell if they are suffering, and dogs can show amazing resiliency.
I wish I had some words of advice. All I know is this: my dog died in my arms. That matters more than anything else. Either way you decide, make sure that you are with him when he goes. But I’m sure you know this.
I wish you the best.
I highly recommend Lugol’s iodine. you can buy it at jcrows on line.
Start by giving him a drop every day (in alittle broth or something like it) and increase to 2 drops/day. Iodine is a hugely important mineral that we are all very deficient. It promotes apoptosis which is the natural death of cells. The reason cancer flourishes is because the cells won’t die.
We ALL need iodine; way more than the US RDA.
Couldn’t hurt, at this point. She’ll drink it in her water, I’m certain.
Thank you so much. She WILL die in my arms, unless she goes in her sleep
See that she does
He came right out to the house and put Toby down.
They gave him a muscle relaxant that made him sleepy, prior to the final injection.
One suggestion,try to hold yourself together in the final minutes. Tell your pup, what a wonderful companion he has been.
My buddy Sammy died in January from a brain tumor. We learned of it first in November when he started having seizures. The days in between were tough with the weight loss, odd behavior at times, bath room breaks in the house. But I am so glad that he could come home for a while and be with us, and we could take a few more walks together.
When the time comes, you will know.
I loved that dog and it broke my heart when he was gone.
Judith Ann,
Post #16 says is best.
Put her down. she is suffering in ways that you can’t imagine, IMO. I know it is hard, they become very close to a person and it breaks your heart when they die.
I know this sounds strange, but they will look at you as to say, “it is time for me to go”. You don’t want to see her suffer anymore than she already is.
Our 14yr old Shepard mix was diagnosed with volvulus this past January, a potentially instantly deadly surgery in the thousands we decided to let him go on his own. Our vet talked to my DH for an hour to have us put him down. No way!
He couldn’t control his bathroom breaks, friends were telling us to put him down for just that!!Jerks... He lost a lot of weight but he still chased after the cat, barked at the mailman and UPS - guarded the house - went on short car trips - did his thing...
By the end of March, overnight, he couldn’t walk - it was time. We brought him to another vet within a day and put him down and brought him back to the yard. It was terrible, he was non responsive before he was gone. He was 14, that’s all we can all hope for a dog of that size....I always say I want to get a Parrot, they can live to 100 and you have to put them in your will...but I hate Birds...:)
You’ll both know when it’s time.
Growing up, I had a dog that was part Wheaton Terrier and part Retriever; he had the playfulness of a terrier and the sweetness of a retriever. He got a brain tumor, too. He started snapping at bugs that weren’t there, than having siezures, then started having difficulty walking. I was the last hold-out on euthanizing him in the family. My sense had been he didn’t want to leave us. One day we were having dinner outside on a 2nd-story deck, and he had been down below, and wanted to join us; he tried to climb the stairs which was far beyond his ability. That seemed like *emotional* suffering for him not to come up the stairs. (We all went and ate down there with him.) Finally, I agreed to have him euthanized.
We found a very sympathetic vet that agreed to come to our home to put him to sleep. We gathered around him, and he held his head in my lap. He gave a light yip with the injection, started thumping his tail on the ground again, then he stopped, lowered his head again as we all pet him, and fell to sleep.
I think that’s what we gained by putting him to sleep: he died while he was being loved by all of us.
>> I know this sounds strange, but they will look at you as to say, “it is time for me to go”. <
Yes, that’s exactly what happened with my dog that I was just describing. THAT’s when I consented.
Has anyone had a dog with a brain tumor?
Yup...we call him Obama.
(I am sorry, I couldn’t resist)
Woof
One can go to a specialty center where they can do an MRI/CT Scan and see if there is a possibility of brain surgery/chemotherapy or just keep your dog comfortable, give anti convulsant medications until the time that the animal appears to no longer have a decent quality of life.There is no set time line or protocol for knowing when the time comes. It seems one knows the time is upon you in one’s own heart. Good luck.
I have no great advice, just wanted to let you know I’m thinking about you and your little dog.
When she was x-rayed, the vets (husband and wife team, they’ve both seen her) said there was an irregular mass in the brain. No other radiopaque masses seen anywhere, and she seems in good health other than the seizures, blindness, and the behaviors I mentioned.
Their statement was that brain tumors are not all that uncommon in minpins; when I first took her in for seizures, a month or so before the x-ray, they said that brain tumor was the commonest cause for onset of seizures in dog 14 yo.
There’s no local place to take her for radiation, and after seeing my husband die from cancer after so-called palliative chemo and radiation, I don’t think I would have it done.
I’ve pretty much decided to keep her at home, do anything I can for her comfort, for the next couple of weeks until the family comes back. If she is still alive then, I’ll likely take her in, and hold her in my arms while she gets the shot. Meanwhile, I’m praying she goes in her sleep.
Thank you for your advice, I really value everything everyone has posted. It is what it is. *sigh*
Thank you very much.
Everyone: She’s kind of perky this morning. After going out and then eating hamburger, she is now digging in her pillows. She digs, sniffs, digs, sniffs. They are fresh washed. She took a fabric softener sheet off one pillow, and buried it along side her ham hock. Such a goofy little pup.
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