What a sweetheart she is, so wise looking. Many prayers your way & Dixie’s. A great nutritional supplement for dogs & cats is nutritional yeast. Lots of b vitamins, minerals. You can get it on amazon, whole foods, or a hippy health food store. They love it! It is also great on pop corn. We put our beloved 16 year old to sleep about 3 1/2 weeks ago. It’s a heartbreaking decision. Best to you both.
My condolences & prayers. I trust that you will make the right decision for your fur baby.
Having a pet put to sleep is absolutely horrible but sometimes necessary. Praying it doesn’t come to that.
Very sorry.
Suppose they have ruled out Lyme Disease?
She’s beautiful. I’m so sorry that she’s ill.
Our lovely girl finally lost her battle with brain cancer a week ago. I know how hard it is.
Take care.
Although you have been issued some timelines for extending your beautiful doggie’s life, my best advice to you is to put them last in your thoughts. Watch your dog’s quality of life every day and do not try to hang on too long. If she is ready (usually will indicate it by going off food), let her go and be blessed.
If you opt for medical interventions instead of euthanasia, you will have a period of time while she is declining during which you won’t be comfortable (or responsible) leaving home or leaving her alone for any length of time. It’s like having Nana on the rented hospital bed in the dining room. You must be able to meet escalating needs in order to keep her going beyond her natural span.
I clung to one of my kitties too long with painful interventions, and came to regret it terribly when she eventually had a terrible breakdown and pain on the last day, at which time I finally recognized she needed to go home. But then the vet rushed in like an episode of ER and poked and prodded her, and that was even worse before he would agree she needed to be released. I had a lot of guilt for hurting her so that I could cling on. My sweet girl.
Raw food diet is the way to go. Raw chicken especially good, bones and all. The marrow in the bones is very healthy. Get beef marrow bones, raw, from grocery store, soak them in a plastic bag in warm water. Your pup will love licking out the marrow. Also, sardines are great and as much broccoli and blue berries as possible (try mixing both in raw hamburger or raw ground turkey. Stay away fom kibble and dry food. ... your dog will be happier and have an insatiable appetite.
Oh yeah, and a raw egg every morning...
hey Sam I read an article from a reputable website that massive doses of Vitamin C given intravenously have done some damage against cancer. Sometimes some very good results. I will pray for you little buddy
Aalso, many holistic vets out there, many combine methods of treatment. You should look one up... always get a second or third opinion, more options. Your bud would do the same for you.
I know I’m late to the party, but if money is no object then pay for it if it will save his life. If not then please dont let yoyr baby suffer and make the hard decision.
I suggest you go to Facebook and you will find groups for dog raw food diet. You will find many, probably some in your area. You can have questions answered and will no doubt find others who have gone through your situation.
My Golden Retriever developed bone cancer. Had his leg amputated, but I refused to allow chemo. Went wholistic. Made own food out of organic ground turkey, broccoli and carrots. Saw a naturopathic vet - gave me diet. He lived longer than expected and we had quality time together. He let us know when he needed to go and we had vet come to our home. He was with us at home when he was put to sleep.
Praying for you and your friend, Sam. I am so sorry you are going through this.
Knowing what chemo does to humans, i would prefer the holistic method that you are trying. Even if it doesn’t extend your dog’s life, it will certainly improve the quality.
Ditching the dry dog food is a great first step. No chemo!
And continue feeding her good food like you’ve been doing. Keep her going for as long as you are able to...she’s obviously feeling better and might just go into remission. You’ll both know when it’s time to say goodbye. Prayers and happy thoughts for both of you. She’s a little beauty!!
I am sorry for the dog’s initial diagnosis.
I would definitely get a second opinion regarding oncology. There is time to still do that. It should help to provide for the best data informed decision possible.
If you’re close to a teaching hospital (Tufts?), they are very good for those sorts of consults.
Sam, sorry to hear about your furry-buddy! I lost 2 this year one in Feb, and the 2nd in May. Both were around 17 so they had a long life but it still hurts.
Before these last 2 I had a Scottie who developed cancer and I went thru the treatments but I can honestly say now I would never do that again. I think she suffered more because of treatments, and got to the point where I had to feed her with a bottle, and afterwards I felt even worse for having put her thru all of that when it would have been easier to just let her go.
I would advise really talking to all the vets involved in your dog’s case and make sure they give you a realistic plan of care and what that care will involve. I know very well how hard it is to let go of a cherished pet but in the end it might be easier on you both. Just be sure you are well informed before you both go forward.
Good luck and prayers for you both
After 4 weeks of not allowing a Jack Russell to move other than his outside business he was healthy enough to start his chemo regimen. The regimen consisted of prednisone and melphalan. That worked great! No side effects and cost about $100/month not including the blood test once a month or every other month.
Unfortunately, the cancer is back and it has become more difficult until this week. About 6 weeks ago Hero was chasing a rabbit when he flipped over and landed on his left side. He just froze and looked so panicked. I picked him up and cuddled him and after a minute he was back at it but much slower. Then he started to limp. I called my primary Vet after about a week of not getting better and found out that a lesion has appeared on his left shoulder via an X-ray. They had to sedate him for the X-ray. Hero was in so much pain. It was heart wrenching. I laid on the floor next to him, touching him caused him too much pain. If I left him he would crawl to me and put his head on my foot. Just awful.
At my dog's cancer Vet we put him on a different cancer chemo drug called palladia. That turned out to be a nightmare. Just after 12 hours of giving him the oral take home medicine he was vomiting blood everywhere. He had to go to the emergency vet for liquids. Then came the bloody stools and diarrhea. Well after just one dose no more palladia. It took about two weeks for Hero to heal enough to try another chemo drug called Lomustine (32.5 mg was given to him by the Vet). Along with the Loumustine he received Cerenia to settle his stomach. The next appointment is in a little over 2 weeks.
Hero is in no pain and is interested in taking walks again. We did two blocks this morning and he is back to hunting for rabbits. After a good meal, he is on his back with paws in the air, quite happy. Gosh, I love that dog. : )
I am feeding him his regular kibble (Taste of the Wild, Bison), rice and rotisserie chicken. I will look into other diets but my dog does not like veggies especially carrots. : (
First, I am very sorry to hear that your dear friend has such a serious health problem.
While I cannot advise you on the chemo, I can say that feeding your dog the way you are now doing is going to make a great difference to your dog regardless. I would be careful on the rotisserie chicken unless you are certain it has zero spices/seasonings. Add in some home baked sweet potatoes, blueberries, a big spoonful of good yogurt once or twice weekly if your dog is tolerant of dairy, the occasional baked white or red potato, steamed rice - jasmine rice or brown is good for dogs that may have sensitivity. What I used to do for my dogs “basic” go-to meal was 80/20 beef, peas and carrots, rice or potato. I did 1/2 meat, 1/4 veg, 1/4 rice or potato - sometimes I would substitute cooked pasta noodle for the starch. Just for varity. Of course, I would vary the meat, veg, etc, to keep things interesting. I’d sprinkle flax seeds on top every other day and the same with blueberries. They need some little bit of salt - but you’d need to be careful not to overdo. Splash a good dollop of olive oil on top of the dinner three or four times a week.
When I went to feeding this way (time consuming but worth it) my Zeus stopped having seizures. Became much more comfortable, quit farting, and had less joint pain. He lived to be 13 1/2 years old - and for a Doberman, that is very good. LOL, he even came to know the difference when I was cooking for him, or for us. He would watch me every second while I cooked for him. I’d do up a weeks worth at a time. Can even freeze pre cooked meals (I cooked the veg into the meat) into portioned bags.