Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives

benny55 said
Just ca6 up on Boone.  As you can se from the support of Mallie and Mixx's input, along of course with the invaluable advice fro. Jerry, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

We all understand the kick in the gut it is to hear the "diagnosis ".  The tears (probably more like hysteria),  the uncertainty, the panic.....yeah, we get it.  The good thing is Boone hasn't  heard a word about " diagnosis " and isn't  worried about a thing.  Ahhh....the bliss of being a dog.

To add some additional reassurance,  my Happy Hannah  was 125+ lb Bull Mastiff, 8 yrs young  when she had her amputation.  Recovery  was not easy and I questioned  decision  for her the first couple of weeks.  This community  threw me a lifeline of information, reassurance  and suppor I can tell younknownit was a very, very good decision!  Her sparkle came back bigger and brighter  with that bum leg gone. 

FWIW, I struggled  with the decision to the point that I even cancelled  the scheduled  amputation  surgery.  Within a week's time she was holding  up her leg from pain thst the meds no longer masked.  Obviously  I rescheduled and moved forward.

We're  right by your side and will help in anyway we can, okay?  And remember,  yu are not alone!

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

PS.  So very, very sorry to know that yournother beloved pup headed to The Rainbow  Bridge.  Clearly  your heart has broken I to a million  pieces and now you have sll thos addtional  stress....it just sucks.  

When you can, we would  love to hear more about yoir sweet senior pupper♥️

  

Thank you for your kindness.

Frank was the love of my life, which sounds terrible to say given that he wasn't my first dog, and he won't be my last.  We got him somewhat by chance - i was volunteering a fair amount with a few bully breed rescues, and they were using my previous dog, Porkchop (a cane corso cross) as a tester dog, for other dogs - she was bombproof, lord love her. She passed at 16 (about 10 years ago now).  Anyhow, we happened to be hunting in the north end of our province when one of the rescues reached out to their volunteers asking if anyone could pick up a momma dog and her 4 babies from a shelter - they had been seized from a puppy mill.  We were about 2 hours out, so agreed to do it and bring them home/foster them until the pups and mom were ready to move on to their forever homes.  Frank was in the litter - he was the ugliest, mangiest, most gremlin looking puppy i had ever seen - and i was in love.  He healed up, but was forever plagued by the most ridiculous allergies and skin reactions, but we kept them well managed.  He adopted a lot of porkchop's behaviours: he was also absolutely bomb proof around any other dog, and he was (unlike porkchop) obsessed with getting the lovin' from people, too.  We used to joke and say that he would happily abandon us for any stranger, he had a lot of love to give.  He was also ridiculously good looking as he aged - like, people would stop us in the street to ask about him.  He wasn't the smartest dog (we also joked that he may have FASD), and he had the attention span of a goldfish, but he meant well.  He ended up passing his canine good citizen test, and went on to also become a therapy dog and came to work with me.  He was very sensitive to people's feelings and would ham it right up if they were upset, he certainly helped me make gains with a lot of very difficult clients.  

When we brought Boone home (also as a foster, who we failed and kept), Frank was the first to adopt him.  They were never not in a snuggle puddle.  It was ridiculous - especially as Boone is very, very dog selective.  He's Frank's personality opposite. 

He had a lot of growths - a lot of them, and we had them faithfully removed and biopsied, and he hadn't had one since he was about 12.  He had never had cancer, until he did and we didn't know.  He had his last vet check in June.  On Wednesday November 2, he went off his food.  Then, his urine turned dark.  We got him into the vet the next day (2 days after onset of symptoms), and they found out he had a massive growth on his spleen that was compromising his heart and crushing his liver.  He was jaundiced, his liver was failing, and his heart was working overtime between the dirty blood and blockage.  We were given a life expectancy of hours.  We had to say goodbye.  I'm still very much processing and reeling from his loss. 

I mentioned to Michelle (of this forum) that it was really hard to grieve while also grieve in anticipation; and she reminded me not to grieve Boone quite yet lest I miss time.  It was well received advice. 

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to share about Frank.