Cadence is an American Bulldog and she will be 8 years old on Christmas Day.  She may  be considered senior in dog years but she still acts like a puppy with all the energy she has.  Has your dog been diagnosed with cancer?  If you have any questions please feel free to get in contact with me.  I'm still learning a lot but am willing to help in any way I can.

Yesterday started off as such a good day.  I took Cadence into work with me and she was so happy.  She loves running around the police station and getting love and attention from all my co workers.  She was in heaven all day. The smile never left her face.  Everyone was amazed on how well she is getting around on 3 legs.  I was so proud of my sweet baby girl.

A few hours after we got home last night, she started coughing.  I thought she had gotten something stuck in her throat and she was trying to get it up.  It only lasted a quick minute so I brushed it off as nothing.  She ate dinner as usual and ate everything in her bowl.  A little bit later she played with Daddy.  He had been away for the weekend so she was glad to have him back home.   A short while later, she started coughing again.  This time it was like she was trying to throw up, but  nothing was coming up.  I figured she has just played to hard after eating and she got an upset stomach. 

This morning at 1:30 am, the coughing woke us up.  She was lying on her bed and just hacking up a storm.  I got out of bed, turned the light on, and that's when my boyfriend saw blood splattered on the sheet.  We got her in the car and flew to the vet.

Thankfully, the vet we went to for her amputation and treatments, is a 24 hr emergency vet.  At least they had all the records on her history.  The blood work came back with no problems seen and she did not have a fever.  The next step was the chest x-ray.  That did not come back looking so great.  The good news is that the cancer has not spread to her lungs.  The bad news is they saw cloudiness in the lungs which led him to believe she has an pneumonia.  What the heck?  How could she be fine one minute and the next she has a pneumonia?  We were both shocked.  They gave us some medication and told us they would be sending the xrays out to a radiologist.  He told us to watch her to make sure the coughing doesn't get worse and to keep an eye on her breathing.  We took her home and got back into bed.  Luckily, I was able to call into work and take the day off so I can keep and eye on her today.  I'm hoping her oncologist will give me a call sometime today so I can get a bit more information about the prognosis.  I wasn't prepared this morning to hear it was an pneumonia so I didn't know the right questions to ask. 

The coughing stopped for the rest of the night.  I did notice that when she got up this morning, and walked to go outside, she was coughing again.  I'm going to try and keep her still today so she doesn't exert herself to much.  She just ate breakfast and ate everything in her bowl.  She is still wagging her tail so she is still happy, which makes me happy.  I just don't want her being in any pain.  That is my main concern.   We will not let Cadence suffer in any way. 

Thanks for listening.  I'm just gonna kick back today with my sweetie and take care of her like she has always taken care of me.  I will keep everyone posted on what the vet says.

UPDATE:   Cadence and I just got back from the vet and according to him it is NOT an pneumonia.   I wanted to jump up and hug him.  He said he looked at the xray as did another vet in the practice and they did not see what looked like an pneumonia.  He listened to her lungs and he said they sound great.  He also confirmed that there are no mets in her lungs. He did another blood test and found the numbers to be all fine.  They were even up a little bit from earlier this morning.  He thinks that maybe she just got something stuck in her throat and she is trying to get it out and her throat is also irritated.  He thinks it has nothing to do with cancer.  The vet said  since she is not coninuously coughing then maybe it dislodged itself and now its just irritated.  He suggested we just wait and see if it clears up on its own.  He did not feel it was neccessary at this time to put her under sedation and stick a tube down her throat.  And of course, wouldnt you know it, while we were there, she never coughed one time.  Go figure.  We are lucky to have such a great vet.  He did not treat me like I was some crazy lady (which sometimes I am) and he is so sympathetic and understanding.  I just want what is best for Cadence and I know that sometimes I can be a bit paranoid about stuff, I just didnt think that her spitting up blood was something that shoule be ignored.  At least tonight we can all get a good nights sleep.

So I guess 2103 isnt looking so bad afterall.  Thanks to everyone for the well wishes.  Having people to talk to about this crazy journey makes things easier to deal with.