Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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So louie had his visit with the oncologist yesterday. His chest x rays showed a few small lesions unfortunately. They gave him 2 to 4 months to live and im not sure what else to say. Ive been a mess about it all. I can see in his eyes that he doesnt feel good. He is still eating but isnt being his normal self and is just laying around. I cant help but think it just isnt fair. Hes not even 4 yet. I have two other dogs but louie has always been my heart dog, the dog im most attached to. I love him more than anything and its just not fair. I just wanna see him happy again. Anyway all i can do now is just try to make him happy and comfortable.
I am so sorry to hear this about Louie. But as Sally saids nobody has a date stamped on their butt.
If it is going to be 2-4 months, just spoil him rotten and live each day to the fullest. And no it's not fair for any person or dog to get cancer, but unfortunately they do.
You and Louie will be in our thoughts and prayers. Louie is a very fortunate dog because he has you.....
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
Dangit I'm so sorry. It's a gut-punch and one that is so hard to accept. Cancer makes me so mad.
Remember, a prognosis is still just a guess. Nobody has an expiration date stamped on their butt, nobody. Our Jerry lived another 7 great months with lung mets, and others have gone on longer with a great quality of life. You just never know.
So prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Don't grieve yet. He is still here and Louie is still the same dog he was before. Just like during recovery, if you can keep hope in your heart for more time together, he will reflect that hope right back at you. It's hard, I know, but you've got it in you. He needs you to be strong right now. You can do it.
And know that we are sending lots and lots of love & (((hugs))) your way. Please feel free to come here and vent as much as you want. We get it.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Sending you both big hugs and lots of love.
I know this isnt the news that any of us was hopping to hear. Its just so unfair..... give that special boy lots of love. Prognoses is just a number and louie didnt hear anything about it. He heard how treasured he is and how much hes loved. ❤🐾
We're here for you both for what ever you need.
❤ Bev, Moe cat, autumn angel Roane & angel dog Gypsy
Hugs ❤ Bev, nurse Moe cat, Autumn's Angel Roane & Angel dog Gypsy 🐾
My sweet soulmate Roane was diagnosed with osteo in June of 2019. Had a rear leg amp on July 2nd & crossed the rainbow bridge to be with her sister Gypsy on the first day of Autumn Sept 23 2019.
To hear this is a kick in the gut. To have had clear xrays November makes this hard to believe. We, as humans KNOW this isn't fair and it just sucks.
But Louie doesn't think in terms of what's fair or not. What Louie knows and all he cares about is he was born to be with you. He knows he has, and will continue to have, the best life ever with you. He knew that you would give him more love and more joy than any other human on the Planet. That's why he picked you. He knew you would go that extra mile to ALWAYS give him a chance at a quality lofe. And be sure of this, he still has some great quaility time ahead!! You have given him that chance. Those xrays didn't change anything as far as Louie is concerned.
jerry said
Don't grieve yet. He is still here and Louie is still the same dog he was before. Just like during recovery, if you can keep hope in your heart for more time together, he will reflect that hope right back at you. It's hard, I know, but you've got it in you. He needs you to be strong right now. You can do it.
As hard as it is, and it's hard, you must not let that piece of crap disease interfere with one single sacred moment you have together. No, it will NOT get away with trying to steal away the ti e you have together. You love Louie soooo much and that love is what will give you the strength uou meed yo xray kn rhe moment and make every moment count.
We've all said it, because we've seen it......statistics don't mean crap around here. Jerry has proven that,. Pug Maggie was given a "prognosis" of sixish months. Four years later she passed from something else.
Now, there ARE things that you can check into to, not only keep Louie comfortable and happy, but help keep those mets at bay. Did the Vet suggest a cough medicine? Did the Vet suggest Prednisone? How about Metronomics or Palladia? When you can catch your breath, call the Oncology back and check out your options.
And in the meantime, we beg you for more pictures pf Louie!!! We just love that boy! And give him a scoop of ice cream everyday, right before his steak. And we want pictures!
We hereby declare every day, LOUIE DAY!! That means that you have to make every dat even mpre special than the day before with more ways to spoil!
(((((((((HUGS))))))))
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Thanks guys for the support <3. Its been hard on us and the reason im so worried is bc it seems like louie has gone downhill the past couple days. He went from running around and being all in your face, to now all he does is lay around and sleep. He is losing his appetite a bit but im still able to get hime to eat by getting creative. I know the reason why hes not doing much is because he doesnt feel well and i wish i could just make it better. The vet did discuss our options but were chosing to just try and make him comfortable and happy for now. I just couldnt possibly afford more chemotherapy and i dont want to put him through that again anyway. Hes not really coughing as much but i do havr cough medicine for if he does. They also gavr us this stuff called yunnan baiyao to help with any internal bleeding, since he did cough up blood once. Right now were just trying to make him content and hes getting lots of yummy stuff.
The one thing i wanted to ask you guys, is hes been having really baaad eye boogers. Theyre not normal for him and no matter how many times i wipe them off, they come right back. When he went to the vet i mentioned it but she didnt seem to think anything of it. She mentioned dry eye or allergies. Since then its gotten much worse and hes not holding his eyes open all the way and they look very runny. Hes just kind of squinting. I know its gotta be uncomfortable for him and i left a voicemail for his vet and am waiting for them to get back to me. I was just wondering, has anyone dealt with this? I was kinda thinking could it be an infection of some sort? I know his immune system isnt the best so im wondering if he just is sick?
When Brownie was Louie's age he had the same thing. It was a white discharge. He had it more when he first woke up. I was constantly wipeing his eyes. The vet said to use visine but I couldn't get myself to put anything in his eyes. He also said it was dry eye or allergies. He doesn't get it as often now. Ask your vet if you can use visine if you are worried about it.
Do you think maybe Louie isn't feeling well because of the new medication?
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
A couple of thoughts. The discharge could certainly be sign of infection and could be causing the lethargy, lack of appetite, etc. Did the Vet take his temperature?? Can you take it? I would DEFINITELY speak to the Vet about an antibiotic.
Also, squinting and discharge could be a sign of allergies or sinus infection, too, as Nancy said I know that can make his eyes sting ot kinda' burn a little, thus causing the squinting.
I would really kinda' speak to the Vet in a way that this be addressed and not kind of "dismissed". Even if it means getting a second opinion.
My Happy Hannah had some eye discharge gunk and the Bet treated it with an antibiotic. If I recall, he did say that he could do an xray for mets, but we decided to take this approach first. The antibiotics DID help!!!
BTW, yunnan baiyao is "good stuff", especially for what your Vet said.
I also drew the line in the sand as fas as how much I would do if Happy Hannah got Mets. I was committed to quality and no more poking, prodding, etc. I did move the line a little and tried Metronomics for a very short time. She got a UTI, which can be a side effect, so I dropped it.
I did use Prednisone, some supplements, some light pain med if needed, etc. Yes, lethargy can be a "side effect" of mets, but that's NOT painful, thankfully. Just means you get more snuggly cuddling time😊 My Happy Hannah eventually developed a met "as big as a baseball" the Vet said, yet never developed a cough and she ALWAYS ate!
So yes, do get what may be an infection checked out and treated. An short term antibiotic certainly wouldn't hurt regardless.
Try "Pet Fresh" ....Nature's Fresh Grain Free Chicken Recipe. In the refrigerator section at Target and Whole Foods, and I'm sure other places, but definitely there. And yes, it's pricey.for a larger doggy.....as is everything! And of course, cheeseburgers and cheese pizza, topped off with some Cheetos and some stinky liverwurst!!!
Keep us posted and continue enjoying your boy!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
The vet said that i could get some eye ointment until i can get him to the vet. Im going to call his regular vet tomorrow and try to see if i can get him in tomorrow. I hope i can bc ik its really bothering him. So if it was an infection, that could be causing him to be so lethargic? Its really hard to get him up at all which is so weird even figuring that the cancer came back. It just seems very unusual and it would make me feel so much better to know hes feeling this way bc of an infection, not bc of the cancer. Either way i feel so bad for him 🙁 fingers crossed i can get him in tomorrow when i get off work.
Also benny, what kind of supplements did you give Hannah? Do you think they helped?
And idk if its the same thing but i do feed him fresh pet mixed with some homemade food and can you believe hes turning that down now?? Even with chicken broth poured in. He didnt want to eat that this morning but instead ate all of the plain orijen dry kibble i offered him. Hes a weirdo lol.
Also at brownie: not sure how to do the copy and paste thing lol. But his eye boogers started before i started him on the yunnan baiyao so idk. :/ i feel like it could be an infection unfortunately. 🙁 and the vet did mention getting eye drops when we went friday, but told me today to just get eye ointment instead.
I'm so sorry Louie's feeling badly and having the eye goop. Poor guy!
If this has only been a few days, I would start with the best case scenario and get the ointment. Find out how long it needs to take effect. If it doesn't work as it should (paws crossed it does!) then have your vet test for an internal infection. I'm not sure what diagnostics specifically, but am guessing that a blood panel would reveal any dramatic changes.
Some members in the past have reported eye goop started when lung mets got bad (see search results for "eye boogers" and "eye goop"), but I don't think you should panic and jump to that conclusion. If Louie's are still relatively small, the two probably aren't related.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Brownies Hollostic vet sent me some cough medicine called "breathe easier". I will let you know if it helps and maybe you can ask your vet. It was 60.00 for 100 tablets. You give 1 twice a day. So its reasonable, just hope it works.
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
Soo louie isnt doing good at all. I really underestimated how aggressive this cancer is. We went to his holistic vet yesterday, we did ozone therapy, she checked his temp, he had a slight fever. They did bloodwork and he had no sign of an infection. She said the fever could just be caused from the inflammation from the cancer. She also gave me a bunch of stuff to take home, some supplements and another homeopathic. He just keeps getting worse everyday. All he can do is lay around. Its such a struggle to get him up to go potty. Once he is up hes fine and can walk, even though hes very wobbly and weak. However, just a minute ago we tried to lift him up to go potty and he just yelped and yelped so we left him alone for now. I also noticed today that his feet are super swollen, which i didnt know could happen but it makes sense if his body is inflamed. So im figuring his feet are probably really hurting him and on top of that hes just so weak, he cant get up. One of the supplements the vet gave me she said will help with inflammation. Idk if it just needs time to kick in but i just dont know what to do. To me it seems as if he is just miserable. I gave him two of his pain/cough meds and hoping that will help. I just dont know how much time he has left and i dont know how to say goodbye, ive never dealt with a dog passing or having to put one down. For right now he is still eating some stuff so i guess thats a good sign. I just feel so bad for him and not sure what to do or how to know when and if i should end his suffering.
I'm really sorry to read this, I know it's tough being so uncertain about his situation and it feels like the world is on our shoulders. I wish I could give you a giant hug.
My best advice right now is to stay in contact with your vet about the treatment she prescribed. Ask how long it needs to work. If it doesn't work, is there a back up plan?
I would also consider calling a pet hospice service like Lap of Love to have Louie's quality of life assessed. These wonderful people are total saints, and they can give an objective opinion about where he is at. We are so close with our pets that it can be hard to tell when they are ready to get their wings. They are so stoic, and will do anything to hide their pain. Having a vet expert help you determine his quality of life will help you feel better about making any decisions right now.
Here's an article that I wrote about preparing for a time like this:
How to Prepare for Pet Loss Before It Happens
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi,
I was just thinking of you guys, and was wondering how that beautiful Louie Bear is doing?
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
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