Discussion
The day I'm sure most of us dread arrived for us on Wednesday, we had to let our 7.5 yr old Staffie go. I was away at the time so my wife had to do everything, absolutely gutted I couldn't say goodbye to him. Keep expecting him to come tottering up behind me. 
What I was dreading the most was telling our 4yr old that he wasn't coming home again but she simply asked "Did he leave me anything before he left ?" The innocence of youth, eh !
Sleep tight Harry
What I was dreading the most was telling our 4yr old that he wasn't coming home again but she simply asked "Did he leave me anything before he left ?" The innocence of youth, eh !
Sleep tight Harry
He'd not been well for about 6mths but nothing could be found, we put the initial vomiting down to food sensitivity as he was getting older and he then seemed fine on a Lamb and rice diet.
In Jan/Feb he started passing blood in his urine - lots of tests, scans and even a scope into his bladder at the referral hospital but again nothing could be found and it was classed as idiopathic renal haemorrhaging - as unpleasant as it was for us to look at it wasn't doing him any harm and his body was coping with the small blood loss so the vet wasn't concerned, we tried some dugs that lower the pressure inside the kidneys with a slight improvement then switched to a Chinese herbal remedy (Yunnan Bayiou) at the start of April that stopped the bleeding completely.
3 weeks ago he went really downhill, blood in his faeces, high temp, very low blood count and our local vets diagnosed auto immune anaemia (basically his immune system was killing off the red blood cells) they couldn't link it to his other problems and assumed he'd picked up some kind of bacterial infection (tests came back negative) he was kept on an immuno suppressant and some strong steroids (Prednisolone) which was working, he was happy, eating and his blood count was returning to the normal range but he became really weak and lost a lot of muscle mass over the last 2 weeks, nobody was too concerned as it's a common side effect of the steroid and he was by then, being weaned off them.
On Wed he was looking very distressed my wife said and had passed some really nasty stuff in his bed overnight (he never did this, even at the higher steroid doses that made him drink gallons of water he'd bark to be let out during the night) so straight to the vet, a scan later revealed a tumour in his stomach and nothing more could be done.
On thinking back now he seemed a little confused on the Sunday/Monday before I left maybe even a little scared - on Moday morning he'd disappeared upstairs - he always did this when I was getting ready to leave and would be lying on the runner at the foot of our bed, only this time he wasn't he was stood between the bed and the wall just staring at the bed, I now realise he couldn't jump up
He'd never shown any pain or complained throughout until his last scan the vet said, I'm just glad my wife was able to hold him until he went.
Sorry for the chapter and verse guys but maybe it'll help someone else who's dog shows similar symptoms in the future, what's clear now though is that all we've done since October is great the symptoms of the cancer and not the cancer itself. On the positive side we got an extra 6 mths with him and the vast majority of that time was comfortable with lots of happy memories.
Enjoy them while you can guys, it's pretty tough when they have to leave, it didn't really hit me until I got home yesterday but the house feels empty.
In Jan/Feb he started passing blood in his urine - lots of tests, scans and even a scope into his bladder at the referral hospital but again nothing could be found and it was classed as idiopathic renal haemorrhaging - as unpleasant as it was for us to look at it wasn't doing him any harm and his body was coping with the small blood loss so the vet wasn't concerned, we tried some dugs that lower the pressure inside the kidneys with a slight improvement then switched to a Chinese herbal remedy (Yunnan Bayiou) at the start of April that stopped the bleeding completely.
3 weeks ago he went really downhill, blood in his faeces, high temp, very low blood count and our local vets diagnosed auto immune anaemia (basically his immune system was killing off the red blood cells) they couldn't link it to his other problems and assumed he'd picked up some kind of bacterial infection (tests came back negative) he was kept on an immuno suppressant and some strong steroids (Prednisolone) which was working, he was happy, eating and his blood count was returning to the normal range but he became really weak and lost a lot of muscle mass over the last 2 weeks, nobody was too concerned as it's a common side effect of the steroid and he was by then, being weaned off them.
On Wed he was looking very distressed my wife said and had passed some really nasty stuff in his bed overnight (he never did this, even at the higher steroid doses that made him drink gallons of water he'd bark to be let out during the night) so straight to the vet, a scan later revealed a tumour in his stomach and nothing more could be done.
On thinking back now he seemed a little confused on the Sunday/Monday before I left maybe even a little scared - on Moday morning he'd disappeared upstairs - he always did this when I was getting ready to leave and would be lying on the runner at the foot of our bed, only this time he wasn't he was stood between the bed and the wall just staring at the bed, I now realise he couldn't jump up
He'd never shown any pain or complained throughout until his last scan the vet said, I'm just glad my wife was able to hold him until he went.
Sorry for the chapter and verse guys but maybe it'll help someone else who's dog shows similar symptoms in the future, what's clear now though is that all we've done since October is great the symptoms of the cancer and not the cancer itself. On the positive side we got an extra 6 mths with him and the vast majority of that time was comfortable with lots of happy memories.
Enjoy them while you can guys, it's pretty tough when they have to leave, it didn't really hit me until I got home yesterday but the house feels empty.
Edited by arcticGT on Sunday 22 May 09:57
Indeed. Unfortunately they "cope" so very well with major issues and just don't show signs until it is difficult to help them.
I don't want to hijack the thread as such, but there is a place that specialises in this kind of thing
http://www.balancedbeing.com/
I don't want to hijack the thread as such, but there is a place that specialises in this kind of thing
http://www.balancedbeing.com/
arcticGT said:
our local vets diagnosed auto immune anaemia (basically his immune system was killing off the red blood cells) they couldn't link it to his other problems and assumed he'd picked up some kind of bacterial infection (tests came back negative) he was kept on an immuno suppressant and some strong steroids (Prednisolone) which was working, he was happy, eating and his blood count was returning to the normal range but he became really weak and lost a lot of muscle mass over the last 2 weeks, nobody was too concerned as it's a common side effect of the steroid and he was by then, being weaned off them.
Edited by arcticGT on Sunday 22 May 09:57
Sam whippet has this - Immune Mediated Haemolytic Anaemia. He had the first episode last year, which he recovered from slowly. It recurred this year (almost a year to the day) and although we caught it earlier, it seems to have hit him harder this time. He has been given an ultrasound scan each time and they've found no signs of tumours, so they don't really know what is causing it.
Sorry again about Harry
arcticGT said:
ApOrbital said:
It's a bit dusty in here
It's been very dusty here for a while but starting to settle now. Feeling a little guilty about enjoying the extra freedom but I think in time we'll love another.arcticGT said:
Thanks guys. Anyone reading, give your pets extra hugs while you can and the next time they do something they're not meant to, don't moan too much at them. 
I just invited our little s
t onto the sofa for a quick hug.She's the second little s
t we've had as the first little st died suddenly nearly 3 years ago (there's a thread on here somewhere about that little st).But I miss the last little s
t and wouldn't be without the current little st.Sad to read this, a lot of us know how you feel, sorry for your loss.
arcticGT said:
I think in time we'll love another.
We never thought we would... But we came to the conclusion that there's so many Dogs out there in need of a home, and that we had a home that suited a Dog. We rescued one and although she's got her issues, she now as much a part of the family as Rosie (first little s
t) was.Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff