So the dog's oncologist said...what would you do?

[swandiverpatt]

So sorry to hear about your doggie.

Animals react to chemo differently than humans. We went the chemo route with my old-man cat, Max (we had a vet school at our local university). He was 15 at the time and had developed bowel cancer (discovered after exploratory surgery). They don't lose their hair and they don't appear to be nauseous, etc. I remember the first rounds it seemed Max was tired when he got home and would sleep (but he was a 15-year old cat, too ....)

He became the Miracle Cat at the clinic. He went into remission, moved to Florida with us (my husband called him the luckiest cat in Catdom and lived another 2 years before cancer reappeared.

It was expensive, but I never added it up. Just put it on the charge card and paid it off as I could.

I adopted two brother kitties about 6 years after we had to let Max go -- and I invested in pet insurance this time around.

 

[daisax]

I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of in considering expense as well as probable length of life and quality of life when making decisions for senior animals.

I had an 8 year old dog with more than one issue who deterioted quickly. $4000 in testing later, it was down to two probable conditions, and a $2000 test would tell us which condition it was. The treatment for the other condition was i.v. steroids, at well under $100.

I love that dog, and I didn't want to lose him, but I also couldn't financially endanger myself further, or spend money I didn't have to save a dog that already faced the possibility of cardiac death at any moment. And I had a 3 year old dog at home -- if I spent more money chasing a diagnosis/treatment on the first dog, and he only lived a few weeks, and then I had no money in case the 3 year old had something entirely fixable, say, a torn ligament or other expensive procedure, I would not be a responsible pet owner.

So I rolled the dice and tried the steroids and within a couple of hours he was up and walking around, thank God. A couple of years later and his 10th birthday is Monday!

All we can do is try our best, and try, as one poster said, to give them the best "now" they can have.

 

[Disney Doll]

Ted was 13. His personality started to change...not that he got nasty, but he just got "flat". One day he had what appeared to be a seizure and after that he didn't bark anymore. He also lost 10 lbs. over the course of a year. He also couldn't go to the right. If what he wanted was to the right, he would take 3 lefts to get there...it was like he had right-sided neglect. Wasn't active, started peeing in the house. That upset the dog terribly...he would do it and then look at us like "I don't know what happened" and look so sad and ashamed.Took him to our vet, she tried him on some meds for doggy Alzheimers...didn't do much. She thought he might have some kind of tumor, so she recommended a lot vet specialty clinic, highly regarded. As luck would have it, my nephew was an intern there, so that helped.

A very nice and experienced vet (30 years) looked at him, did an exam, they did an abdominal ultrasound to make sure there were no belly tumors which would account for the weight loss. Then he told us he was 90% sure Ted had a brain tumor, which, of course, as soon as he said the nurse in me kicked and said "Well, of course he does...the personality change, the no barking, the right sided neglect, the loss of bladder control, the decreased activity"...of course, the doggie mommy in me missed that for at least 3 months because I didn't want to "see" it. The vet said we could have an MRI of the head, but we saw no reason to put him through that when his symptoms were so clearly neurological.

So we kind of went with it for a few days, he didn't seem to be in pain, we all kind of "hung out", and then one day Ted gave me "the look"...the "I'm done Mom" look. And since I had always promised him that we wouldn't be selfish and make him suffer because we couldn't bear to let him go, we let him go.

Everyone always told me I would know when it was time to do that, and they were right. And it was the worst day of my life, bar none, but he had been a wonderful, devoted pet who ahd brought us years of joy and I owed it to him to repay that devotion. The saying in my signature in memory of ted says it all to me in terms of pet ownership.

Best of luck in making the right decisions.

 

[Feralpeg]

I would also say to have her put down. In the long run, how many years would she have if she did have the treatment? Is buying a little time worth what she will go through with all the tests and treatments. Unfortunately, we can't explain to them that we are trying to help them. They just know they are uncomfortable. Such a sad situation.

My Griffin will only be with me a couple more months. He is on three types of pain medication now. So far, he is fairly comfortable. I know that as soon as the cooler weather arrives, that will not be the case. He is 13 and I will not make him suffer no matter how much I will miss him.

Why can't our pets have long life spans? It would be so much better.

Hugs to you, OP!

 

[yoopermom]

This is an extremely personal decision, and whatever you end up doing, I hope you can find peace with it.

Only once did I let my heart overrule my head: my 14yo walker who was my life and love developed congestive heart failure, and I put her on ever increasing amounts of diuretics, got up with her multiple times throughout the night to let her out, helped her up when she was too weak to rise, etc. When the time finally came, she didn't even give a whimper, and the vet told me that was a sign of how weakened she really was. It really struck me that I should not have let it get to that point, that her quality of life was no longer there. Now, our 10yo beagle cross is exhibiting some of the same symptoms, and DH and I have agreed, no diuretics, and when she can't breath comfortably on her own, it'll be time.

Keep her comfortable and, when the time comes, give her peace.


Terri

 

[PlutoLuvr]

We just had to put our little Susie down a couple hours ago. Very, very similar situation. Tumor discovered a few months ago, which we attempted to manage with valium and phenobarbital. She was having seizures which we narrowed down to being a result of a brain tumor.

She was nine, and we could have gone with very aggressive and very risky surgery to remove it (for thousands of dollars we don't have), chemo and "hope," or just enjoy the time we have with her.

We went with enjoying the time we have with her.

Keep a journal. It's very hard when you live day in and day out to see the smaller things begin to go downhill. It was pretty clear to read how you diaried your dog's behavior three months ago to how he/she is behaving now.

Like others have said, you are your dog's voice and protector. Dogs don't understand prognoses and undergoing pain and frightening medical visits just to have another six months of life at best. You have to think about dignity, too. I'm kicking myself a little here and wondering if maybe we waited too long with our little Susie before sending her to Rainbow Bridge.

Best of luck with whatever you decide. It's really, really hard to love a pet so much and then have to say goodbye, whether it's now or in a couple weeks or a couple years. And it's extremely hard to watch them deteriorate over long periods of time due to something like cancer.

My husband just said a few minutes ago that if our other dog (we had two up until 3:30 this afternoon) had this sort of diagnosis that wasn't really treatable, he doesn't want to go through this sort of agony ever again (months of watching your pet deteriorate). Not sure if that might help in your decision-making. Interesting both husbands seem to be on the same page in that regard, eh?

Please keep us updated with whatever you decide to do, and lots and lots of warm thoughts going your way.

---

Disney Doll, your post helped me so much. I'm so glad I made myself get on the internet and look at Disney stuff.

 

[rowbear]

I feel like when you take them into your home you are making a promise to provide them with the best life you can. Best does not mean long.

I think the first question you have to ask yourself truthfully is whether or not she is an old dog. Forget age. Is she a dog that is showing herself to be of advanced years? This is important because if you do this surgery you are going to hurt some of that. Even if she fully recovers it is going to be a blow to her system. So the question is will some drop in quality of life rob her of a good life or was she doing really well before?

After that I would want to know how long she will be in pain after the surgery. What the mortality rate is and is this a condition that may return or cause other problems, side effects, etc.

 

[GSDRescuer]

I know how hard it is.

 

[DebIreland]

OP,

This is a terrible situation to find yourself in. I feel for you. I don't know what I would do. I guess the surgery route will bring with it quite a degree of unpleasantness for him in terms of testing and recuperation so that would all go against choosing that option, even if the cost wasn't an issue. As you say he's not young so it would be a risk. For now perhaps chemotherapy is worth a try and you could review again in a couple of months. If he's in pain before that though, you could intervene earlier. Good luck in your decision.

We just had to put our little Susie down a couple hours ago

I'm so sorry. I know you're hurting right now but take comfort in knowing that you made the compassionate and responsible choice.

since I had always promised him that we wouldn't be selfish and make him suffer because we couldn't bear to let him go, we let him go.

You were very brave and very kind to do that.