My dear Kuvasz Kodi has been diagnosed with osteocarcinoma.

Be glad Mr K, be very glad that Kodi died as she did and feel no guilt about the fact you were not there.

Dogs and horses and sheep die this way and it's fast and painless. It can happen any time and you cannot be there all the time. ..... Death from cancer is a horrifying thing with monstrously painful suffering. Pray that nobody you love ever has to go through it, please think about what I say even if I don't express it well.

Your little loved Kodi is now forever in the great green plains in the sky. May we all be so lucky in our exits.

Beautiful eulogy. Thank you. By and by, you never mentioned what was on the Kodi-going-to-the-vet CD (or, I might have missed it?)

I know this post was a while ago, but I ran across it when I was searching osteocarcinoma. My dear Molly was diagnosed today and it has already started to spread to her chest. I am completely devastated. Just like Kodi, she started limping and I took her to our Vet and they did x-rays. She has a pretty good sized tumor in her upper left shoulder. She's almost eleven and at first the Vet just thought it was Arthritis and was very impressed at how stoic she was during the pressure tests he had done in the exam room to rule out a fracture. She never let on to the pain, which is why he was so surprised when he viewed the films and saw the tumor. He said he never expected to see that. But, that is just a tribute to how wonderful she is. She probably just didn't want me to worry.

Can you tell me, how were you treating Kodi? Were you giving her meds for pain management? Had her cancer spread like Molly's has? I am at such a loss right now and any information from someone who has experienced this would help.

Thank you.

oh, kadox, i am so sorry for molly and you. please give her a sweet hug for me.

i would like to offer what i have learned about kodi and share it with you. the first thing is to please take molly to the closest university vet school. while there ae wonderful local vets who have seen osteocarcinoma in dogs, a vet school is staffed with ocologists who specialize in just this sort of disease. you will likely spend $600-900 on her first visit, mostly for the biopsy, x-ray and blood work, after which you will be given a choice on how to procede.

if the vet thinks the tumor can be excised you might be lucky and remove the growth before it metasizes and spreads out from the leg. if not you will be able to use radiation therapy using small doses of raditiation to slow further growth and if lucky arrest any more damage to the leg. there are also drugs, that actually act to fortify the bone by binding up the calcium and an actual side affect is that it can kill off the cancer cells.

i started the radiation within days of kodi's diagonsis and it took about 5 weeks in total going every 7-10 days for it. with a cost of about $300 per visit after that the vet might give her a sedative after the radiation therapy and molly will likely be lethargic for a few days. to ease molly's pain the vet could prescribe "Lortab," a mix of tylenol and morphine derivative that will work effectively.

if you can do it, build a ramp over your steps to allow molly an even way to ascend the stairs because raising her leg to step up will cause her pain. you can also get a car ramp from a pet store and let her walk up the ramp to your car. anything you can do to make it eaier for her to walk can be done.

the radiation is about the best one can do for molly and it will generally not cure her but it will ease her pain and prolong her life by about 5-6 months.

molly will be given x-rays during each visit to see if the cancer is slowing or god hopefully stopped.

the one thing i want to mention again is that if you want molly to improve do not rely on your local vet please go to a vet school.

at 11 molly might be too old for amputation and the vet will likely advise against it unless molly is a small dog.

take care of yourself and molly, PM me if you want to talk further.

Dear Kuvasz
by sheer chance I happened to read of the awful loss you experienced with your lovely dog a while back. Prior to my retirement ( through age 79) I had a farm in West Australia and had a lot of problems with stray dogs killing our sheep.. Some of the sheep were pets and it was terribly distressing to see them with half their entrails hanging out and caused by others pet dogs but which were allowed to roam. ( I was entitled by law to shoot any attacking dogs but am not that sort of bloke )

We saw on T.V. a documentary on Maremmas detailing the wonderful way that they will bond with sheep ( plus some other animals ) and decided rather than shoot marauding dogs we would buy a Maremma.

Our first Maremma we called " Buddy " .... we bonded him,( whilst still a pup ) with the sheep and he became an absolutely wonderful pet and a wonderful guard dog...

Buddy, at three years of age was bitten by a Tiger snake one evening and died in my arms 10 minutes later.... He resembled very closely your own dogs and I seem to think he is of a similar breed.

Unfortunately I dont know how to send you a photo /s as he was a beautiful dog and I never ever thought I would /could be so upset at losing him.. My wife was equally affected.

I more than understand your distresss at losing your dog and wondered if you have ever seen or been associated with Maremmas.. They are wonderful dogs with children and will guard the animals with which they are bonded with their life....

If you are interested and tell me how to do it I am more than happy to send you a couple of photos. One of the photos actually won an Australia wide competition and figured in the Australia Dog Magazine.

I trust that by now you have replaced your dog but am confident that, like us, you will never forget the dog that you lost .... Sincere regards..... Wattsie.

( Take no notice of my posts you may have read in another article.... In this matter I am absolutely serious )