It's a testament to the wonderfulness of dogs (and pets in general) that people continue to adopt them knowing full well that the animal will only live a short time. They give us unconditional love and devotion. Heart ache is our part of the deal.
Yes, the heartache cannot be denied. But as I've told SonofEva, their shorter lifespans also guarantee that we'll get to enjoy more than one of them in our lives.
littlek wrote:Ah, it was causing a limp? And hence the bloody paw?
Nope, totally unrelated. He came in with a chronic draining tract in a hind paw and during physical exam I noticed an irregularity in the surface of the muscles of his back. I took an incisional biopsy at the same time we worked on his foot, and it turned out to be a rare and very invasive neoplasm, curable only by surgery with very wide margins.
Very wide margins in his case would probably include spinal cord.
Saw him again this morning, hopefully for one of his last rechecks on his foot. It's taken us a good six weeks to get on top of it, but the vets before us had been working on it with no luck for four months before that. Nothing normal about the dog.
Boomer's thread reminded me this one was here, and it'd help me to update it.
We've had a good second wind here with Otis -- a lot longer than we expected. And then in November it snowed and we were amazed looking back that Otis made it to see another snow (he's a big fan of the white stuff) and his birthday (he was born on Thanksgiving Day in some unsuspecting good Samaritan's garage). And he kept right on trucking.
Last week, though, he started to look like he had a little less energy, and a quick feel showed that a couple of his nodes had got really big again. We don't want to go through any more chemo with Otis, and all this time on steroids has probably made his tumors resistant to most of the chemo drugs anyway, so we tried turning up the steroids, but he doesn't have a lot of reserve fortitude right now and they made him sick, so we're turning those down again.
His nodes did shrink a bit in the few days he was back on high doses, but they're still big, and god knows that the ones in his chest look like. But his appetite is still really good and he runs around like a happy fool at the park, so it's not time yet.
I'm so proud of what a little fighter he's been. Even as his body's gotten small and gray and weak, he's still a feisty little bastard, and he still does his best to look after his people and his puppy. The white coats gave him 1 to 2 months almost eight months ago now, and he's had a good summer (swimming) and a good winter (snow rolling and icicle eating) to show for it.
My big worry now is how his puppy's going to take it. She's only spent one day away from him since she was 7 weeks old. She doesn't know a world without him, poor girl.
I was wondering about Otis. Here's to more tasty icicles.
I'm so happy to hear Otis is still happy and feisty. Good job looking after him, Pdog.
Swimming and snow rolling, all good... what a good boy he's been.
He's sprawled out by the kitchen door trying to stay awake now. It's good to see him sleepy -- sometimes the steroids keep him awake, and I have to resort to pills (benadryl) to help him sleep. Which I don't like being in the habit of for him or for me, but drug-sleep is better than no-sleep.
He's really interested in the dressing cooling on the stove right now. Probably too rich for him, though...
The puppy will know when Otis time has come - for now you've got
some good days of grace left. Perhaps Otis is up to see the spring flowers...
I wish you two some more quality times together.
My Miranda thought Oscar was her mum, and had never been without her REAL mum, or Oscar, since she was born.
It's been almost a year and a half since he's been gone....and she is fine.
Mind you, when Oscar's sister was killed, he went into a decline, and did not begin to recover until Miranda arrived.
I guess worst case is you have to have a new pup?
Glad Otis and you have had all that good time together.
Hope he gets to enjoy Spring.
PD, I'm hoping that Otis's remaining time is comfortable, peaceful, and fun. Rooting for the three of you--Otis, you, and Otis's pup.
Good for Otis--and for you, Patiodog.
Hugs and belly rubs to Otis. Hugs to pdawg and Mrs. pdawg, too.
I didn't want to open this when I saw that it was updated... so nice to see good news!
He's lasted so much longer than expected and with such high quality of life... that's wonderful.
So, by way of late update...
Otis started to take a turn for the worse -- nervous about eating, having trouble swallowing -- again in February. His nodes were huge, and weren't responding to steroids. We'd stopped the steroids for a couple of months because the side effects were getting unbearable, and the dude had a good couple of months. So we put him to sleep before he started to really suffer again.
It was very, very hard -- hardest thing I've ever done, maybe. Taking him in, holding him for the catheter placement, giving him the IV anesthetic because he was terrified of my doc friend who was doing the deed. He tried to bite her, even, so we knew he really was starting to feel shitty again.
But I'm glad we didn't wait until he was awful again, until we wouldn't have any other choice. Would have been easier for us to decide, then, but it wouldn't have been easier on the dude. Miss him terribly.
We've got a new little guy, now. Another heeler mix -- dad was a red heeler, mom was an Aussie shepherd, he was born on a dairy farm in a litter of 6 (all boys) who ended up at a herding dog rescue near Milwaukee. Smart little bastard, and a terror. A lot like Otis (the heeler runs strong any time it's mixed), but much better adjusted... and maybe less soulful, too. But that's what happens to these kids who haven't run into any adversity in their lives.
His name's Yoda -- originally because his big Dorito ears stuck straight out to the side and his wide green eyes staring out at you. Now the ears stand up straight, but he's taken to talking in this raspy Yoda-voice when he wants something, so the name still fits.
And time crawls onward.
Hugs to you p-dawg. Otis had a great life with you and the mrs. Glad to hear you got another dog. I'd love to see a picture of Yoda.
One of the great joys (yes, joys) in life is spending it with a wonderful pet. Otis was, and Yoda is and will be. Hugs to you and the little Dickens.
Here's him at 2 months or so...
Here he is at the park yesterday...
He's remarkably attentive and learns tricks very quickly. Catching on to subtle nuances, though -- not really his thing.
Hugs and ear-tugs to the Pdawg pack.
I'm glad you could do that for Otis. Good patiodog.
~~~
It's hard not to
back at that 2nd photo of Yoda. He looks like he'd be fun to mess around with. His gloves are fantastic!
