If it were your dog?

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If you knew that your pooch had cancer, and was riddled with it...what choices would you make? Chemo? Surgery? or just love, and pain killers, with the reality of possible euthanasia? [img]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f142/PepsiChaser/Picture199.jpg[/img] Look at that cute face and how could you decide?

i love my dog to death ... SO much .. and he is very old with arthritis .. my mom takes care of him with love and all that she can to help him .. he isnt in a lot of pain so we arent thinking of putting him down ... if he is a lot of pain and no other alternative will work then maybe putting him down is the best. but i say explore all your options first.. and if you can afford it. a lot of that stuff is expensive. hope that helped

Ahhhhh....that a cute face, ain't it?I can't offer any advice, but I can say that i wish your dog the best!

I actually am not looking for help. I am more curious on how other people handle it. I know my decision...though at times I admit I question it...After all he has been the best male in my house ever!

I think I would just die on the spot. :-/

Cuteness has nothing to do with the matter. What do you mean by "riddled with cancer"?When it gets to the point that he's in intractable pain, you have to let him go. Meanwhile, lots of love and attention are in order, as well as whatever pain medication is necessary.I had a difficult situation with a cat, who I kept going through extraordinary means at a well equipped critical care animal hospital. Two weeks and many thousands of dollars later I had a cat who was suffering from multiple organ failure, and who suffered terribly for the duration of her care.I'm not telling you to just pull the plug. I'm just saying that whatever you do, do it for your dog. You have to keep his interests front and center.

I would have to say Peps that lots and lots of love and when the time came that his life wasn't the best as it had been, i would put him down, depending of course on the diagnosis from the doctors......sometimes we hang on to things cos its better for us.........I know you will have decided to do what you feel is the best thing, and if you think its the best thing, then for you it is cuddle

Riddled means he has it throughout his system. I don't know about in his lymph per say...but I do know that there are four obvious masses. One was deemed inoperable (by me), because of the location,chance of recovery, and cost. One was removed from his foot, since it would hang up and hurt him and since then, more have appeared. This was six months ago. He is happy, still full of life. Has only had 2 incidents that have concerned me about his current quality of life. And both were were over in minutes. One of the masses is on his spine, he got twisted wrong, and his rear end locked up, sitting on the floor, getting him in my lap, and rubbing his muscles proved a quick fix.He is also ten+ years old. He still runs a half mile every morning to go visit the boss. Still chases the ball for my daughters, and still jumps at his all time favorite thing of treeing raccoons. Currently, he is not on pain meds.Obviously, my decision is made, as long as he is happy, eating, and pain free he is gonna run this place. I pray that some night he just goes to sleep and doesn't wake up, though, he usually sleeps with "his girl". My youngest was born when he was six months old, and they have been inseparable. That would be hard on her.But if it gets too painful, or he stops eating, and stops being active, then, yes I will put him down. I guess I am more curios about how many people go through what you went through Steve. People often don't realize that something is wrong with an animal until it is too late. I have put out the money and have always found it futile, and more painful for the animal to become aggressive with treatment. Though, I have had great success when it was an injury instead of an illness.

That all sounds very reasonable.> People often don't realize that something is wrong with an animal until it is too late. My cat had a raging case of diabetes, but I didn't realize it until she started to get very sick. I was completely clueless. By the time she went to the vet, some of her organs were already quite damaged. Needless to say, I learned a lot about diabetes, and recognizing its symptoms.I think part of my motivation for going through such heroics was that I felt guilty about not knowing what was going on until it was too late.Then there were the many, many months that my father was so sick with cancer and the effects of treatment, but that's another story.

OMG Jenn,I got all teared up just from reading your post. I have a cat who is going on 17 years old. He is my bestest friend in the whole world. We have been thru so much and his love is so unconditional. I do not look forward to the day he passes on. It will be like losing a family member. I love falling asleep in the sun snuggling with him...You can tell your pup is full of life and love. he looks very happy and I know it will be a hard decision to fulfil. My prayers and thoughts go out to you and your family. I too pray that he goes to sleep one night and doesn't wake up. It would be a peaceful ending to a tragic thing.Big Bear hugs to you..

That's such a hard situation, Frank. If I was in your shoes and it got to the point my dog was always in pain, I would have to do what I felt was right by my little friend and have him/her put to sleep. But until than, much love would be given.hugs

My gosh. I didn't mean to make anyone cry!!! I was just wondering, what choices everyone else has/would make. I get guff here over not doing the surgery, but I think I made the right decision. There was plenty to consider.

The only guilt I have, is that he is SO spoiled now, and I wonder if he should have been this spoiled ALL of his life. But I doubt it. He had purpose with all the rules. Of all the animals I have had, he will be the irreplaceable one.

Riddled with cancer....there is no way I could put him through all the chemo and crap. If surgery was an option I would do that. Other than that, if he was riddled with cancer and the vet said putting him to sleep would be best, than I would definately do that.

Does that sound mean? :scream_cat: I am just not a big fan of suffering when you don't need to. God, I hate cancer.

Not at all. Though, the vet wanted to do more surgery, of course he would have made more $. I on the other hand looked at how the surgery could(and probably would) negatively affect him, and possibly kill him sooner, and opted out. Though, like I said I had the one on his foot removed. Six months after diagnosis, he is still a happy sport!

had a cat of about 18 years, a full blooded persian. One night she got up off the living room floor and couldnt walk straight and then she couldnt walk at all with in an hour, she laid by the bed in a towel over ngiht and the next day. After getting home from work and finding her alive, the food and water untouched that was put next to her and her not haivng moved an inch in all those hours, she was taken to the vet the next day.After an exam I was told she was full of cancer. Till minutes before she started falling down that first night she acted fine, never anything that ever gave reason to think something was or could be wrong. I got off easy, there was no choice to make, she was so far gone that she didnt even register a complaint with the vet examining her, she had no clue where she was or maybe even that she was at all.she had a heart beat and thats all and had been like thqat since she got dizzy that first night. She was put to sleep on the spot and I took her ass home and burried her that same day. Lucky it was this last summer and not now with the ground frozen and hard or shed be inthe garage till spring in a sealed box awaiting a thaw.Iv been thru it many other times where I had that choice with dogs.One was nearly 20 years old, a good fucking dog too and smart but would go to drink and her legs would just spread out sideways and she would scream all the way to the floor and then lay there with her head in a dish to drink. She had cataracs and arthritous, didnt eat worht shit and constantly dropped weight.I had her put to sleep.She was in constant pain and it would of been for me that she stayed alive. Its not right to put an animal thru that shit just to make yourself feel better about them not being dead.Ever watch "Of Mice and Men" ?the old black and white one was the best, or even read the book ?There is a scene in that where the old man is going outside to kill his old dog and has a speech about how old things need to die and atleast a dog has teh dignitey allowed to it to die on those terms instead of wasting away waiting to die waiting to be put out of its misery like he will be someday.go watch it, or read it and pretend that the speech he gives is my words If the dog isnt in pain and is happy, then let it go on till its bad time out wieghts its good times, then have it put to sleep.Chemo is bad shit and painful in its own sickening right, If its spread through the dogs entire body its not going to do anyhting but make it miserable from the time it starts till the time the poor dog eventually dies.

Till minutes before she started falling down that first night she acted fine, never anything that ever gave reason to think something was or could be wrong. The vet told me that cats instinctively do that as a form of self-preservation. If they look sick, they be much more likely to become the prey of another animal. Since dogs have a completely different social structure, they tend to display their illnesses more openly.

Yes, but with your cat doesn't diabetes display symptoms that a cat would have no control over? Like incessant thirst, or urination?Pain is something that ALL animals seem to hide until unbearable. I doubt that I would know that my pooch had an issue to this day, if it were not for the lumps OUTSIDE his body. Had it stayed say, inside his ribcage, and not on the outer bones, I don't think I would have known until it was bad.(like time to put him down bad)

Yes, but with your cat doesn't diabetes display symptoms that a cat would have no control over? Like incessant thirst, or urination?Yes. In retrospect, those symptoms were very clear. I was just not getting it at the time.> I doubt that I would know that my pooch had an issue to this day, if it were not for the lumps OUTSIDE his body.I had another cat who had a bump I noticed, on his chest. It turned out to be skin cancer, was removed, and never caused any problem afterwards. I don't know exactly what type of cancer it was, or how it would have progressed.Animals hide their pain to protect themselves. They don't know the difference between cancer, a sprain, or a wound. They just instinctively know that they have to be low-key about it.

You did mention that you learned a lot about diabetes because of the cat. That is one of the reasons that I have animals around for my children. There is a lot of life experience to be had by caring for them.One of the cancerous growths is on his rib, the other in the spine, another lump on his chest, and another on his leg. I wish it were skin cancer, I bet he would have years left if that were the case. I am going to check with the vet that my friends use, Pyles Of Smiles Samoyed Rescue and see if there is any homeopathic things I can use...I wonder why I didn't think of THAT sooner. Duh.

I could just cry. Today he had another lock up spell. He lets me rub it and he is on his feet in minutes. BUT MAN it is tough!Yesterday he was running around with the whole pack at the rescue, it was the bomb to see the puppy that he still has in him. Then to see how badly it hurt him today to try to stand up. Talk about difficult to balance. I feel guilty, like if I didn't let him play so hard yesterday, he wouldn't have locked up today.He loved his play time. Children, and about 20 other dogs. He was in heaven!