I’ve always been leery of the idea that animals don’t suffer the way people do. I think it’s that they just don’t show it the way people do. It’s in a dog’s nature to try to hide an injury and to trudge onward.
I made a vow as Bean got older that I would never let her live in pain just to gain a bit more time with her. Dogs don’t understand they’ll get better-- that discomfort now will make them healthier later. They just understand that they don’t feel good.
It’s not the money, God no. It’s all about her quality of life. I want my girl to be happy. It’s my duty as her fur-less foster mother to see to it that her life is healthy and pain-free, and to let her go peacefully when that is no longer possible. It’s a hard, cruel duty, but I assumed it when I took this creature into my care.
You are correct that it can be a hard, cruel duty, Lissa, but it is also a blessing. It is a gift I wish I could have given my mother as she suffered in her last months. You are very much in my thoughts - I am hoping for the best.
But remember, if it should come to that, it is a gift. You will suffer emotionally, but your friend will no longer be in pain and will be waiting at the Bridge.
Oh Lissa, I’m so sorry you have to go through this. If we all had our way, our pets would live to healthy, ripe old ages, and then die peacefully with no pain or suffering. I’m so sorry your dog has to go through this, and I’m so sorry for you too. Pets become like children to us, I know mine have. I have one human child, one dog child, and one cat child.
I hope things with you and Bean are okay.
Is Bean on Rimadyl? If so, it can cause elevated liver values. If that’s the cause, or part of it, taking her off it will help.
Maybe it IS just an infection or the Rimadyl or something else fixable! Don’t discount it.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about pets and chemotherapy. It IS NOT like the chemo that is done in humans. In humans, an attempt to completely get rid of the cancer is made. This means high doses of medications and/or radiation, which can have some pretty bad side effects. Considering the serious nature of cancer, though, the risks and side effects are considered to be worth it. With pets, the focus is more on achieving a remission, which considering how much shorter a dog’s or cat’s life is than a human’s, is a very reasonable goal. If you can stave off a cancer killing a pet for a year or two, that adds a significant amount of time to a pet’s life. Because the focus is different, much lower doses of medication are used, which means the side effects are much less likely to occur and to be less severe even if they do. We had chemotherapy done on our 9-year-old greyhound, JC. The oncology vet told us that the vast majority of pets do fine and have no major symptoms. About 15 percent do have symptoms like nausea and vomiting, and of that 15 percent, only 5 percent get it bad enough that they need medical treatment for it. So it’s really not bad, and doses can be adjusted if symptoms come up too. JC had 4 chemo treatments a month apart, and he did fine. Wasn’t sick from it for a single day. He also lived another 3 years - good, happy, active years. I also had a friend go through this with her dog. Hers wasn’t very hungry the day after his treatment, but then his appetite would rebound. He lived another year and a half - good, happy, active years. If you can afford the treatment, it is certainly worth looking into. Comparing animal chemo to human chemo is just not accurate.
The above is probably a moot point if it is liver cancer, though, as it is considered not to be treatable with chemotherapy. Fortunately it’s not typically a painful disease, though, so that’s something at least.
I’ll be thinking positive thoughts about Bean - the liver is an amazing organ that can absorb all kinds of insult, so the chances are good she CAN get better!
She is on Rimadyl, but she hadn’t been taking it for very long-- maybe a month or two. She’d been on another medication before that, but the name escapes me. The previous medication had seemed to be losing its effecacy, so the vet changed her over to Rimadyl.
That’s my fervent hope. The vet, too, said that the liver is one of the few organs which can regenerate, so if we can take care of the underlying problem, she may be able to heal. It’s just a matter of finding out what the cause is.
She’s now taking an antibiotic (in case it’s hepatitis) and a liver drug which the vet said has had really good results in other dogs.
Now it’s just a matter of waiting. I take her back for new blood tests on the 22nd of this month. If she doesn’t fall sick in the mean time, that is.
Tday, she’s been laying in another room-- avoiding me as she does when she doesn’t feel good. I went in to check on her a couple of times. No vomiting yet, so that’s a good sign.
It just sinks having a sick dog. You go off to work and forget about it for awhile, and secretly hope they’ll miraculously recover, and then each night you’re confronted with reality. Poor Copper the beagle vomited so much when he had cancer that he finally wouldn’t eat at all. He was 5 and it was gut-wrenching, literally for him and figuratively for us.
I know what you’re going through and hope all turns out well.
