My dog with cancer

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My poor doggy Suzie has cancer. The vet says she will die but can’t say when. I am very sad about this, and I am seeking some solace and advice.

Advice first:
She no longer eats enough and has lost weight. I have been able to get her to eat a little by frying ground pork or beef. She will not eat boiled chicken. Do you have any advice for getting her to eat?

I will eventually have to put her to sleep. My plan is to wait until she no longer wants to walk with me and my wife. Does this seem reasonable?
She is horrified by the vet. Sadly I will have to put her to sleep eventually. There is a vet that makes house calls, but it’s a male, and Suzie has issues with men.

My wife says we should just take her to the vet, I think we should get the guy that makes house calls.

Solace:
I know I am supposed to provide some pictures so here you go.

In order to try to make this vaguely interesting here are some funny things about her.

She got her name either from a character from a Frank Zappa album (Suzie Cream
cheese) or a radio disk jockey (Suzie the Floozy).
I found her a week or two after the Olympics in Atlanta. I was cycling to work; she jumped out from behind a fire hydrant and chased me down the street. Although she see’s my wife and I on bicycles nearly every day and I have tried to stop it she still chases bicycles.

My house had just been burglarized so I threw her over my fence and went to work. She had puppy mange and so I had no idea how furry she would become.

When she was younger she was a bit of an escape artist but once she got out she would not go anywhere. Generally she would run around the house and wait for us to come home. When we bought our first house she escaped from our yard and walked to the place we use to rent (it was only a few blocks) and waited on the front porch.

She has always been pretty ferocious with strangers esp. men. But she has never bitten anyone except my brother in law. She was in the yard of my Dad’s house (I can’t remember why) and while we were away BIL (whom she had never met) decided it would be a good idea to climb over the fence into the yard. Suzie disagreed.

While we lived in Atlanta there were several boy dogs she really liked. Two in particular really got her worked up. They were rescued whippets. When we rented, we lived in an upstairs apartment, and numerous times she would realize they were being walked on the street although they had made no noise. It was really uncanny.

2

I’m so sorry, bannerrefugee we lost our dog to cancer last Oct.
Each owner has to make the call as to when it is time to say goodbye. For us it was when he couldn’t sleep, and did not want to eat any longer. Indy usually slept in the living room on the couch. That last night he came into the bedroom. We could tell he was having problems. In the morning we knew it was time.

As far as which vet goes, I vote for a vet he is familiar with and friendly with. I would not want my dog to be any more upset than he has to be.

3

I wonder if the vet would be comfortable with teaching you to give the shots yourself. Would that even be legal? It sure would be kind if we could make things as easy as possible for our companions when that time comes.

Sailboat

4

Ask your usual vet if she is willing to do a housecall when Suzie’s time comes. Most vets will do this for their regular clients.

5

Sorry about your dog :frowning: I think your decision as to when to put her down down is a good one.

6

Hang in there, bannerrefuge. I had to put down my very old kitty just a couple of weeks ago. Here’s what I did. I asked my vet for an oral sedative to give her before taking her to the vets office. They were glad to comply and I was able to take her there very nearly asleep. It was much easier on her and she left us very peacefully.

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I’m terribly sorry. I’m sure losing a dog must be such a hard thing, especially after all the things you’ve been through together.

I think Rick is right. You should try to find a vet Suzie’s must comfortable with and make sure she makes house calls, so at least she can be calm. Try to be with her for as much as you can, and I’m sure you’ll know when it’s time for her to go.

As for her eating, you should ask the vet, and she might give you a special dog food formula. Or try cooking up white rice and serve it warm with chicken; my own dog can never resist warm foods.

I hope you enjoy Suzie for the rest of the time she has.

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Thanks for the suggestion.

Actually I asked her about that. She said she was too busy-her practice is open from 9 until 9 so I kind of sympathize.

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That is a good idea. I might try that. Thanks

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I haven’t tried to give her warm food, in fact I have been careful to let it cool. I will give this a shot.

11

Warm foods smell more, and smell is very important for dogs.
Make sure the food’s not hot (I’d hate to see Suzie burn her nose or mouth) but just warm to the touch, like one would for a baby. When our last dog was in failing health, the vet strongly suggested that something warm may be more appealing.
(also, the more a food smells the more interested she may be… My dog loves canned tuna fish, which certainly has an interesting smell (especially when warmed in the micro for a few seconds) and is fairly soft and easy to eat and could be mixed with rice or mashed potatoes to add in some additional calories and bulk…

Do check with your vet though to see if high protein foods are a problem. (depends upon the nature of Suzie’s illness)

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My dog snarfs down food that I have put broth on. When I cook a roast or chicken in the slow cooker, I save the broth, cool it, then skim the fat. Both of my dogs LOVE it and would probably eat a pile of sawdust with that on it. That might be worth a try anyway.

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When I boiled the chicken I saved the broth, but so far I have not been able to get her to eat it. My other presumably healthy dog likes it though.

14

I am so sorry.

15

As a boy, my family had a beloved beagle that developed cancer. We had to put him to sleep. Making it sadder was the fact that he loved car rides. He was so visibly happy to be going out to the car for his last ride. :frowning:

16

I was going to suggest the same. When we had our cat put to sleep - nearly 20 years ago now - one of the vets came to our house to do it.

Alternately if that’s really not an option, would the regular vet be willing to give you a tranquilizer pill for Suzie so she doesn’t get so upset on the ride there? (or so upset when the male house-call vet comes to the house).

Sorry to hear Suzie is nearing that last bike chase. Scritches from the Zappa-Knig household for a good doggie.

17

I am so sorry bannerrefugee. I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now, but I’m positive Suzie is thrilled to have you at her side. And everyone else has given great advice, I hope that some of it will offer you some help. I only came in to add that whenever we’ve had any animals that were pretty much refusing to eat, they’d be given warmed canned milk from an eye dropper. It’s always seemed to gather their strength a bit for when they were ready to tackle solids again.

My thoughts are with you. {{{hugs}}}

18

I’m really sorry… We had to put our oldest dog, Asta, to sleep about two weeks ago - she had started to lose weight last May, and it turned out she had leukemia. The vet started telling us about putting her on chemo, but we thought that a 13 year old Golden Retriever deserved to live the rest of her life in peace, not on drugs to last an extra month or two…

She surprised us by seeming to be pain free and still herself right up until about two days before we had to put her to sleep. It was absolutely heartwrenching to make the decision, but it was the right one… Even though I wanted to keep her forever, we knew it was time

Finding out Asta was sick made every day with her more precious. Treasure every day you have with Suzie - for her sake and yours…

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Cat owner here, but my story is similar. My Stacie was diagnosed with cancer and given 4 to 6 weeks to live, which was quite a shock. Now it is eight weeks later, and it seems that things are coming to an end, I’m guessing within a week. It is hard to watch her decline and we want to be careful not to let her suffer. Finding that line is difficult, but everyone says “you’ll know when it’s time,” and I believe it.

Though she has been ill, we have still had wonderful times with our kitty, and you will with Suzie. Make the most of the time you have left with her, but don’t be hard on yourself for tending to your own life as well (it’s hard enough to go to work every day but going out for a movie afterwards can feel like a betrayal). All of us have limited time no matter what, so just do the best you can and feel good knowing that you saved Suzie from a cruel fate on the streets, and gave her many happy, healthy years.

As for the pre-vet sedative, that is a wonderful idea. I am definitely going to look into that for ours.

20

bannerrefugee, deepest sympathy.

No specific suggestions for food - they’re all to individual. Our Ethel (I know… :smack: ) loves cheese (we put her medicine in it!). She was diagnosed with lymphoma 10 months ago but we’ve been lucky - so far she’s holding her own with chemotherapy and you wouldn’t know she was ill - but one day the lumps are going to start growing again and we are going to have to make the same decision as you.

Thinking of you.