Cancer Updates
Colt was diagnosed with primary lung cancer on December 1st. Because of his age, it's location, etc. we elected to keep him going as long as possible, but to not ruin his remaining days recovering from a surgery for cancer that we probably could not have cured with the surgery. He had "days" to live, four months ago, and every day I wonder if it will be his last. As long has he still tries to snitch food and bark at the other dogs we keep him around. When he has a bad day, I cry a river thinking tomorrow would be his last day. Every morning, he has bounced back, but it can't last forever. He's nothing but skin, bones and a tumor the size of a football.
Dove had a lump in her breast a few years ago. We did a mastectomy of the two affected mammary glands at the time and hoped it would be curative. We also kept her pregnant as much as we felt humane as research has indicated the hormones would help protect her. In addition she LOVED having puppies, so even if it didn't help, we felt we were giving her the happiest life we could. We've been criticized by people for breeding her like we did who 1) didn't have all the information and 2) weren't actually in our shoes and 3) wasn't any of their business. We kept it to ourselves because it has no effect on her offspring, but nobody would want a pup out of a "cancer stricken" mother.
Shortly after Archer was whelped, we detected another tiny irregular lump. We nursed him until four weeks, then dried her up and she had a complete radical where we removed all of the remaining mammary glands followed by a spay (OHE) a few weeks later. This is not something most veterinarians would do, but we had the means to do it and the ability for aftercare. We actually "invented" a bandage that consisted of diapers, betadine and sugar, and two rolls of vet-wrap. We celebrated Christmas taking care of a post-operative Dove
She started loosing weight recently and I feared the cancer had spread. We ran some blood-work which indicated a gall stone problem, and the calcium level was normal. Calcium would be high if she had tumors. We hope to have her on the mend soon with special home-cook diet and some medications.
Dove had a lump in her breast a few years ago. We did a mastectomy of the two affected mammary glands at the time and hoped it would be curative. We also kept her pregnant as much as we felt humane as research has indicated the hormones would help protect her. In addition she LOVED having puppies, so even if it didn't help, we felt we were giving her the happiest life we could. We've been criticized by people for breeding her like we did who 1) didn't have all the information and 2) weren't actually in our shoes and 3) wasn't any of their business. We kept it to ourselves because it has no effect on her offspring, but nobody would want a pup out of a "cancer stricken" mother.
Shortly after Archer was whelped, we detected another tiny irregular lump. We nursed him until four weeks, then dried her up and she had a complete radical where we removed all of the remaining mammary glands followed by a spay (OHE) a few weeks later. This is not something most veterinarians would do, but we had the means to do it and the ability for aftercare. We actually "invented" a bandage that consisted of diapers, betadine and sugar, and two rolls of vet-wrap. We celebrated Christmas taking care of a post-operative Dove
She started loosing weight recently and I feared the cancer had spread. We ran some blood-work which indicated a gall stone problem, and the calcium level was normal. Calcium would be high if she had tumors. We hope to have her on the mend soon with special home-cook diet and some medications.
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