Author: margaret17

Hello everyone!  I am the doggie mom of two 11-year old pups, and it’s the bigger one who got cancer this summer, two lumps, soft-tissue sarcomas, on his left front leg.  We are one month out from his front leg amputation, and scheduled for chemo – or a check-up and then chemo if everything is ok – on September 11th.  Apparently the cancer is the aggressive kind, so even though the vets have found no trace of it, we need the chemo.  (There may be some there that our technology can’t detect.)  I’ve already gotten lots of helpful advice surfing this site, and have chatted with Jerry and Paula who reassured me that what I’m going through is normal.  My struggles are with:

eating (he’ll only eat what he wants: roast chicken, scrambled eggs, …),

peeing (he is drinking, thank heaven!, but peeing is a rarity),

pooping — really can’t do it anymore, so he just lies there & it comes out.  Today outside I helped him, got it all over both of us (it was runny because of his varied diet), had to give him a sponge bath because I’m not going to ask him to stand in the tub.

bathing (see above) – he’s really dirty since he falls down so much.

him allowing me to shove a pill down his throat every 12 hours — he used to let me do this.  Both of my dogs are too smart for the cheese ball thing, it just doesn’t work, so this has been my method.  Seems medieval, but they usually let me do it and that’s that.  These past few days, Tank’s jaw is clamped shut.  I’m never in danger, it’s just a struggle to get him to accept the pill.

& just plain walking.  He was able to for a bit, but now his back legs collapse a lot.  He has figured out how to hop, he is all right lying down (moving to a “down” position) as long as he’s on carpet or dirt.

I was going to make an appointment with a veterinary physical therapist & forgot – I’m a teacher, grades are due, I was observed on Friday (that’s a huge deal, your only chance to ensure you get a good bonus at the end of the year), and on top of everything Friday evening I caught the cold that’s going around and have been down for the count for three days, sleeping and barely tending to Tank’s needs.

SO, feeling overwhelmed.  He’s on rimadyl, 100mgs, I divide the pills & give them once every 12 hours with food.  They seem to help, and I think it’s going better now that I’ve divided them.  I’ve bought him a bark bed, which he’s not usually on, he prefers to stretch out on the carpet, but that’s okay, he has used it and I know he will in the future.  I also bought him boots and socks, put them on today and he refused to budge.  He lets me put them on but then won’t get up. I have a harness coming in the mail.  In the meantime he refuses the makeshift grocery bag harness I have used – hops away from it, slips out of it,… so there’s no way for me to help him pee.  Don’t know if I need feedback, unless you’ve been through some of this and have suggestions, mostly just need sympathy! I will make an appt with the therapist in Nashville so we get help where rehab is concerned.  Hopefully on the same day as our other appointment, since it’s a 2 hr trip to get there.  My doctors (oncologist & surgeon) are at the Nashville Vet Specialists clinic, they are all wonderful.

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