Its always difficult for me to offer anything but sympathy when a beloved pet becomes ill- I do understand how difficult it is. I know that Lady is one lucky, lucky girl to be loved so much by her attentive mother, and I know she will be spoiled beyond belief for the rest of her life.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy Clark
To: CF-Community
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 12:26 PM
Subject: Bad news today
I don't have kids so my dog is my kid and I just got pretty bad news today.
A few months back, Lady started coughing. I have taken her to the vet a
number of times only to hear that nothing was wrong. Last week, I took her
in again since her cough had changed. After Xrays and an ultra sound today,
I finally have the diagnosis.
Lady has a tumor growing on the outside of her heart. The tumor is quite
large (almost 5 centimeters) and is causing her heart to leak a bit. Surgery
is not indicated since the chances of her surviving the surgery are very
slim. We don't know whether or not the tumor is cancerous and frankly, it
really doesn't matter because the results are going to be the same.
The leaking around her heart is going to increase and cause Congestive Heart
Failure. The vet said that this could happen in a few days, a few weeks or
a few months, that its hard to say. He gave me a listing of symptoms to
watch for to know when its time to say goodbye. So there's not much I can
do except love her and spoil her in the time we have left. Any other
treatments we could do would cause her more stress than it would help her.
The only thing I am going to do is weekly accupuncture treatments. Lady has
had them before and loves them (she thinks its an hour of straight petting).
My vet says that it will help keep her comfortable and as long as she enjoys
them, they will be helpful.
I'm sad about the fact that I'm going to lose her and I know the decisions I
am making are the ones that are best for her. I thought I would let everyone
know at the same time. Most of you have had time with her and know how
special she is to me. She is almost 12 now and she has been with me for
around 9 1/2 years. I know she and I have had a good run.
Just thought I would share, I'm typing this with tears in my eyes and just
looking for some support
Sandy
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