Re: Gary - anemia

[PEC2851]

Jill, My heart goes out to you.......... I too believe in the "quality" of life. It's such a hard decision, a very personal one.   When my first Rottie was diagnosed w/ Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia, I chose to treat it very agressively. We worked w/ an oncologist and a number of other vets. It was one transfusion after another (Bear was a big boy, 138 lbs). We did the chemo route. We were @ the vets every other day for monitoring, tests etc. At one point he was taking 24 pills a day! After 3 months, he finally looked at me w/ his soulful brown eyes and I knew he was telling me he had had "enough". At this point, his whole mouth was ulcerated from the drugs, he could barely walk, I had to force feed him.......... He weighed less than 85 lbs. In retrospect, I was selfish. I couldn't "let go". I also depleted my entire retirement acct. for cost of treatment. (And, NO, I don't regret that. I felt that if there was ANY chance, every penny would have been well worth it). But because of "my" selfishness, I put him thru hell. All in the name of love. Letting him go was the hardest thing I've ever done. But it wasn't fair to my boy to keep him going......he had no life really.   After Bear, I made a promise to myself and all the other furkids that came into my life that I would put them first. And, there were decisions that had to be made over the years...... Jesse,w/ pancreatic cancer, My PeeWee, also a victim of anemia, precious Magpie I - FIP, Ethan, my precious Felv+ baby,lymphosarcoma,Oscar, cancer in his sinuses and my lifelong companion, Duke, 19 years old, blind, deaf, renal failure. It was never an easy choice, but I always remembered Bear..... and the promise I made.   God bless you. Patti