STR | SocalTrailRiders.org

Blue Rat · 06-27-2008, 04:53 PM

A number of years back I had a very special Rottweiler named Tasha. She was about 7 years old and in the most perfect health. I had just returned home from a deployment to Afghanistan and had to put her in a kennel because my grandmother (back east) took ill with a very grim prognosis. Well things turned for the worse and I was fortunate to see my grandmother one last time before we buried her.

Upon returning home to Cali, I was very excited to pick up Tasha and start the "healing" process from losing my grandmother. In just a short few hours after getting home from the kennel Tasha starting acting very strange so I took her to an emergency vet. The diagnosis was Gastric dilatation-volvulus. GDV is also known as "bloat," "stomach torsion," or "twisted stomach. For those of you that don't know, I didn't, GDV is an extremely serious condition, and should be considered a life-threatening emergency when it occurs. Dogs can die of bloat within several hours. The vet advised me that there was a small chance that this GDV could be reversed but not to count on it. Once the stomach organ loses blood for any prolonged amount of time it can die.

The long and short of it was that even with emergency surgery (really expensive), Tasha's stomach organ had died from the lack of blood and there was nothing that could be done to save her life as she would eventually starve to death. All I could do was drive back to the vet's office and hold her in my arms as the euthanistic shots took their toll.

I have lots of pictures and countless memories of Tasha and I appreciate the fact that I was with her at her end. I would not have wanted her to suffer and even though it tore me up I would still chose to put her down to prevent any suffering.

To the original poster, you have a very difficult and heartfelt decision to make ... I feel for you and hope you and DiggerDog enjoy what ever time is left for you.

mottmcfly · 06-27-2008, 04:55 PM

we just went though cancer with a very dear cat. we decided to go with the chemo for a few reasons. the first the could almost guarentee remission for around 6 months. the second was that cats apparently deal with this kind of chemo completely different from humans. Almost no side effects at all. We generally agreed to move forward with the idea that as long as quality of life was good we would continue. well continue he did. A year and a half and until the very end you wouldnt have known he was sick.

This is an incredibly crappy thing you are going through and I wish I had no idea what it feels like. My heart really goes out to you and I pray things turn out well.

Mott

boboso · 06-27-2008, 05:39 PM

I will echo PainFreak's comments and think of the quality of life and what would be best for your friend... I am so sorry to hear this, cause I know it is hard... All the best.

chadster · 06-27-2008, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyIron

Enjoy what time you have with Diggerdog. I'm sure he appreciates your leadership and the things you do to make his life good.

Great advice. I'm nearing the end for my best buddy Mojo and it will be one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. Not much I wouldn't do to keep him healthy and happy, but because I can't, all I can do is know when it's time and be the leader he needs me to be.

PacMan · 06-27-2008, 08:11 PM

Sorry to hear it man. I know it's tough. A lot of us have been there before too. Unfortunately nothing we can say will really make it any better. Know that you have our sympathy though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by queenwilhelmina

Also, just because your dog is 10 years old, that doesn't mean "it's time." I had a Basset hound who lived to be almost 20, and their life span is said to be around 10-13 years.

Ya, but I think the point that was trying to be made was that at Digger's advanced age, it would be much harder on him. Not so much that "He had a good run, it's time to let him go". More of, he may be too old to come through it. Your Basset was obviously healthy.

mottmcfly · 06-27-2008, 08:51 PM

this is where we went when our cat was diagnosed. We have a lot of faith in these doctors.

http://www.pasadenavet.net/

Dr. Mott was amazing.

Lefty Kev · 06-27-2008, 09:00 PM

We lost one of our beloved dogs last year (bull terrier) to a brain tumor, aged 13 1/2 years. There hasn't been a day go by that I don't think about her. I feel your pain, my friend.

If you got this news from a 24 hour emergency pet hospital, I would urge you to go to your primary vet and get a second opinion. Some vets have a very cavalier attitude toward treatment and you owe it to yourself and your dog to pull out all the stops before making a decision.

The financial aspect makes it especially hard. What price do you put on love? We would have spent every last penny we had if it would have made a difference but she was too old and weak in the end to be a good candidate for surgery. Like you said, there's no percentage in putting him through chemo if it isn't going to improve his prognosis. It may only reduce the quality of the time he has left.

Ultimately, you will make the decision that is best for your dog, no matter how hard it might be.

Best wishes to you, I hope it all works out. Keep us posted on what you find out.

thistrailisntlegal? · 07-07-2008, 01:36 PM

Obviously my dog is very important to me so,thanks for the caring words, everybody! I just wanted to give an update, mostly for my own benefit.

I took diggerdog to my old vet in Orange, Dr. Wiatt. He was awesome throughout the ordeal, even to the point of clearing his schedule on a Sunday afternoon and performing an exploratory hours before he was supposed to leave for vacation. He was great but just as important, his staff was awesome too! I;m not sure why, but they pretty much gave my dog a make-over including cleanin his teeth while he was out, and they did not charge me for it!!

anyhow, the diagnosis. After pretty much convincing myself that i'd be losing a great dog, with some trepidation we went in to see the dr. He looked at the records that I had my vet in Santa Monica send over he quickly decided that the mass was not attached to the adrenal gland or the kidney, in fact he wasn't sure to what it was attached. 3 hours later I got a phone call saying that the mass was attached to his abdomen wall and samples were sent for testing. meanwhile, digger came home with me and rested. He seemed very happy and never lost his appetite or desire to walk, play, etc.

Here's a pic of the scar after one week

Finally, on Saturday, July 5 I got some good news(relatively speaking). The test results came back negative for cancer. The vet thinks that maybe somehting my dog ate somehow passed thru his intestines and was enclosed in the cystic mass. Right now I'm planning to leave the mass and monitor Digger because we're not really sure what would happen if we removed the mass. My dog seems very happy so I guess I'll play the waiting game...

Here's a pic of diggerdog the day of his operation, getting one last hike at the Oaks for a while.

boboso · 07-07-2008, 01:41 PM

Good news for sure... thanks for posting the follow up and keep us posted!

dirtvert · 07-07-2008, 01:46 PM

thanks for the update. that seems about as good as you could have hoped for. good luck for a continued recovery.

Nagaredama · 07-07-2008, 01:47 PM

Sounds like good news! Hopefully Digger will be around for some time to come!

mottmcfly · 07-07-2008, 02:29 PM

That is great news!! Thanks for that.

Mott

JimmyJ · 07-07-2008, 03:36 PM

Thanks for the update. I am glad to hear that Diggerdog does not have cancer. I just lost my Golden to an 11 month battle with Mast Cell cancer so I am relieved that he will not have to go through a similar ordeal.

I hope that he continues to live a happy life without any further complications. Golden's really are the best dogs!

JJ

Zippo · 07-07-2008, 03:48 PM

good news! thanks for the update, and best wishes to Digger Dog!

speckledtrout · 07-07-2008, 04:16 PM

3 cheers for DiggerDog!

Justin · 07-07-2008, 04:45 PM

awesome! so glad to hear things are looking up.

26'er Zen Master · 07-07-2008, 05:00 PM

way to go Digger dog I was opening this with much hesitation afraid of what the results were I am so glad to see he is doing well.

Evil Chocula · 07-07-2008, 05:32 PM

Dude- That's awesome, thanks for the update, and I'm super pumped you guys got some good news (knock on wood).

We had a scare with my dog last week (collapsed from pacreatitus, but gonna be fine) and it was a bad, bad day.

Shannon · 07-07-2008, 09:07 PM

Thanks for the update! So glad to hear he's gonna be okay.

drclark · 07-07-2008, 09:12 PM

Same here, glad to here Digger Dog is doing OK. Best of luck and speedy healing wishes to your pet.

drc

06-27-2008, 04:53 PM	#21 (permalink)
Blue Rat F.O.G.R.	A number of years back I had a very special Rottweiler named Tasha. She was about 7 years old and in the most perfect health. I had just returned home from a deployment to Afghanistan and had to put her in a kennel because my grandmother (back east) took ill with a very grim prognosis. Well things turned for the worse and I was fortunate to see my grandmother one last time before we buried her. Upon returning home to Cali, I was very excited to pick up Tasha and start the "healing" process from losing my grandmother. In just a short few hours after getting home from the kennel Tasha starting acting very strange so I took her to an emergency vet. The diagnosis was Gastric dilatation-volvulus. GDV is also known as "bloat," "stomach torsion," or "twisted stomach. For those of you that don't know, I didn't, GDV is an extremely serious condition, and should be considered a life-threatening emergency when it occurs. Dogs can die of bloat within several hours. The vet advised me that there was a small chance that this GDV could be reversed but not to count on it. Once the stomach organ loses blood for any prolonged amount of time it can die. The long and short of it was that even with emergency surgery (really expensive), Tasha's stomach organ had died from the lack of blood and there was nothing that could be done to save her life as she would eventually starve to death. All I could do was drive back to the vet's office and hold her in my arms as the euthanistic shots took their toll. I have lots of pictures and countless memories of Tasha and I appreciate the fact that I was with her at her end. I would not have wanted her to suffer and even though it tore me up I would still chose to put her down to prevent any suffering. To the original poster, you have a very difficult and heartfelt decision to make ... I feel for you and hope you and DiggerDog enjoy what ever time is left for you. __________________ "He's soft and he's fat and he's wearing my clothes and he's getting too old and he was born on my birthday and I'm afraid if I stop riding, he'll catch up with me." I. E. Bikes

06-27-2008, 04:55 PM	#22 (permalink)
mottmcfly Pro beginner	we just went though cancer with a very dear cat. we decided to go with the chemo for a few reasons. the first the could almost guarentee remission for around 6 months. the second was that cats apparently deal with this kind of chemo completely different from humans. Almost no side effects at all. We generally agreed to move forward with the idea that as long as quality of life was good we would continue. well continue he did. A year and a half and until the very end you wouldnt have known he was sick. This is an incredibly crappy thing you are going through and I wish I had no idea what it feels like. My heart really goes out to you and I pray things turn out well. Mott __________________ Matt13 "Dont I feel stupid..... I read the thread title, not once, but twice as "Our Reindeer Lives". And I thought, who the hell owns a reindeer????"

06-27-2008, 05:39 PM	#23 (permalink)
boboso Getting back on the bike.	I will echo PainFreak's comments and think of the quality of life and what would be best for your friend... I am so sorry to hear this, cause I know it is hard... All the best. __________________ "Welcome to All Things Scottish, if it's not Scottish, it's craaaapp!! Can I help ye?" - Stuart Rankin

06-27-2008, 08:51 PM	#26 (permalink)
mottmcfly Pro beginner	this is where we went when our cat was diagnosed. We have a lot of faith in these doctors. http://www.pasadenavet.net/ Dr. Mott was amazing. __________________ Matt13 "Dont I feel stupid..... I read the thread title, not once, but twice as "Our Reindeer Lives". And I thought, who the hell owns a reindeer????" Last edited by mottmcfly; 06-27-2008 at 09:08 PM. Reason: forgot something

06-27-2008, 09:00 PM	#27 (permalink)
Lefty Kev Exiled Brit	We lost one of our beloved dogs last year (bull terrier) to a brain tumor, aged 13 1/2 years. There hasn't been a day go by that I don't think about her. I feel your pain, my friend. If you got this news from a 24 hour emergency pet hospital, I would urge you to go to your primary vet and get a second opinion. Some vets have a very cavalier attitude toward treatment and you owe it to yourself and your dog to pull out all the stops before making a decision. The financial aspect makes it especially hard. What price do you put on love? We would have spent every last penny we had if it would have made a difference but she was too old and weak in the end to be a good candidate for surgery. Like you said, there's no percentage in putting him through chemo if it isn't going to improve his prognosis. It may only reduce the quality of the time he has left. Ultimately, you will make the decision that is best for your dog, no matter how hard it might be. Best wishes to you, I hope it all works out. Keep us posted on what you find out. __________________ "Britain and America...two great nations divided by the same language." -- Winston Churchill

07-07-2008, 01:36 PM	#28 (permalink)
thistrailisntlegal? Senior Member	Obviously my dog is very important to me so,thanks for the caring words, everybody! I just wanted to give an update, mostly for my own benefit. I took diggerdog to my old vet in Orange, Dr. Wiatt. He was awesome throughout the ordeal, even to the point of clearing his schedule on a Sunday afternoon and performing an exploratory hours before he was supposed to leave for vacation. He was great but just as important, his staff was awesome too! I;m not sure why, but they pretty much gave my dog a make-over including cleanin his teeth while he was out, and they did not charge me for it!! anyhow, the diagnosis. After pretty much convincing myself that i'd be losing a great dog, with some trepidation we went in to see the dr. He looked at the records that I had my vet in Santa Monica send over he quickly decided that the mass was not attached to the adrenal gland or the kidney, in fact he wasn't sure to what it was attached. 3 hours later I got a phone call saying that the mass was attached to his abdomen wall and samples were sent for testing. meanwhile, digger came home with me and rested. He seemed very happy and never lost his appetite or desire to walk, play, etc. Here's a pic of the scar after one week Finally, on Saturday, July 5 I got some good news(relatively speaking). The test results came back negative for cancer. The vet thinks that maybe somehting my dog ate somehow passed thru his intestines and was enclosed in the cystic mass. Right now I'm planning to leave the mass and monitor Digger because we're not really sure what would happen if we removed the mass. My dog seems very happy so I guess I'll play the waiting game... Here's a pic of diggerdog the day of his operation, getting one last hike at the Oaks for a while.

07-07-2008, 01:41 PM	#29 (permalink)
boboso Getting back on the bike.	Good news for sure... thanks for posting the follow up and keep us posted! __________________ "Welcome to All Things Scottish, if it's not Scottish, it's craaaapp!! Can I help ye?" - Stuart Rankin

07-07-2008, 01:46 PM	#30 (permalink)
dirtvert Banned	thanks for the update. that seems about as good as you could have hoped for. good luck for a continued recovery.

07-07-2008, 01:47 PM	#31 (permalink)
Nagaredama	Sounds like good news! Hopefully Digger will be around for some time to come!

07-07-2008, 02:29 PM	#32 (permalink)
mottmcfly Pro beginner	That is great news!! Thanks for that. Mott __________________ Matt13 "Dont I feel stupid..... I read the thread title, not once, but twice as "Our Reindeer Lives". And I thought, who the hell owns a reindeer????"

07-07-2008, 03:36 PM	#33 (permalink)
JimmyJ Member	Thanks for the update. I am glad to hear that Diggerdog does not have cancer. I just lost my Golden to an 11 month battle with Mast Cell cancer so I am relieved that he will not have to go through a similar ordeal. I hope that he continues to live a happy life without any further complications. Golden's really are the best dogs! JJ

07-07-2008, 03:48 PM	#34 (permalink)
Zippo Thrashed Masher	good news! thanks for the update, and best wishes to Digger Dog! __________________ Vertigo I can handle alright — It's horizonto that drives me nuts.

07-07-2008, 04:16 PM	#35 (permalink)
speckledtrout STR Veteran	3 cheers for DiggerDog!

07-07-2008, 04:45 PM	#36 (permalink)
Justin I fall a lot	awesome! so glad to hear things are looking up.

07-07-2008, 05:32 PM	#38 (permalink)
Evil Chocula ah buh bye now	Dude- That's awesome, thanks for the update, and I'm super pumped you guys got some good news (knock on wood). We had a scare with my dog last week (collapsed from pacreatitus, but gonna be fine) and it was a bad, bad day. __________________ Gone for good. PEACE.

07-07-2008, 09:07 PM	#39 (permalink)
Shannon Harvest Widow	Thanks for the update! So glad to hear he's gonna be okay.

07-07-2008, 09:12 PM	#40 (permalink)
drclark I aim to misbehave	Same here, glad to here Digger Dog is doing OK. Best of luck and speedy healing wishes to your pet. drc

STR | SocalTrailRiders.org

Your Southern CaliforniaMountain Biking Community

Your Southern California
Mountain Biking Community