I understand the guilt but there is no guarantee that hormones would have helped either. Then there’s the financial costs too.
She seemed fine then went down rapidly. As Lozzy said hindsight is wonderful .
I’m currently going through the same thing with my beautiful Golden Retriever. She has been licking her paw for years. We, and the vet, thought it was probably arthritis. Now that she has been diagnosed with metastatic cancer I can’t help thinking maybe it started in the bones of her foot. There were all sorts of signs that, looking back, are obvious now. If only we had found it back then.
But “What ifs “ and “if onlys” don’t really help us in the present. We can’t go back and change things. We can only learn and move forward.
Grieve but be kind to yourself too Michelle.