My dog has Lymphoma - UPDATE Zoey has passed, may she rest in peace.

[mzrea]

My beloved dog has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. I fear it has been going on for quite some time. Her leg swelled about three weeks ago and I took her to the vet who thought it was probably just an injury. The leg was still swollen when I took her back to the Vet this past Monday because all of a sudden, like overnight she couldn't see and was walking into things . Her eyes had filled up with blood.

Zoey has been my constant companion for the last nine years. Where ever I was around the house, Zoey has been at my feet. We have spent the summers in the garden, countless hours of walking and exploring in the woods behind our house. I don't think I have ever been to the coop without her. Zoey is an excellent guard dog (some might say aggressive

) and never had a problem letting people know that this is her house and her people and no one is going to mess with that yet Zoey has never once harmed my chickens.

In the beginning of the week Zoey was so not herself that I feared I would have to make a very difficult decision within a very short amount of time. While we have chosen not to go the chemotherapy route, we did put her on steriods. The change after 4 doses has been remarkable. Her leg has gone down as have the lumps in her throat. She can see again!

I know she isn't cured and that we have just delayed the inevitable. Has anyone here been through this? How long will the steroids help Zoey?

My Zoey

God, please give me strength.

 

[gritsar]

I'm so sorry. I've been through it. My Charlie Girl (a wolfhound mix) started having trouble last May. As soon as we had the diagnosis of kidney cancer that had spread to her lungs, I wanted to go ahead and put her down; she was suffering so much. DH, however, wasn't ready to let go.
We kept her on steroids and pain meds. for two weeks and they helped alot at first, but the only way to get her to take her meds was to hide them in some hamburger. Once she stopped wanting to eat even hamburger, we let her go.

 

[verthandi]

I went through this in November with my sheltie. We went the prednisone route and he improved and had a good end of life. He was happy and more active than before he went on the medication and spent some good times with his younger girlfriend (another sheltie).But as gritsar said, once he stopped wanting to eat, I decided it was time. I only got two additional weeks with my guy, but he was also battling kidney failure, so the prednisone was a double edge sword. It lowered the levels on his blood work but was hard on his kidneys. From past incidents with lymphoma I know they can make it longer, as I had other one with just the lymphoma and we had 18 months more together and she was comfortable during that time. I'm sorry you are facing this....it so stinks. They become a part of us and it is hard to know that they are having health problems. I was lucky as my vet is great and would answer my questions directly, I did find I had to lead in with....would you do this treatment if it was your dog? And what am I really looking at for his quality of life? Best wishes to you, and I hope the medications work well for Zoey.

 

[brownlikewoah]

I just lost my girl to cancer on tuesday. The shots may give her a couple more weeks, so you can prepare yourself for it, you'll know when it is time, and we are lucky to have the option to help them along rather than watch them suffer. Spoil her while you've got her, make every dinner a great one and give her some extra love. I wish you luck with your girl, be brave.

 

[thebritt]

We went through this with our BC, Lucky. Symptoms appeared quickly - he went from always running from point A to point B to walking, and then just laying down - over the period of a couple days. We took him in for an exam, they drew blood, and gave us the diagnosis. The vet said, "I'm sorry", giving us the sign that there was no hope for an affordable "cure". She said some dogs can live for up to a year, but Lucky probably had a couple months. He died 2 weeks later.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. Sometimes all we can do is make our friend as comfortable as possible.

 

[Promiselandfarm]

I feel for you... The doxie my son rescued went to have his teeth checked out only to have to have most of them pulled(He is only 5) and found he had a tumor on his gonads and will have to have those removed also. However, one thing at a time money will only go so far. the teeth removal with the discount was 150++... Oh for love the things we do
Sorry for your heartache and your dogs suffering

 

[Slinkytoys]

Actually the chemo is much easier on dogs than people. I went the steriod route with my IW, she had a pretty good 6 more months. You will notice your dog drinking a lot more water and having to piddle more. The skin gets more sensitive, you will see a redder color and some extra dandruff. Pred is hard on the organs, but so is cancer. Good Luck with your fur friend, enjoy the extra time given to you.
Slinky

 

[mzrea]

Thank you for the replies. The support given on this forum is just one of the many reasons I love it here. I am so so happy for the extra time with Zoey and she will for sure be treated as royalty in our final days together. I just bought her her own pound of roast beef to eat with her medicine as well as some doggie ice creams. As you can see from her picture, she never lacked treats but now...can you say T-Bone?

. Everything will be done during the next how ever long to be sure that when Zoey passes, it will be with a smile on her face.

The only thing is, after crying my eyes out for the last four days, I feel almost giddy that she met me at the door today and smiled at me (yes, she always greets me at the door with this one sided lift a lip smile), that she can see me, that she is once again walking beside me to the chicken coop.....but I also know that before long my heart will be aching and my eyes overflowing with grief.

I love you Zoey.

 

[PandoraTaylor]

I am so sorry for your girl....

I went through a similar thing with my Sugar girl, we did the chemo & Steriods; it only worked for about 6 weeks, then nature and lymphoma took her. The steroids only help with it, they can't stop it.

It was not easy to loose her, She traveled with me from Alaska to Arizona, Nevada and back.

 

[mzrea]

Thank you God for blessing me with Zoey and for the time we had together. Thank you Zoey for the many years of companionship you gave me. Thank you for guarding our home. Thank you Zoey for just being you and teaching me the true meaning of unconditional love.