Show us your pets!

[jesvetmed]

Hi all... I've just been reading through several pages of this thread catching up on everyone's new pets, and the losses, also.

I've been pre-occupied by own dog's illness lately. Mac, my 11 yr old black lab, came down with cancer. Not just one, but TWO kinds... leave it to a vet's dog to manage that one.

We had to remove her spleen in an emergency surgery, as it was bleeding. She recovered very well, but then got more and more sore on her left leg. Turns out there is (presumably) another type of cancer in that bone in two places.

SO.... wow. What do you do with that? Well, we found a great pain control cocktail of meds, and she thinks she is still 2 yrs old again! That is really nice to see. And I think I will start a little chemo for her this week and see how she handles it -- it's only once every 3 wks for 4 treatments, and hopefully she'll have more comfort and prolonged survival if we do.

Wish her the best of luck! Dogs' spirits are truly amazing -- she is just still SO happy, it is unbelievable. Funny, as a vet I deal with this with clients and friends all the time, but this will be my first dog lost of my own (at least as an adult, away from mom and dad). I didn't get a dog till after I was 30 yrs old after leaving home.

Here she is from this winter!