Hemangiosarcoma took my boy too soon

[readaboutdogs]

Was just reading your thread, just starting to "remember" all the little cute/silly just Cody stuff Cody did. He passed back in sept. when he died its like his death and the couple hours we were with him that day and his illness were all I could remember. The grip of it is still strong, but starting to think more of things that made him dear to me, just him being the free spirit he was, doing life the Toey Yo way. There'll never be another like him! So glad I was the one to get to share his life with on this earth and time!

[selzer]

It will be three years in March since I lost Arwen. There is something, every day that brings her to mind. She was my heart dog. She had hemangiosarcoma, but she did not suffer, she passed on her cot with a very peaceful expression. And it has gotten easier. But I still think about her all the time. No way could I name another Arwen, not yet, not now. She was truly one of a kind. I have others that are really special too, and when they go I will be just as devastated, but they cannot eclipse the place in my heart I have for her.

[Debbieg]

It will be 4 years in May that I lost Eli to hemangiosarcoma at age 8 and like Arwen he passed peacefully in his sleep. He was my angel dog through cancer, raising 4 kids through the teens years. He gave me so much more then I gave him. My needs were his commands and he lived to fulfill them. I think about all those nights, in pain from cancer , while my family slept, Eli sat up with me. And he never even let me know he was sick until he was gone.

Benny has my heart too, but there will always be a special place for Eli and other dogs who have been my special companions along the way.

I am grateful for a forum like this where people understand the bond.

[Kelli Cone]

Cancer took my Best Buddy Monday. I can't stop crying. Here is what happened... I hope it helps others know what to look for.. Better than I did.

Rio turned 8 in October. I knew you had the BMD and that was partially why I wanted to tell you. We had warning signs but not until it was too late. I spent the day crying and reading online, and actually discovered what I had missed and mistaken for other things. I think sometimes that makes you feel even worse, but one must educate herself. Rio was always fattish..... So, we passed some things off to that but we probably should have paid more attention other things. I switched his food shortly after Clyde died because he got real itchy. I thought he had developed an allergy to gluten or maybe whey so I looked for food for sensitive coats. I switched him to Iams for sensitive coats which had fish and no rice. He would get hot spots which was normal for him but went away quickly with hydrocortisone spray. But he got these weird scabby things that looked almost like pimples that had popped but had scabbed. They would heal up once I treated them but always come back and always in the same spots. I brushed him at least 4 times a week just to control the shedding so I knew his body really well and he never had those pimple things until about 4/5 months ago. I took him to the vet and they did scrapings and said he did not have a parasite so we thought it was the food. The change in food helped, but it did not clear up 100%. He had blood work and fecal and nothing came back weird so...... Apparently this is a symptom I missed. Again, he was always fattish... He was just a HUGE dog so when we would go for walks he got tired... More recently he couldn't make it around shaker lake behind our house. I had to stop with him several times and let him catch his breath. I thought it was his weight. He always got so excited about his walks.... And I figured it was good for him. But it appears now that he must have had pressure on his heart and lungs. He never complained to me never whimpered never acted out... Always so sweet and kind. The last month he had a real hard time coming up from the basement. Again, I thought cause those stairs are a litter steeper than the others in the house he had a hard time and we have the spindles out on half due to the remodel that he was maybe nervous about that. It turns out this tumor was about 15 to 18 lbs. That's a lot of weight to carry up the stairs with a bad heart and lungs. I think Larry kept him going for as long as he could, and he was happy to have him around. The last few days he did some weird stuff. He would come and look at me for no reason. I would ask him if he wanted to go out and he got excited and would go to the door, but not go just want to come back in and be with me. Always sitting by me... more than normal and sleeping on the hardwood floor next to my bed instead of on his bed at the foot of our bed. He would come sit by me while I was in the bathtub too which he only did during storms... This was all the time.... No storms. He was trying to tell me something was wrong. Friday / Saturday he started drinking tons of water...... tons ! Clyde started this too... The Dr. thought Clyde had diabetes, but those tests were inconclusive. Clyde had anxiety and we got him meds for that and once he did 4 months of anxiety meds (Clyde) he was fine and no more water issues. No more meds.... I thought maybe Christmas stressed Rio out. Hence the water and that it would pass, but it didn't so I watched him..... Closely. He went outside one time and ate a bunch of snow and threw up bile. Then the diarrhea started. So we did the chicken and rice thing which we did shortly after Larry came also. Rio ate some of Larry's chew bones and the next day we had a mess.. .I assumed the bones were the culprit, I was wrong. But I treated it and it passed in 4/5 days and all was well again... I was wrong apparently again.... Some posts show people who's dogs throw up after eating snow but it it is usually due to them eating snow and ice melt etc. this was not that at all. He was no where near it. Then, Saturday AM he drank water and stopped between the kitchen and the backdoor and just couldnt hold it anymore. I knew then we had a major issue. Rio had never ever ever had an accident and this wasn't a rebellion type (you have a new puppy issue) it was a mom, something is wrong issue. I have an online vet I have talked to for a long time and he is pretty good about calming me down. My parents took away my medical dictionary when I was a kid cause I had every person including myself diagnosed with an incurable illness....I had pinned all of these problems with mr. fatty down to either the puppy chew bones or allergies because Rio was young and healthy and there is no way he could have cancer.... But I was being defeated, and my Buddy was trying to tell me and I was too stubborn to listen. So after all that, I found a vet not ER or mine that was open on Sunday cause I just didn't think I could wait any longer. Turned out the Vet that was working that day was the Veterinary Oncologist at Case and regardless of the cat smell in the place I think the lady was good. Rio had also had back in Oct, a lump on his shoulder that I had the vet take a biopsy on that turned out to be a fatty tumor. I showed her this and she was concerned. I told her it seemed bigger to me that before. She said she couldn't get her fingers around it and it felt like it was in the muscle. I had made a habit of feeling Rio's tummy since the "Puppy bone" incident to see if I could feel the rawhide I just knew was still there cause he bowels never went back the way they should have been, and he never winced, but I felt what I thought was a fat glob ( not a vet clearly). I showed her this as well. When she felt it and went "Oh Dear".... She told me he had a football size tumor in the location of the spleen and liver and that was just what she could feel. Along with the symptoms she wanted to do an X ray to verify but needed the blood work to make sure he was okay for the anesthesia for the Xray. She said if he got worse to call her. She gave us some Tylan to put on his food to help the Diarrhea. That stuff tastes like crap. He turned up his nose at his chicken and rice. So I made him a hot dog bun with cheese and tried to hide the tylan in it and fed him in little pieces by hand. He looked at me and gave me the face of mama.... only cause you are asking me to do this will I do it.... He made it through a little more than 3/4 then said he just couldn't do it anymore. He slept through the night and the next morning he was happy and wagging his tail. I thought!!! WOW IBS! Then the water drinking again. He let Larry (the puppy) just abuse him that morning, and he usually just put his paw on Larry when he had had enough for the puppiness. So I pulled Larry back. Rio was so lethargic that even Larry couldn't make him perk up. With no tylan on his chicken he turned his nose up and then the drinking stopped too. By about 3 pm he hadn't really moved much and seemed like he knew me one min and the next he could barely hold open his eyes. Clydes Tumor ruptured and we knew it when it happened. This one took Rio's organs first, and the symptoms of bile diarrhea and vile vomit and excessive water is what tipped us. Not the big collapse that Clyde had. Thank goodness. I called the Dr. and the tests were still not back yet, but she said that she and I knew that regardless of the test would come back as and we really only needed to make our decision on how we wanted to handle the tumor. . I couldn't take him. I had just done it with Clyde and Rio was supposed to be with us for another 3-4 years. My husband said he would take him and asked if I trusted him to make the decision after talking to the Dr. again. I tried to justify to myself that I had to get my daughter from school and our young son just could not go cause it would be too much for him (why do we lie to ourselves??????) I was just a wimp! My husband was there when Rio went to sleep, but I wasn't. I feel so guilty and I cannot stop crying. I know it will come around and all will be okay, but I miss his big eyes and his gooshyness. I guess the moral of the story is don't be a wimp Kelli. Thanks for letting me get this out. It actually made me feel better.

[GSDLoverII]

You are not alone. We lost 2 to hemangiosarcoma within 1 year. They were both only a little over 10 years old.
It is devastating and it happens far too often with this breed, and it happens very suddenly.
I am so sorry for your loss.
Anybody who has been through this understands what you are going through.
Try not to feel guilty, you did the best you could.
With deepest sympathy.
Godspeed Rio
{{{Hugs}}]

[GSDLoverII]

And for Clyde too. I just reread your post and was a little confused but I gather you lost 2 dogs to hemangiosarcoma?
Again, I feel your pain and you are not alone.
Don't beat yourself up, you dealt with it the best you could and Rio was not alone when he died.

[Crazee4gsds]

So sorry for your loss. We lost our boy in September to hemangioscarma as well. I too missed very slight signs and he never let on until it was too late. So stoic and regal right up until the end. Just so difficult and the suddeness of it all.

[dakotachloe]

It's been over a year and a half since we lost Duncan and honestly not a day goes by without thinking of him and missing him. I still struggle with not replaying his death over and over in my head. His cancer didn't define who he was - such a sweet, gentle, big baby of a GS. I'm sorry to everyone here who loses a dog to Hemangiosarcoma. It's such an awful disease. Just know you are not alone and that there are many of us here who have experienced it, which doesn't make it better, but may help you to get through it and talk about your own experience.

[shepherdmom]

Originally Posted by dakotachloe

It's been over a year and a half since we lost Duncan and honestly not a day goes by without thinking of him and missing him. I still struggle with not replaying his death over and over in my head. His cancer didn't define who he was - such a sweet, gentle, big baby of a GS. I'm sorry to everyone here who loses a dog to Hemangiosarcoma. It's such an awful disease. Just know you are not alone and that there are many of us here who have experienced it, which doesn't make it better, but may help you to get through it and talk about your own experience.

I'm sorry for your loss. I feel for anyone who loses a dog no matter what the cause. We lost our boy to DM November 2011 and it still hurts and there is still a empty hole that can not be filled.

[Daisy]

My condolences for the loss of your beautiful Duncan. My GSD is only 4, but I tear up even now when I think of ever losing her. I pray you find peace and are able to remember him with joy.