cavNrott

I am so sorry for your loss of Beau. Godspeed beautiful boy

Ah God love him, look at that pic of the boy. Jodi you sure have done something right. You've put everything into caring for him. Ollie's not going anywhere, he has it too good right where he is. Have you heard about the new drug for mast cell tumours? It's called Palladia. I was reading about it yesterday. Give the boy a from me.

I don't think I'm of much help either. I know very little about it and have no personal experience with insulinoma. I know it's a tumour of the pancreas and these tumours release a high level of insulin which will cause low blood sugar. A complete blood test will usually reveal this to be the case. I think it can be medically treated with Prednisone. I believe the tumour can be surgically removed depending on the opinion of the surgeon after xray and further investigations. If I were you I would ask to be referred to a vet specialist centre for an evaluation and assessment. They will be able to explain the condition to you and suggest treatment.

I am so very sorry Godspeed Cujo

You're not being a drama queen. I understand very well you being in a panic. I would be too. There's nothing more heartbreaking than seeing your dog in pain and knowing full well he will not recover from the condition. The thing is, a life with constant, severe pain doesn't offer any quality of life and life is about quality, especially for dogs because, as you know, they live in the moment. They don't have hope that they may feel better tomorrow. When will he have his kidneys tested? Sophie wasn't at all lethargic on Tramadol, I guess it affects each dog differently. She also had a full blood test every 3 weeks so we knew how her organs were coping. I wonder if it's worth speaking with your vet about a Fentanyl patch to reduce or perhaps eliminate the pain.

The website is a great idea. It's looking good Have you thought about stronger pain meds for Diesel? I found Tramadol was brilliant for Sophie. It kept her pain free and enjoying life. It can cause nausea though so she had Malaxon to cope with the nausea.

That's very sad news about Diesel. I'm so sorry such a young boy is nearing the end of his time. My thoughts are with you Nekhbet. I know just how painful it is to have to part with a loved dog. Please keep us up to date with how he is doing. In 10 days it will be a year since Sophie had to leave. I miss her so much and life is not what it was when I had my happy, laughing girl with me.

I have those days with Faith who is estimated to be around the 12-13 year old mark. A good age for a Rottweiler. She has bad hips and arthritis we treat with pain relief. Some days I think she's about had enough, then the next day she's bright and ready to go. We're limited to 10-15 minute walks lately. If Faith thinks she's walked for long enough she sits on the nature strip and we're stuck there until she's ready to get going again. Faith is my lovely rescue girl that Kaz kindly sent down to me 3 years ago. She's needed a few surgeries over the past 3 years, two of them in the last few weeks. Recently she had a corneal ulcer which refused to heal despite vet treatment and meds. Off we went to an eye specialist who operated and she healed beautifully within a few days. Last week she developed an abscess on her carnassial tooth so into surgery she went again, had two teeth extracted and she's now back to her bright and happy self. Faith has Cushings disease which mercifully, is in remission. Faith's not ready to go just yet and I enjoy every minute with this delightful old girl. She's a happy dog and has an attitude of calm confidence. I live in dread of the day she gives me the look that tells me she's had enough but for today she is happy and pain free so all is well.

I keep my girls on Cranberry tablets as a preventative. I give the 10kg girl 1 x 5000mg per day and the Rotty girl has 2 x 5000mg tablets per day. One with the morning meal and one with her evening meal.

Glucosamine Hcl has more bioavailablity for dogs. It has to do with the molecular structure. So is the sulphate harmful? The reason I ask is one of my kids has an autoimmune issue and the specialist asked me to check if what I was giving her was sulphate and if it was to stop it immediately. Interestingly, the tub was given to me by a friend whose mum was taking it but it was causing heart issues???? No the sulphate is in no way harmful. It's just that dogs metabolism is more receptive to the Hcl.

Glucosamine Hcl has more bioavailablity for dogs. It has to do with the molecular structure.

I am so sorry you are going through this. I know how heartbreaking it is watching your beloved dog nearing the end. Molly is a lucky girl to have you to love her so deeply. Thinking of you

I'll second that recommendation My lovely elderly Rotty, Faith had an eye ulcer our vet tried to cure, to no avail. After considerable expense, a general anaesthetic and a couple of failed attempts he referred us on to Simon who fixed Faith's eye and it cost around half the price I had already shelled out to my vet. All is well with Faith's eye now. Thanks Simon.

My Rottweiler, Sophie, was taking 3 x 100mg of Tramal each day for 9 months. She had osteosarcoma of the mandible. She was also taking Metoclopramide to prevent nausea. Sophie had no adverse reaction to the Tramadol. In fact I think without the Tramadol to mask her pain she probably would not have had the excellent quality of life she had right to the end and I would have lost her much sooner. Her appetite was excellent, she was playful, happy and pain free. Her temperament was as kind and gentle as it had always been. I have never had Tramadol myself but after seeing Sophie doing so well and the benefit she receive from it I would have no hesitation in giving it to any of my dogs to relieve severe pain. It seems your dog had an unusual reaction to the drug. Though I think it unusual for a vet to prescribe Tramal for an 'upset tummy'.

A rather arrogant statement from Chris Preston. There are other orthopaedic surgeons with equal or far more experience than he has. I would be rather peeved too. I would be asking my vet for a referral to Wing Tip Wong or to one of the otho specialists at the Melbourne Veterinary Specialists Centre in Glen Waverley for their opinion. I think it would be unusual to have an allergy to the titanium implant. Wing Tip Wong did the surgery on both knees of my dog. The first was done at 18 months and second one year later. We had no problems with the implants. We did have a minor problem with the second surgery that was due to my girl being allergic to the suture material they used. This was quickly and easily remedied. My dog was not left with any sign of a limp after she had recovered from either of her surgeries.

Bring the poor dogs inside the house. The Boxer is a young pup and since they're both short coated dogs they must be freezing outside in this weather. I also agree with Dogmad. I would never put my dogs outside to sleep. Neither would I rehome a rescue dog to anyone who wanted a dog to live out in the yard.

Would you mind expanding on the cancer causing compounds in Advance please. I would be very interested to know what those cancer causing compounds are. I don't feed it but the breeder had weaned one of my small breed pups on Advance Rehydrateable. I gradually changed him over to a BARF diet.

I'm so very sorry you lost your beloved boy Dogmad. You and he were meant to be together. I know the dark feeling of emptiness when a much loved dog passes on. Godspeed Herbie, fly free now sweet boy. :D

Oh how sad. What a beautiful old boy. Thinking of you Chewy.

Rest In Peace Scamp

I'm so sorry for your loss of this pretty little girl. Fly free little one.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. Godspeed Jedda.

Quote ^ from 25th November 2008, kindly posted by Tramissa to bring everyone up to date. Please people, read the posts following the original one before replying in the palliative care thread. Sadly this dog was pts 20th September 2008

Happy Birthday Ollie.

Godspeed Tyson