shepherds

Bindo. I haven't been on here much and have just read this and I am so very sorry for the loss of your beloved Lucy. RIP dear sweet girl.

Oh gwp4me, so very sorry to read about the loss of your beloved Struppie. In time I hope you can take some comfort from knowing you gave the fight everything you had and more and Struppie couldn't have asked for anything else. I wish you strength over the coming days and from one grieving owner to another there is nothing that can take away the pain of the loss, it is something we just have to endure and the price we pay for having and loving them so much....and in the end I know you would do it all over again for the joy and love that he brought you. RIP Struppie.

Sounds like a lovely start to your day.... Enjoy :)

No real words of use for you gwp4me, except I'm just so sorry you are having to go through this with your beloved Struppie. I'm still not convinced they all let us know when it's time, but I do believe when you are in tune with your animal and particularly having spent an intensive time nursing them as you have gwp4me, there does come a point when both your head and heart come together and knows what has to be done. Be kind to yourself gwp4me and give Struppie a hug from me.

Great to hear Lucy is doing so well Bindo....and sounds like your son did a great job looking after the zoo. Your holiday sounds lovely and just what is needed here...just need a build in babysitter.....kids do have their uses.... Now we will just sit a wait for the photo of the zoo...with Lucy front and center.... :)

How's Struppie doing gwp4me? Hope the past couple of weeks have been kind and Struppie still has the happy wag in his tail. Have you continued with the chemo and how's his appetite been? Did the antibiotics do the trick and hold? Levi is doing well thanks. He seems to have come back quite well (fingers crossed) from his geriatric vestibular episode and has since celebrated his 13th birthday :) I was in at the vets this earlier this week and she handed me a beautifully wrapped gift with a big K on the front and said do not open until you get home. It was a picture frame with Kobe's name down the side and a beautiful poem with a diamanté paw print embedded in the frame and more diamanté 's sprinkled across the poem. It's lovely. We spent a lot of time at the vets particularly as the IV'S took around 2-3 hours each week and she used to spoil him rotten every time we were there, with special privileges and treats to tempt him when his appetite was bad etc, but this gift was completely unexpected and bought me to tears ( yet again). When I rang to thank her, she just said your welcome, he was a very special boy.

That's is good news....and the ditto to stop reading stuff. :). While its good to be informed, one of the biggest challenges when living with a sick animal is being able to live each day as it comes and enjoy. I failed miserably at it...and probably my one biggest regret was not being able to let go of the stress and the worry and just enjoy more of the moments. Hope everything continues to go well for you and Boof.

Sorry to read this Wuffies, I hope your boy is continuing to recover well from the surgery. While I've not had direct experience with this myself, a close friends dog had this surgery at 12 years of age and lived another 12 months quite happily and healthily before passing away from unrelated causes.

Hello gwp4me and Bindo. Haven't been on DOL much of late, to be honest it's still a bit to fresh and painful as we adjust to life without Kobe. But that said you guys have not been far from my thoughts and I'm very happy to read that despite continued ups and downs gwp4me, Struppie is still here with you, continuing to defy the odds and has bounced back with a happy wag in his tail from the latest challenge. I agree with you and the vet about the food and anti cancer diet. That was always a huge battle ground with Kobe and if nothing else, I'm very very grateful that the last few weeks with Kobe after ditching the worst parts of the anti cancer diet and introducing the vitamin b shots, his appetite improved dramatically and it was lovely to have calm peaceful mealtimes and the old Kobe back, whinging in the kitchen again looking forward to his meals. They are part of my precious last memories. Bindo,...great to hear Lucy is also doing well and I look forward to reading her update. Long may Lucy and Struppie continue to fight the good fight

Thank you everyone for your words of comfort...they help.

So very very sorry for your loss. May the support of others here, help comfort you at this unbelievably sad time.

Probably should be putting something in rainbow bridge, but not up to doing that at the moment. And without hijacking anyone else's thread where we've talked about my boy, just wanted to let my fellow Dolers in here know that Kobe deteriorated very quickly over the last two days and we gave him his wings this morning. I'm overwhelmed and still reeling from the suddenness of it all and as I think someone else mentioned, the watching waiting, worrying is now over, but I've lost my beautiful man. ...I would do it all again in a heart beat, just to have that extra time. To everyone here, thank you for asking after him and for being part of your own difficult journey. Continue to love and do the things that make you happy today, because tomorrow is uncertain. My Life will not be the same without you in it Kobe.

Same, about 1 month ago woke up to find my eldest boy (nearly 13), barely able to move, staggering, eye flickering, etc etc. he has other health issues (degenerative myelopathy) and I seriously thought that was it. Some how he managed to get himself outside, promptly vomited everywhere and would take one steps and either collapse or fall over and couldn't get up...it was terrifying. By the time the vet got here he was able to stand unassisted. Vet diagnosed geriatric vestibular syndrome and we elected to nurse him over that weekend to see how he did. Gave him anti nausea meds. It took 4 days for the eye flickering to stop (each day it would be a bit slower) and the 4 days before I was comfortable enough that he could be left on his own without getting himself into trouble (falling over and getting stuck somehow). It has taken about the whole month to get back to where he was prior to the episode. I can certainly relate to how scared you would have been, it's horrifying. But ditto with leaving lights on (they are very disorientated), given my boy is fairly big I also used a harness to help steady him, assist him up and help him around corners, made sure food and water bowls were raised and I also had boots for his DM and they were great in helping him with stability and traction.

I hope Struppie has a good nights sleep with his belly full and you get the start you want to your working week.

Struppie sounds like he is the same position as what Kobe was, turning his nose up at everything, handfeeding to get them to try and eat (I would spend breakfast and dinner sitting on the floor and if he wouldnt take it out of my hand I was poking it in the side of his mouth). It was really really doing my head in, not to mention how stressful breakfast and dinner times became, always trying to think up new and exciting ways of what to try and feed him, then getting him to eat then the crashing disappointment and worry when he wouldnt. It was after I binned yet another home prepared meal (more or less like a shepherds pie for us humans), that no dog in its right mind would walk away from (and I dont think my cooking is that bad) and that was the 2nd day in a row with no food, after discussion with the vet we decided to try the vitamin B. As far as I know gwp4me, oral vitamin B (if it is the missing link and will help) will take far to long to get into his system and for it to build up enough for any effect. Orally it has to go through the gut, be digested to then be absorbed and going the oral route will take too long to build up what he needs and improve things for him. the 1st one we gave Kobe as I mentioned was IV and effect was almost instantaneous, got home from the vets and he ate a decent amount that night, with the next day normal appetite restored. Approx a week later the appetite started to go off again and over the course of two days disappeared. The next vitamin B was administered subcutaneous (as his veins are getting very very messy) and subcut it took 3 full days to kick in. Last vitamin B shot was last Friday night and by Monday his appetite was back to what it was after the IV B the week before. He is getting another subcut tomorrow which hopefully will maintain levels and if need be I will keep getting them done every other week. I did try to reintroduce pumpkin today, but hes not having a barr of it, but tonight happily ate chicken and our veggies mashed in together. I was following the no carbohydrate, no sugar cancer diet with him as well, but it has got to the point that I need him to eat and stop losing weight, so for now have made the decision to feed what he will eat. I did wrestle with that decision, but he needs food, he needs to keep things moving through and it is what it is...... How did your walk go?

Hi gwp4me Sounds like Struppie has a bit going on and you are more worried than usual, I hope you can continue to cheat things a lot longer. I think I mentioned I was having lots of food issues with Kobe. After two weeks of little eating and being very very fussy (even turned his nose up at fresh hot barbecue chicken) in desperation we gave him vitamin b, which seems to have worked wonders. He was given one two weeks ago (which was IV and the effect was almost instantaneous), one last week and will get another one tomorrow, (which are subcutaneous to save his veins which are getting a bit weary from the vitamin C IV's). While he still won't eat his vegetables, he is (touch wood and every other superstition you can think of) now happily eating his favourite things and looking for food and to be honest I can't remember the last time he did that. As I understand it, cancers affect vitamin B absorption which lack of it can have a big impact on appetite and nausea. Given as subcutaneous it does take two or three days to start kicking in and if Struppie is low in it, it might take a couple of shots. But I think it is well worth talking to your vet about, because I can't believe the change in Kobe. Vitamin B shots hurt, so my vet puts saline fluid in first, then puts the vitamin b shot in to the bubble of saline she has created under the skin (if that makes sense).

He is doing better thanks Kayla1, only a slight head tilt now and not quite as many spills, but he looks more like himself and is happy in himself. I hope Kayla is continuing to improve. You've had a lot on your plate with Coco's illness and passing and also managing Kayla at the same time. A big upheaval and adjustment for everyone and Im not surprised the house feels empty...it changes everything when we lose one of the family. I hope you are looking after yourself in amongst all of this.

So very sorry to read this, the loss of your beautiful girl. Just way to young and far to quickly, life is incredibly hard and unfair sometimes.

Good to hear Kayla is on the mend, it certainly knocks them around. Now Kayla has turned the corner, hopefully the rest of her recovery goes quickly and she is back to her usual best soon

Hi Bindo - following is the link to the website that produces the boots (you can see they have three different types) http://www.ruffwear.com/dog_boots You can't order directly from their website as they dont do international orders, but I found various suppliers in Australia and as I only wanted to order two boots for his rear feet, I ended up going with Canine Spirit (http://www.caninespirit.com.au/master_products/131) - the boots were here within 3 days and I got the grip trex ones which Im very very happy with. It was a little bit hard getting the size measurement right (its not how you think it would be...or maybe it was just me lol) - just follow the instructions on the ruff wear page and you should be okay. Levi doing much better today, not that he was actually invited, but come hell or high water he was going for a walk around the paddock this morning with the others, so we did a very small half a lap and he was happy. Kobe's ultrasound was also a good result - no obvious metastases to any of his major organs. So gotta be happy with that.

Oh dear.....Adi and Teddy :laugh: They so much look they are having a great time....is going to suck for you having to be the fun police....good luck with keeping those two quiet. And for Struppie.....that's got to have put a smile on your face.... Living in the moment and doing what he loves.

Great to hear Kayla is improving, my boy came down with the same thing on Friday and not having experienced it before it is very very frightening. Words escape me, but I just wanted to say how unfair life can be sometimes and given what you have been dealing with, with the loss of Coco and Kayla's illness, I hope you are hanging in there and managing okay.

It certainly sounds like you are giving him all the supportive supplements he needs and it's a buggar isn't it, trying to keep them within the limits of what they can do without further aggravating things. That's always been Levi's biggest downfall, he constantly gets his ambitions mixed up with his capabilities and always ends up the worse for it. Hope Adi is on the improve and Struppie is doing well.

So very sorry to hear this. My boy was diagnosed with inoperable aggressive rectal Adenocarcinoma last November. Whilst its not the same cancer, I have found Dr Barbara Fugere from All Natural Vet Care (sydney) to be absolutely brilliant in assisting with his care. We are using a mix of conventional and Eastern therapies on him which is all done by phone consult and support from my vet locally. Kobe's diagnosis was 3-4 months and we are now coming up to 5 months, with no apparent change in tumour size. I have also used Robert McDowell mixes for other dogs with great success and the staff there (Kate) are very helpful and knowledgable. There is also a holistic vet (Anne Neville) in Melbourne which others have used with success. I took Kobe to Melbourne to see the specialist and Anne, but Kobe had great difficulty with the liquid Chinese herbs prescribed by Anne and after other referrals and have ended up working with Dr Fugere. Both Barbara and Anne use traditional Chinese medicine and will provide diet recommendations based in the nature of the cancer and the constitution of the animal. They will all recommend a raw diet, some dogs will take to it like a duck to water....and others (like my Kobe) won't and its just a process of working through and doing what you can within the dogs limits. If you don't currently feed raw and intend on changing your girl over to it, I suggest you do it slowly over a period of a couple of weeks, to get her used to it. No doubt you are ony just starting to get your head around it all. I wish you and Laila every success as you begin this very difficult journey.

Thanks gwp4me..... Just can't seem to catch a break these days, have got Kobe eating again, reasonably consistent and happily then yesterday morning Levi has come down with apparent geriactric vestibular disease which with him having DM just makes everything that much worse. Have been able to manage him without a harness up until now but have been thinking about adding one to go with his boots. Hope everyone has a lovely relaxing weekend, enjoying the simple things in life with your four legged lot.