Montage

Glad to hear that good news!

Update: Well the ultrasound has come back. The good news is that tumour is not on Isa's heart. The bad news is they couldn't determine type of cancer/tumour because the lungs were in the way of the u/sound. I was given the choice of going for a CT scan or MRI which would give us more of an idea of what we're dealing with. I have decided against all these tests because I am not putting a dog of her age through chemotherapy and surgery, if she was younger I'd want this treated more aggressively. She's been slowing down a lot over the last 12 months and I think what Isa deserves is to be comfortable. She is on oral steriods which we've been told can halt the tumour growth. There may be side effects and the dosage may need to be changed. This has been a very difficult decision for me and I want to thank all of you on here who have offered me support through this.

I started another thread a few months ago. We took Baxter in for a check up and I mentioned one of his back legs was a bit sore. The vet strongly encouraged us to have our puppies hip x-rayed and started pushing the procedure onto us. We immediately got another opinion and there is NOTHING wrong with our dogs hips. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same clinic.

Thank you so much for the kind words. I guess we'll just have to take this one day at a time. If this is the worst case scenario then I'm grateful to have had 13 years with her which is more than some people. It's just breaking my heart to see her coughing like this.

My 13 and a half year old SBT has had a really rough 12 months. She was diagnosed with Grade 2 mast cell carcinomas in August last year has had two rounds of surgery but for 8 months there has been no sign of any more tumours. She's slowed down a lot but she's still very active for a dog of her age and loves her walks, cuddles and most of all, food. We were hoping she'd still be with us for a few more years. Unfortunately for the last three days she's been coughing a lot, mainly in the mornings after exertion so we took her to the vet. A chest x-ray has picked up some sort of growth in her mediastinum (chest cavity). They are unsure of what it is and she needs a special ultrasound. The vet said the best outcome would just be an enlarged thymus gland but warned us it could be nasty. I've had Isa for 13 years and I can't imagine life without her. I can't stop crying and I'm getting married in 6 weeks and don't even want to go through with it now with this happening.

There's a current ad that gave me a good laugh because the breeder is obviously taking the piss out of the blue SBT breeders. The ad states 'rare coloured puppies' ......they are black/brindle so getting rarer by the minute! Goes on to describe that they are bred for improving the breed not the bank account. Love it.

I can see the appeal but at the end of the day give me a healthy dog that has been bred for quality NOT colour. I prefer brindle SBT anyway Some of the ads for blue SBT advertised here on DOL tick every box in RSG list.

You shouldn't be providing someone elses dog with medication unless you're qualified to make that judgement. Unless of course you're happy to take responsibility if the dog dies.

I just hope that this doesn't impact on us getting pet insurance. If Baxter does not have a problem now but later on in life gets arthritis will this mean it's a pre-existing condition?

These were taken yesterday, he's now 17 weeks old. As you can see he's mastered the 'I'm a big sook' expression

I think there are probably quite a few of us like that. I've got an old girl across the road who lets her dog out to shit on other people's lawns. It's really bloody annoying. I'd be returning their dog poo through their letterbox with a little note saying 'I believe this belongs to you'.

Believe me I had alarm bells going off in my head as soon as this vet started talking about it. They did not ask to see Baxter walk or anything. The other vet did a much thorough examination and said there were no signs of luxtation. So here I have a dog that does not limp, can run with no difficulty and simply because he wiggled when they extended their back leg they want to put him under sedation and are talking about surgery already? . Ummm thanks but no thanks. I feel really uncomfortable going back to this place now.

Maybe try leaving it generic and say something like 'I feel that our dogs didn't really get along that well and I found it hard to relax and enjoy the BBQ'. That way you're not apportioning blame to their dogs and less likely to cause offense.

All I can say is don't visit Paris! We live opposite a park that also provides poo bags and bins but you still see people not cleaning up after their dogs. There's no excuse for it but unless they're caught in the act there's not much you can do about it.

I was thinking the exact same thing.