Jump to content

Time for another ‘my dog is awesome’ thread


Patricio Swayze

Recommended Posts

Son is a student at UT, and misses Bluto terribly. Wife was asking him about Christmas gifts while we were at lunch on Sunday, and he mentioned something about stuff for his apartment.

fb4569ec749e11c2637b56891f282771.jpg

This ought to class the joint up nicely, and will hopefully kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

  • Like 4
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/24/2018 at 3:16 PM, Angry Gorilla said:

Our 8 year old golden retriever, Colt, woke up Sat morning completely fine, and by late afternoon was completely blind.  So far we have been to our normal vet, and an eye specialist, and back to the eye specialist tomorrow and MRI next week.  I'm not sure what best case scenario is for all of this, but it obviously sucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally got in to see the oncologist today.  That's his 5th vet visit since going blind.  Selfishly, it was worst case scenario as I was hoping the decision would be made for me and it wasn't.  The tumor has completely blocked off his right nasal cavity and has eaten through bone and gotten into his brain which caused the blindness.  The vet said he is probably in considerable pain, though did say the pain medicine he is on now is very strong and he prescribed some more that would help with pain (that we had filled at Walgreens which seemed weird to me).  He said we could go the palliative route and keep him pilled up and we would be looking at 3-5 months, but he also said as fast as this has come on it would likely be less than that. 

The other option is radiation therapy.  He said the technology has come a long way, but there is no chance it would cure him.  It could shrink the tumor to relieve pain, and did mention there is a small chance some vision could return (he could see shapes and lights but would still be mostly blind).  Best case scenario would be 9 more months, but he is old (8.5) and overweight so 9 months would be very optimistic.  The treatment involves taking him in 5X/week for 4 weeks.  The treatment only takes 5 minutes, but they have to put him under anesthesia each time and he stays there for ~2 hours.  My wife can't load him into her car as he turns into dead weight if you try to pick him up.  I work for myself and could do it, but it is a lot to put him through.  The vet also said after treatment he would feel better, but the tumor would slowly start growing back and he would eventually be in the same position where he is blind, in pain, and in a drug induced fog.

We are waiting to hear from our normal vet, who has been great, tomorrow after he reads the synopsis and hoping he gives us better direction.  We had to put down my dog 2 years ago and after we did I have always felt guilty that I kept her around too long selfishly and should have done it much sooner.  My wife is also pregnant with our first child and she is worried about the stress of seeing him waste away.  He already gets terrible nose bleeds and the vet said seizures should come next.  I think we decided that if we didn't go through with the treatment, we wouldn't do the palliative route and would go ahead with euthanasia.  He is already a shell of himself now and would only get worse with the growing tumor and added medicine.  And he is in pain.

Hopefully the vet tomorrow helps with the decision, but any advice is appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Angry Gorilla said:

 

We are waiting to hear from our normal vet, who has been great, tomorrow after he reads the synopsis and hoping he gives us better direction.  We had to put down my dog 2 years ago and after we did I have always felt guilty that I kept her around too long selfishly and should have done it much sooner.  My wife is also pregnant with our first child and she is worried about the stress of seeing him waste away.  He already gets terrible nose bleeds and the vet said seizures should come next.

Shit dude, I was doing OK to this part.  

Did the same with our 14-yo Golden.  I managed to pull him out of one seizure, but the next one was worse, and we ended up driving him down to the 24-hour emergency vet in New Braunfels at 3am, just so they could put him down.  Worst night of my life. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Beau Vine said:

Shit dude, I was doing OK to this part.  

Did the same with our 14-yo Golden.  I managed to pull him out of one seizure, but the next one was worse, and we ended up driving him down to the 24-hour emergency vet in New Braunfels at 3am, just so they could put him down.  Worst night of my life. 

Yeah, I worry about that happening while my wife is at home and I'm not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think i'd lean towards setting a date for putting him down in the near future, and making his time between then and now as good as it possibly can be. Spoil him rotten for a week or two and give him lots of love. No point in making him go through all that treatment or letting him suffer too long.

I'm so sorry you have to go through this.

Edited by Deej
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are our 4.

Top 2 are litter mates- female on L, Male on R.  Top right is going to his 2nd round of Chemo next week.  :(  We randomly had his anal gland expressed and the vet tech felt a little bump and had the Doc take a look.  Sure enough...cancer.  We caught it super early.  He wasn't showing any symptoms and still isn't.  It hasn't spread, luckily.  He had his anal sacks removed via surgery and has a pretty good prognosis, all things considered.  but we'll be treating it for the long haul apparently.  Hoping to avoid radiation treatment, but we'll see.

Bottom left was our first.  She had super horrible separation anxiety, so we got bottom right.

 

Bottom right is a dickhead, but he loves bottom left.

 

Top 2 are 6 years.

Bottom are 10 and 9 respectively.

 

 Image may contain: dog

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/7/2018 at 4:44 PM, Angry Gorilla said:

Finally got in to see the oncologist today.  That's his 5th vet visit since going blind.  Selfishly, it was worst case scenario as I was hoping the decision would be made for me and it wasn't.  The tumor has completely blocked off his right nasal cavity and has eaten through bone and gotten into his brain which caused the blindness.  The vet said he is probably in considerable pain, though did say the pain medicine he is on now is very strong and he prescribed some more that would help with pain (that we had filled at Walgreens which seemed weird to me).  He said we could go the palliative route and keep him pilled up and we would be looking at 3-5 months, but he also said as fast as this has come on it would likely be less than that. 

The other option is radiation therapy.  He said the technology has come a long way, but there is no chance it would cure him.  It could shrink the tumor to relieve pain, and did mention there is a small chance some vision could return (he could see shapes and lights but would still be mostly blind).  Best case scenario would be 9 more months, but he is old (8.5) and overweight so 9 months would be very optimistic.  The treatment involves taking him in 5X/week for 4 weeks.  The treatment only takes 5 minutes, but they have to put him under anesthesia each time and he stays there for ~2 hours.  My wife can't load him into her car as he turns into dead weight if you try to pick him up.  I work for myself and could do it, but it is a lot to put him through.  The vet also said after treatment he would feel better, but the tumor would slowly start growing back and he would eventually be in the same position where he is blind, in pain, and in a drug induced fog.

We are waiting to hear from our normal vet, who has been great, tomorrow after he reads the synopsis and hoping he gives us better direction.  We had to put down my dog 2 years ago and after we did I have always felt guilty that I kept her around too long selfishly and should have done it much sooner.  My wife is also pregnant with our first child and she is worried about the stress of seeing him waste away.  He already gets terrible nose bleeds and the vet said seizures should come next.  I think we decided that if we didn't go through with the treatment, we wouldn't do the palliative route and would go ahead with euthanasia.  He is already a shell of himself now and would only get worse with the growing tumor and added medicine.  And he is in pain.

Hopefully the vet tomorrow helps with the decision, but any advice is appreciated.

Colt's a good boy.  Fucking sucks-  sorry to hear this.  My first dog is a 5 year golden right now and I'm dreading these days.  Sending good vibes to Colt and his family.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is despicable.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/11/09/va-secretary-says-he-will-continue-agencys-controversial-experiments-dogs/?utm_term=.4cc80211e08e

Quote

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie defended the agency’s ongoing experiments on dogs Friday and said he would continue to “reauthorize” them, eight months after Congress passed legislation limiting tests that are opposed by a bipartisan cast of lawmakers and several veterans’ groups.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Wilkie rejected calls to end research that he said led to the invention in the 1960s of the cardiac pacemaker and the discovery in the late 1990s of a treatment for deadly cardiac arrhythmias. These days, he said, some of the testing is focused on spinal cord injuries.

“I love canines,” Wilkie said. “But we have an opportunity to change the lives of men and women who have been terribly hurt. And until somebody tells me that that research does not help in that outcome, then I’ll continue.”

Wilkie’s comments drew swift backlash from lawmakers who have criticized the experiments, which occur at three VA locations and are invasive and sometimes fatal to the dogs, as cruel and unnecessary.

The restrictions approved by Congress require any canine testing be “directly approved” by the secretary. Last week, USA Today reported that the agency has continued to conduct research on dogs in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Richmond. In Cleveland, the experiments involve severing dogs' spinal cords and testing their cough reflexes, the newspaper reported.

 

Edit: Most of these dogs tend to be beagles, which obviously makes it a little more personal for me.  Aggy does the same thing, fyi.  We shouldn't be like aggy.

Edited by Biff Tannen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

About a year ago I picked up this beauty from foster care roughly 7 weeks after Amber, my best pal for 16 years, passed away. 

She had been discovered on a construction site, emaciated and with a litter of pups. All of which died due to malnutrition. When I met the foster family they told me her story and how she had been returned several times because she was just too sad and timid to connect with anyone. Without a thought I said I'd take her, knowing she needed an experienced dog owner who would commit to her recovery. 

Luna has come a long way, to say the least. Still have to pick her up to put her in the car, but she is very well behaved, loves to play with kids, other dogs, and anyone who will chase her. 

46093454_10156964698073578_4466707537630

Edited by MissingInAction
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/7/2018 at 4:44 PM, Angry Gorilla said:

Finally got in to see the oncologist today.  That's his 5th vet visit since going blind.  Selfishly, it was worst case scenario as I was hoping the decision would be made for me and it wasn't.  The tumor has completely blocked off his right nasal cavity and has eaten through bone and gotten into his brain which caused the blindness.  The vet said he is probably in considerable pain, though did say the pain medicine he is on now is very strong and he prescribed some more that would help with pain (that we had filled at Walgreens which seemed weird to me).  He said we could go the palliative route and keep him pilled up and we would be looking at 3-5 months, but he also said as fast as this has come on it would likely be less than that. 

The other option is radiation therapy.  He said the technology has come a long way, but there is no chance it would cure him.  It could shrink the tumor to relieve pain, and did mention there is a small chance some vision could return (he could see shapes and lights but would still be mostly blind).  Best case scenario would be 9 more months, but he is old (8.5) and overweight so 9 months would be very optimistic.  The treatment involves taking him in 5X/week for 4 weeks.  The treatment only takes 5 minutes, but they have to put him under anesthesia each time and he stays there for ~2 hours.  My wife can't load him into her car as he turns into dead weight if you try to pick him up.  I work for myself and could do it, but it is a lot to put him through.  The vet also said after treatment he would feel better, but the tumor would slowly start growing back and he would eventually be in the same position where he is blind, in pain, and in a drug induced fog.

We are waiting to hear from our normal vet, who has been great, tomorrow after he reads the synopsis and hoping he gives us better direction.  We had to put down my dog 2 years ago and after we did I have always felt guilty that I kept her around too long selfishly and should have done it much sooner.  My wife is also pregnant with our first child and she is worried about the stress of seeing him waste away.  He already gets terrible nose bleeds and the vet said seizures should come next.  I think we decided that if we didn't go through with the treatment, we wouldn't do the palliative route and would go ahead with euthanasia.  He is already a shell of himself now and would only get worse with the growing tumor and added medicine.  And he is in pain.

Hopefully the vet tomorrow helps with the decision, but any advice is appreciated.

In a sense, I have been where you are now although Rocky was never in as bad of shape as your golden. No doubt about it it's terribly hard to let them go. While I said I would never advise anybody to go the euthanasia route I have to retract that attitude after what we went through with Rocky going downhill. Yes it's going to hurt like hell but I guarantee you it's going to hurt a lot worse and you'll have a lot more regrets if you let him linger too long. I'm still kicking myself in the ass that I waited so long to put Rocky to sleep. Guilt is a motherfuker my friend.

Whatever your decision I wish you the best, and congratulations on your first child may he be a masculine child LOL

P.S. After you get the new baby settled in you can get him a new friend and Playmate to grow up with him hint hint.

Edited by SHOOTER12
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the time has come and I'm going to take the plunge and get another Golden Retriever.  Talk about sticker shock though, when we bought Rocky I know I didn't pay more than $500-$700 for him.   The cheapest I've seen so far is $1500.  wow.   Have found some interesting pups that I'm awaiting word on now.

New boy has some mighty big paw prints to fill :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, SHOOTER12 said:

Well, the time has come and I'm going to take the plunge and get another Golden Retriever.  Talk about sticker shock though, when we bought Rocky I know I didn't pay more than $500-$700 for him.   The cheapest I've seen so far is $1500.  wow.   Have found some interesting pups that I'm awaiting word on now.

New boy has some mighty big paw prints to fill :)

Dogs have gotten absurdly expensive over the past few years.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Dogs have gotten absurdly expensive over the past few years.  

No doubt, the thing that is more irritating than the cost is the fact that I've placed no less that 8 calls/emails about GR pups for sale today and have not received a reply/callback from anyone....dammit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, SHOOTER12 said:

No doubt, the thing that is more irritating than the cost is the fact that I've placed no less that 8 calls/emails about GR pups for sale today and have not received a reply/callback from anyone....dammit.

Take the time, find a good breeder, and do your research.  I'm not sure how it is with Goldens, but with Newfies, there are a lot of genetic things you want to check on before getting a pup.  You want to check the parents' elbows, hips, heart and you can also test for a couple genetic diseases that can affect the breed.  Better to do your homework on the front end to have a better chance of having a healthy dog later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/8/2018 at 11:38 AM, Tylerocks said:

These are our 4.

Top 2 are litter mates- female on L, Male on R.  Top right is going to his 2nd round of Chemo next week.  :(  We randomly had his anal gland expressed and the vet tech felt a little bump and had the Doc take a look.  Sure enough...cancer.  We caught it super early.  He wasn't showing any symptoms and still isn't.  It hasn't spread, luckily.  He had his anal sacks removed via surgery and has a pretty good prognosis, all things considered.  but we'll be treating it for the long haul apparently.  Hoping to avoid radiation treatment, but we'll see.

Bottom left was our first.  She had super horrible separation anxiety, so we got bottom right.

 

Bottom right is a dickhead, but he loves bottom left.

 

Top 2 are 6 years.

Bottom are 10 and 9 respectively.

 

 Image may contain: dog

Lulz, those eyes....whole lot of soul going on in those pics.

Edited by SHOOTER12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Take the time, find a good breeder, and do your research.  I'm not sure how it is with Goldens, but with Newfies, there are a lot of genetic things you want to check on before getting a pup.  You want to check the parents' elbows, hips, heart and you can also test for a couple genetic diseases that can affect the breed.  Better to do your homework on the front end to have a better chance of having a healthy dog later.

Absolutely, alllll of the above...thanks,

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/31/2018 at 11:13 AM, High Plains Drifter said:

What the hell? My dogs go absolutely ape shit when deer get that close. Deer don't seem to give a shit, though.

 

On 10/30/2018 at 1:48 PM, nycHorn said:

Nah, it's a fenced in sport turf on East River park.  We normally go to the dog park and let her run it out, but some Joey Baggadonuts was there with his dogs and he's super aggressive with them and uncomfortable to be around.  

If you had said "no, it's my back yard" I'd have had to throw rocks at you...or at least haul some wild hogs to your yard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/11/2018 at 12:39 PM, maninblack said:

 

 

On 11/11/2018 at 5:22 PM, Clintonaldo said:

I ain’t clicking on that but fuck the government full cloak room 

I shouldn't have, but it's early and I did.  Makes me want to do some experiments of my own on some folks, that's for damned sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, SHOOTER12 said:

Well, the time has come and I'm going to take the plunge and get another Golden Retriever.  Talk about sticker shock though, when we bought Rocky I know I didn't pay more than $500-$700 for him.   The cheapest I've seen so far is $1500.  wow.   Have found some interesting pups that I'm awaiting word on now.

New boy has some mighty big paw prints to fill :)

Shite, are all of the breeder classifieds a freaking scam or racket?  I can't even count how many inquiries I made yesterday and not one.single.fucking.call.back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/12/2018 at 1:06 PM, Angry Gorilla said:

Yep, sorry to being the sad to this thread.  We had Colt put down this morning at home.  It was peaceful and he's no longer in pain, but still brutal.  He did have nothing but steak, mac and cheese, and a cupcake the last 24 hours.

I bet that Colt was a good dog.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, SHOOTER12 said:

Shite, are all of the breeder classifieds a freaking scam or racket?  I can't even count how many inquiries I made yesterday and not one.single.fucking.call.back.

Lots of them don't update their websites very frequently.  I found Facebook to be a better way to find out if they have available puppies.  

 

And yes, lots of them are terrible at communicating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Lots of them don't update their websites very frequently.  I found Facebook to be a better way to find out if they have available puppies.  

 

And yes, lots of them are terrible at communicating.

Thanks, going to see if one of my coworkers Facebooks to check it out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...