Hi jetred,
From your post a year ago… this is exactly the type of information I'm searching for, "I know this might not be survivable for her but I can't find any advice on how to get a dog through cancer, what to look out for, when is she truly in pain, what spindle cell does over time and when is enough for her and time to set her free."
So I am wondering, what was your plan with Luna? How did you make decisions? What information did you learn that you think is important to know about the spindle cell cancer disease process?
I have a 15 yr old girl (aussie shepard mix) who is in good spirits, enjoys slow short walks, putting her nose in the wind, eating, etc all normally. We've had two surgeries already to debulk the tumor on her rear leg. One in 2013, and the second recently in June from which she recovered well for her age. Though it returned quickly (3 mos) and larger this time. It's now an open lesion. I am both astounded and perplexed at how she acts pretty normal given this! My vet (who is a new vet to us as I just moved) initially discussed end of life decisions and then also offered amputation as an option to consider. I would so appreciate any thoughts you have and/or hear more about your story.
Thank you.
I've had ENOUGH
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Piece of info, if you have a dremel brand and it ever stops working - call dremel. Mine died earlier this yr, I shippped it to them and they repaired it for free and sent it back within a week. I could have also traded up to a newer model for the difference in price between my old model and the newest model. I had been told about this by my breeder who has sent off many over the past 20 yrs.
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I bought a dremel after I got Oakley and it only came with one band, as a precaution I take off the tip when I am done because I always worry Oakley will accidentally turn it on… well, what I didn't anticipate was he would be able to jump a baby gate and of all things, end up chewing on a little band/tip....but you know what they say about people who assume! No surprise that the dremel wasn't the only thing of interest to him! :rolleyes: Lesson learned, I got a taller baby gate AND put the dremel on top of the refrigerator....He didn't do too much damage to it but it was soggy and so I threw it out. I could go to Lowes, .....hmmm... never thought of that! Needless to say, Oakley has had a piece of cheese and a little sprite (Lord help me later) and he is resting with the occasional squeal. I will be calling tomorrow to see which vet owns the practice. It is literally every time we go to the vets that he ends up in pain and I will not do that to him again.
That makes sense… ggg... I hear that about "eating the band"!!!!
I hope that you can find a great new Vet and I would suggest that since poor Oakley has had such a bad time, you just take him in for his weight and love/treats so that he knows it is not like the "other" scary place.
My old boy, OJ, hated his first vet. To the point that all I had to do is pull into the parking lot and he would start growling. Once I changed Vets, he never growled again and was also very calm and relaxed at the clinic.
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I guess I am very lucky and blessed with my vet clinic. When we moved to El Campo 30 + years ago, our Bs were the first they had seen. Dr. B contacted Texas A&M university Vet School and read up on them. He always listens to me about them. Their general office policy is for techs to handle the dogs in the room, but when I explained that my Bs did better with me doing the holding they tried it with a vet tech as back up and we never had a problem. My big sissy boy Cory, would hide his head under my arm while they worked on him. And as new techs have come on and tried to take my dog Dr. B. would just say no, she handles hers. He kept them current on everything needed while we were showing and they had more exposure. Now that we no longer show, we are on rabies only, and they understand that and do not pressure for other shots. Dr. B helped Cory across the bridge 4 weeks ago and they were so considerate in the whole process, he could not believe it had been 14 years, he had been Cory's vet from the first 8 weeks on. So definitely keep looking for the right vet, even if not a B knowledgeable one, they should be willing to learn. I emailed mine all the info on fanconi to keep in my Bs files and it was appreciated.
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Sometimes a vet who isn't used to Basenjis is better than one who has preconceived ideas. They can then learn from you and Oakley. I've had 2 vets only in several years and neither had any knowledge of Basenjis. Both have learned a great deak from mine - after all they have to start somewhere.
I'm sorry that Oakley's had such a bad experience.
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I tell my vet what I would like for my b…he may not agree with me 100% but at least he is willing to compromise with me. I only have done what my breeder and I feel is right for my b...we always space out the injections a week to make it easier on my b. You don't have to do what they want, a good vet will offer their recommendations and if you decline...they chart as such, no pressure! I hope you find a kind, respectful vet soon!
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We were my vets first bs, and she read tons, called UGA about Arwen's eyes, and has been open to anything I tell them. They now have about 8 others.
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Poor Oakley..I am so sorry you both had to experience such poor "bedside" manner and lack of expertise..
Give him hugs from Pippin and me.
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And always remember, you are the one with the check book….. your opinion counts.. and if it doesn't and they (the Vets or the Staff) puts on the "We know better then you"... then for sure time for a new Vet...
However, keep in mind, so many times they (the Vets) are caught in situations where the owner clearly didn't care or think it was important enough to go to the Vet or can't tell them much about a situation... Sometimes, they are between a rock and a hard place.
But, certainly not in this case... with Oakley
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My old boy, OJ, hated his first vet. To the point that all I had to do is pull into the parking lot and he would start growling. Once I changed Vets, he never growled again and was also very calm and relaxed at the clinic.
Pat, did you not have him collected? For several visits after my boyz were oh so hopeful whenever we pulled into that parking lot. :p
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Pat, did you not have him collected? For several visits after my boyz were oh so hopeful whenever we pulled into that parking lot. :p
LOL… nope never collected!!!! I never told him, even though he finished his championship, but he was not breeding material!!!
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Thanks everyone…. I have been searching around to find someone I am more comfortable with. I am hopeful that at least for now, he is done with injections as he has had his rabies, distemper and lyme. My concern now is that he turned 5 months yesterday and I forgot to ask the vet when I can start frontline. Often times in New England its a big problem. Over my friends house it is common that when the dogs come in the house there is a tick on them.... and because Oakley is black I panic and preen him all the time when he is over there (not like he doesn't love the attention):rolleyes:
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Chelsie, you could start him on it at 8 weeks…so he should be ok.
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I don't use topical and we have a ton of ticks here in Maine (although none yet - we are due to get another foot of snow tonight :rolleyes::mad:).
I talked with my vet about it 2 years ago (when I added my brindle girl to the pack) and she said they have quite a few dogs in their practice that have still contracted lyme even though they are on frontline. She said a visual check should still be done with frontline. She knows I hate to vaccinate/medicate unless absolutely necessary so her advice to me was to skip it.
I just do a complete check on each dog before I bring them in the house. I do use organic bug wipes for all the kids for mosquitoes, black flies and deer flies and the container says they work on ticks too - but I've never found that to be the case as I've always found ticks alive and well on my dogs. In the summer, I don't think a day goes by that I don't take at least one deer tick off my dogs.
Oh and regarding a vet - maybe ask your breeder who else they might recommend for a vet (I'm sure they've used multiples) - since they live near you?
I've been super lucky with my vet. I got the recommendation from one of the breeders on here and my vet is super - tons of basenji experience and great at listening to me and not pushing vaccines or anything on my kids. I did take Liyah to one of the other vets in the practice once when she was a baby and that was a bad experience so since then it is marked in my kids charts that they only see my regular vet.
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Oh man, I must live in the best place ever! I live in a little town but within a 15 minute car drive, I have a great vet, a great holistic vet and a great hydrotherapy facility. (which is really nice b/c I've visited all of them this week) As an extra bonus, I have awesome views of Pikes Peak out my front door.
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Yes… Frontline is not a problem, IMO... go ahead and use it....
