May 25th. We lost our lovely little warrior this morning. The end was horrible and I will be writing up details for others who find themselves dealing with mast cell tumours. Michael will mourn his 'little girl' and Paschale's canine family and I will miss her terribly and always.
|
She is still with us! I have had dogs and other animals all my life. I have seen births and deaths. I have nursed people and sadly seen quite a few depart this world. I have never seen any living thing so near death and survive. Paschale was in a state of total collapse - she messed herself for the first time in her life, she wheezed horribly, she was scarcely with us. I cleaned her up and carried her to a comfy bed and put a pillow under her flopping head while Michael walked up the road with the others then came in to say goodbye. We sat by her for a while and finally she just went into a deep sleep when we could see all her features had relaxed and she was breathing evenly, if shallowly.
Michael left for a time. when he returned with some lights (offal) he had cooked for her I thought how hopeless that was but miraculously she took piece by piece from him and a drink after. Since then she has slowly regained some of her strength and is now able to walk (or wobble) around the garden and the lane unaided and is eating almost normally. The tumour is still visibly large and ugly but doesn't seem to hurt her. The vet asked again if we wanted to try the newer drug Palladia, specifically helpful for cases of inoperable mast cell tumours, but we felt we could not put her through any more aggressive chemo. We had to consider the bill too (already nearing 1000euro) with other aging canine with problems but the main concern was Paschale's weakness. We want a dignified and pain free end as any owners would. Right now she is comfortable and I will be writing up the progress of her illness on the 'canine cancer' page. This little history contains a catalogue of misfortune, late and/or mis-diagnoses and incorrect treatments alongside some valued excellent veterinary care. Our thoughts now are to continue to build her up and give her medication against any recurrence of the chronic gastric upset she endured twice following chemo. Perhaps then we will slowly re-introduce prednisolone (plenty in the cupboard already) and see if this will give us a short respite in which to better prepare her and us for the end. Update, as and when but we do wish some other owners with similar experiences would contribute their thoughts or knowledge. I will add pages whenever there is enough material. We all want the best for our lovely companions don't we?...... .May 1st: I am sitting here at the computer but with not only an ache in my heart but also an ache in my neck as I constantly glance back to see if my lovely old Saluki is still breathing. She is at the moment but just looks completely out of it. She has a mast cell tumour in her point of shoulder. Because of the size and placement of the tumour combined with age concerns it seems inoperable and so far attempts to shrink it or shove it into remission have had very little effect. Our strong little warrior hound has last met the weakness of old age and seems unable to withstand the barrage of chemotherapy. All kinds of unfortunate delays and mistakes have meant that the diagnosed mast cell tumour was not discovered until grade 2 stage. A younger dog may well have recovered from this for some long time but for Paschale it seems unlikely.
May6th: I had to stop when I was going to detail here the progression/remission/progression of this disease as Paschale suddenly declined and is today at the end of her days. This will now have to wait for an update on the cancer page at a future date. Paschale recovered rapidly from a painful period of gastritis and although she didn't really respond to treatments she remained strong and without any obvious pain - until yesterday. Yesterday she woke shivering and weak. She improved a bit in the day and managed some food but seemed to have lost all co-ordination and was unable to stand steadily. The vet 'phoned and asked if we wanted to euthanise but she stopped shaking and just seemed to want to sleep. I slept near her through the night and woke frequently to see if she had passed away in her sleep - the best way - but she survived to the morning. Today she has a cough and extreme weakness and for the first time we know we cannot allow this to continue - this is now real suffering. She had her 14th birthday on Good Friday - when she still was enjoying her walks and food as normal and now her long, successful and mostly happy life is over. Michael and I are truly heartbroken of course but there are few regrets - a full and good life is over and she leaves us her son, daughter and grandsons and a million wonderful memories. |
Archives
August 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed