Doggie end of life decisions
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Wow. I'm sorry you both had to go through that, Horace. How has the recovery been?
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Doggie end of life decisions:
Wow. I'm sorry you both had to go through that, Horace. How has the recovery been?
He's on Fentanyl, which the vet pronounces fentanol, GK will be happy to hear. I hope this doesn't begin a downward spiral into opioid abuse, crime, and eventual homelessness. He does look good, but for all the fur that got shaved off. Everything rides on the biopsy for his prognosis.
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When our dog had his CCL repaired (cranial cruciate ligament - the dog equivalent of ACL) they put him on a fentanyl patch, iirc. He did well in recovery.
We had to send him to drug rehab for a couple of weeks to shake the addiction, but he got through that OK.I'm no pathologist, but the purple-ish stuff in the front looks like spleen to me.
It could be liver, but then I'd get sued.The other shit in back is really, really big. Without cutting into it and seeing what it looks like, impossible to guess benign vs malignant.That is one HUGE mass.
Hoping for a good outcome - how long to wait?
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@George-K said in Doggie end of life decisions:
When our dog had his CCL repaired (cranial cruciate ligament - the dog equivalent of ACL) they put him on a fentanyl patch, iirc. He did well in recovery.
We had to send him to drug rehab for a couple of weeks to shake the addiction, but he got through that OK.I'm no pathologist, but the purple-ish stuff in the front looks like spleen to me.
It could be liver, but then I'd get sued.The other shit in back is really, really big. Without cutting into it and seeing what it looks like, impossible to guess benign vs malignant.That is one HUGE mass.
Hoping for a good outcome - how long to wait?
That’s a spleen with what looks like a xenomorph hatchling strangling it. The wait for the results will be 1 or 2 weeks. If it’s cancer, he may be in a decline by then.
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@Horace said in Doggie end of life decisions:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Doggie end of life decisions:
Wow. I'm sorry you both had to go through that, Horace. How has the recovery been?
He's on Fentanyl, which the vet pronounces fentanol, GK will be happy to hear. I hope this doesn't begin a downward spiral into opioid abuse, crime, and eventual homelessness. He does look good, but for all the fur that got shaved off. Everything rides on the biopsy for his prognosis.
Glad to see that at least you are able to have your sense of humor.
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@George-K said in Doggie end of life decisions:
How's the doggo?
Any news from the vet?
He's doing well. Resting at home. He's energetic again and doesn't seem to be in much pain, though he is on meds for that. He had some fluid around his heart which they are keeping an eye on. I got a call about it at 6 am while he was still in the hospital recovering. They said maybe I wanted to do a $1000 test with an advanced ultrasound, or he could just suddenly die. So I spent the 1k, because those are the sorts of choices one has at the vet. The test came back as trace amounts of fluid but maybe nothing to worry about. They wanted to see him again today, so we took him back and they did that test again, this time free of charge. The ultrasound technician waved his wand at his heart for 20 seconds, pronounced him no worse than he was yesterday. I guess that's what I paid 1k for. Anyway we are happy to have him home, and we're prepared for whatever news we get from the biopsy. He's been healthy every day of his 12.3 years of life, until his spleen burst. So that was a bit of a shock. But it took him all of a day to get back to barking excitedly at any stimulus. Hard to imagine an aggressive cancer is currently ravaging his body, but I am probably delusionally optimistic.
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@Horace said in Doggie end of life decisions:
He's doing well. Resting at home. He's energetic again and doesn't seem to be in much pain, though he is on meds for that. He had some fluid around his heart which they are keeping an eye on. I got a call about it at 6 am while he was still in the hospital recovering. They said maybe I wanted to do a $1000 test with an advanced ultrasound, or he could just suddenly die. So I spent the 1k, because those are the sorts of choices one has at the vet. The test came back as trace amounts of fluid but maybe nothing to worry about. They wanted to see him again today, so we took him back and they did that test again, this time free of charge. The ultrasound technician waved his wand at his heart for 20 seconds, pronounced him no worse than he was yesterday. I guess that's what I paid 1k for.
What we do for our animals...he's lucky to have you.
Sometimes, I wonder about vets...
We had a dog with Addison's disease - her adrenals didn't put out enough hormones and we have to give her medications as a supplement.
When she got funky, I took her to the local vet - I was charged $90 to check her blood pressure. I was beyond outraged.
"If we don't do this test your dog could die suddenly" is such bullshit.
I don't question your judgment based on what you were told, but that's total BS. You can get a CT scan cheaper (if you're human).
Sorry for the rant, but your comment reminded me of what a scam much of veterinary care can be.
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I was told by the vet who did the surgery that today's visit would be free, and then I double checked today with the technician that the visit would be free, and she verified. Now they've mailed me an invoice for $150. Eyeroll. I called and they said they'd reach out to the vet to verify my story.
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@George-K said in Doggie end of life decisions:
@Horace said in Doggie end of life decisions:
He's doing well. Resting at home. He's energetic again and doesn't seem to be in much pain, though he is on meds for that. He had some fluid around his heart which they are keeping an eye on. I got a call about it at 6 am while he was still in the hospital recovering. They said maybe I wanted to do a $1000 test with an advanced ultrasound, or he could just suddenly die. So I spent the 1k, because those are the sorts of choices one has at the vet. The test came back as trace amounts of fluid but maybe nothing to worry about. They wanted to see him again today, so we took him back and they did that test again, this time free of charge. The ultrasound technician waved his wand at his heart for 20 seconds, pronounced him no worse than he was yesterday. I guess that's what I paid 1k for.
What we do for our animals...he's lucky to have you.
Sometimes, I wonder about vets...
We had a dog with Addison's disease - her adrenals didn't put out enough hormones and we have to give her medications as a supplement.
When she got funky, I took her to the local vet - I was charged $90 to check her blood pressure. I was beyond outraged.
"If we don't do this test your dog could die suddenly" is such bullshit.
I don't question your judgment based on what you were told, but that's total BS. You can get a CT scan cheaper (if you're human).
Sorry for the rant, but your comment reminded me of what a scam much of veterinary care can be.
With Dakota’s tumor, they wanted us to have a $4500 test run that would determine the exact nature of the tumor. There were 3 possibilities. The treatment for the first two options was the same, and the third option was untreatable… We proceeded with the treatment for the first two without the test…
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Decades ago, we adopted a 14 year old dog. I told my wife that since he did not have a long life ahead, we shouldn't think of spending money on extending his life when his health turned. Of course, we fell in love with the dog and when he became ill, we would have sold the house or knocked over a currency exchange to fund care. The day he passed was one of those days in my life I'll never forget.