MP_the4pack

A fine needle aspirate is much less evasive and has a good result most of the time. (not as good as a bone biopsy). But it is nowhere as bad as doing a biopsy. Onyx needed stitches last night and she was given an injectible pain med. The vet said it was similar to Novox (rhimadyl). It held her over all night. I hope you get good news.

I'm so sorry to hear of the diagnosis. I am a recent victim having just lost Diamond. One thing that my vet told me was that if nothing else, amputation removes the pain. They recover so quickly from it. And I did notice that. Two weeks post op and my Dima was feeling so much better. She had a wonderful 6 months pain free. When the cancer returned in her other leg, I let her go immediately. I'm sorry you're going thru this. Just remember, whatever you do for Sherman, you're doing out of love for him.

This is totally out of left field. I have no idea if it's a good thing or not, but you can decide. Jade is on diazepam (anti anxiety med). It really doesn't seem to do anything to her anxiety but BOY has it increased her appetite. I don't know if he shouldn't even be thinking about another med. If it'll hurt his IBD. But maybe you can throw it past your vet. Just a thought. I hope he rebounds without it.

I'm so sorry Bev. I lost my two within 2 months of each other and it was absolutely horrible. I don't know how you handle within a day of each other.

I always train my greys to a whistle. A whistle is louder and lasts longer than a voice and my voice just doesn't carry. Because you'll never know when you'll need the recall. My girls always seem to come when I blow the whistle, but I haven't tried it in a real emergency. So while reliable in controlled situation (read fenced yard), I don't know what'll happen if they are loose. I hope I never find out.

:f_red :f_red

Thanks Jane. This is a reminder to get my gift to them in memory of my babies. Thanks for placing hearts in memory of my Pearl and Diamond.

Yup, we have the DAP diffuser. Maybe I should try the collar as well. I tried a thunderwrap and T shirt. They didn't work. She shook it off. I was hesitant to try the cape also because she might get it off. I need for her to find a comfortable spot and chill during a storm while I'm at work. Right now I'm sitting here...almost 2 AM because a thunderstorm is coming. I heard one clap (she didn't) and I got up and closed off the dog door. Now I'm just "hiding" here in the office to see what she does with the DAP, the meds, no outside access, white noise (A/C) in the background and a nightlight on. I just checked the radar again as I was typing this...........looks like it's just going to miss us again. I really would like to be home, and not needing to get up to go to work in the morning for a few storms. So far I'm batting zero. While it's a good thing that she doesn't need to go thru storms, I do need a few to find the best solutions to her problem. She saw Dr. Siracusa at u of Penn. He was nice. Seemed to know what he was doing. Dr. Reisner is the head of service there. We didn't see her.

Okay, here's the easy update: Jade's biopsy came back. B-9!! It's hemagioma. The doctors say it is a cancer, but considered benign because it doesn't spread. Phew. Another bullet dodged. I don't think I could have handled a 4 yr old with cancer after just losing my sisters. Now on the thunderphobia front. We went to U of Penn Tuesday for a behavioral workup. She is diagnosed with thunderphobia, anxiety and displacement behavior. The good news is that I've been doing everything right so far. They do understand why I can't close off the dog door or crate her. In fact they said it would probably be very dangerous to crate her. While she will crate, she doesn't like it and would probably hurt herself severely if locked up or crated. (of course....day care is still an option, but it doesn't guarentee that the forecast will always be right and that she'll be at the day care on a day when thunderstorms pop up.) The vet has upped her clomipramime (clomicalm) and we changed from xanax to diazepam. Well right now, I'm not so sure about the results of that. She seemed quiet for the first hour after taking it, then hyper for a short while before she finally settled down. The plan was to try her out on it without any storms. So a storm was not in the picture. We are still going to see if we can find a quiet place for her but she has to choose it. We are trying some behavioral modifications (desensitizing not among them) I am also reinforcing the fence top to give it an added couple of feet. Right now, it trial and error. And hopefully she'll decide just to hunker down somewhere during a storm with a little meds added to take the edge off. So there it is in a nutshell. She's healthy, just a fruitloop short of a full bowl of cereal.

This is not a club I really wish to welcome you, or anyone to. I don't know what your plan is, whether pain management or amp. But I would like to let you know that Diamond had 6 fantastic pain free months post amp. She handled the chemo great. Little side effect, with just one day under the weather, where her appetite was diminished. She was 2 weeks shy of her 12th BD when she had the surgery. The cancer returned in another leg, never metatesized to the lungs. I wish you the best of luck in whatever course you choose. Remember whatever you do is out of love.

Jane, thanks for the info. I hope that OSU realized how steep $99 is. I think they would actually get more money charging $30. Because I'll bet that at that price, there will be 4 people subscribing for every one that would subscribe at $99. If my estimate is right (and it's just a plain old hunch!) it would bring in $20 more. MP

Oh man. She's my favorite of your pack because she reminds me so much of my new Bridgekid Pearl. I hope it's nothing. I pray it's nothing.

Oh he'll be okay. Just a bug. Just a bug. Just a bug. Just a bug. Just a bug.

Wow. I'm so glad she's doing well.

Make sure the black top you're running on is not HOT. You may not feel it thru your shoes, but they feel it even with their toughened up feet. Also, be very very careful of the heat. Even if hydrated, several greys have succumbed to the heat just by walking, and they were used to being walked.

It's going to be a long hour!

If you didn't have an ultrasound, why not get one? It's non-evasive and will let you know definitely if the spleen is involved. I had a nasty thing removed from Brindle 8 yrs ago. It was hemangio. But it was in the spleen first. I lost her to that before the biopsy even came back. If you can afford the ultrasound, it's worth the piece of mind. (I've lost two to splenic cancer)

She's out of surgery and is waking up. She did well. So I pick her up tonight when I get home from work. Now it's hurry up and wait for the biopsy. I emailed Dr. Couto, who is interested in the report.

Can they do an ultrasound before exploratory surgery?

I took Jane up on her offer back in oct for Diamond's amp (she was 2 weeks shy of her 12 BD.) Jane was a godsend. Not only financially but emotionally too. She spent DAYS at the OSU hospital with me. Just waiting. She did this not once but twice as I went back out with Pearl in Jan. Pearl's not a spook but hates vets and is a velcro dog. They discharged her early to stay with me at Jane's house. The people at OSU are so very special. It was worth the 9 hr trip both times for me. Good luck in whatever decision you make. It's not easy but is done with love.

Pearl had a grade 3 murmur and I took her to a cardiologist. She had a full heart workup and did have heart disease. She was on meds the rest of her life but lived with heart disease for 7 yrs before cancer took her away from me this year. She was 5 when diagnosed. The meds when bought from Costco were not expensive. And she was playing up until the day she was diagnosed with cancer at age 12. If she didn't get the big C, her cardiologist said she would probably have another 2 good years.

She's in surgery now.

We went to the vets an hour ago. He scheduled surgery for TOMORROW! The speed at which he scheduled this is scaring me a bit. He said it could be anything from a benign hemangioma to malignant hemangiosarcoma.

I'm sorry to hear the diagnosis. I remember how I felt when I got the confirmation. Talk to Dr. Couto. There is so much more information than just "It's OS".

When I adopted Jade 2 months ago, she has a spot on her chest the size of a tick. It wasn't a tick, but I was thinking a blood blister. It hadn't changed up until last week when I had the vet look at it. He said to watch it since it hadn't changed for 2 months. Well......it's now changed in just the past few days. Whereas it was flat before, it is now very obviously raised and there's a new darker center. I'm worried. She's only 4. Cancers have a tendency to be very aggressive in younger dogs. We're going back tonight. I'm going to have my favorite vet look at her. If he doesn't like the looks of it, then we're going to an oncologist. (I don't think I'll go to OSU though. That was a very long drive. I'll have this removed locally and the report sent to Dr. Couto). When it rains it pours. I just lost two to cancer this year. It was very expensive since one didn't have insurance. I have already set Jade up for a behavioralist appt for her thunderphobia (at $400 a pop!!). Not to mention, Pearl was my favorite and Jade is another white/black girl that I adopted to help me thru Pearls...and now Diamond's loss.