3greys2cats

I am so very sorry

My big Bubba Doo, sweet, regal boy struggled for the past year with a deteriorating spine, Lumbosacral disease, Kidney disease and recently a lump that most likely was cancer in his front leg. We started on Metacam 2 years ago, then onto Rimadyl, then after his Kidneys started to decline, Gabapentin and Tramadol. He was a brave boy and still wanted his walks, trips in van to park, special step built by my husband kept him wanting to go. He needed more and more pain meds after his 13th birthday, I could not keep him comfortable and he had 4 separate falls from Oct-Nov. I started doing Reiki on him back in March and honestly, it brought him much relief and enabled him to keep going. On Thanksgiving, he snapped @ my mother in law for petting him and then me the next day for trying to wash his leg that had the lump, poor baby was clearly in pain. He had been peeing on his bed and had pee pads and layers all summer, I was absolutely torn emotionally because he was still eating and trying to enjoy what he had left, his body just deteriorated and it was a struggle to get up and walk outside to potty. My husband and I were not in agreement, he was not ready and could not let go so these last few months were filled with anguish for us both. Finally on Tuesday, he was vomiting and just sad, he collapsed again and my husband and I agreed it was time. We had a mobile Vet come on Thursday, he had steak dinner, tons of snacks and a final walk down the street with my husband, he pranced all the way with the last ounce of power in those long legs and collapsed when he got in the house, he had done stairs his whole life until the end, last few weeks we had to bring him out front where there were only 3 stairs to get to back fenced yard and that was so hard for him. When the Vet came, he was relaxed on his bed in front of the warmth of the fire, she knelt down next to him and he put his nose on her face, kissed her as if saying "it's ok, I am ready, he never flinched, I placed my hands on his face and did Reiki to send him peacefully to run free with Sara and all the angels. There is so much emptiness here, a gaping hole in my heart, Flower laid on the bed next to him and never got up until he had passed, she slept on that bed later that night. I don't know if I will ever stop crying. Max was our very 1st Greyhound and dog, we got him in October of 2004 from GPA-CNHC, he was only 2 years old and one month off the Belmont Lakes region track in NH. He was fostered for one month with another Grey and a kitty, we never got to meet him, he was in Kittery, ME and so the adoption coordinator brought another hound for us to meet. WE drove to the Kittery trading post to pick him up from his Foster Mom, he jumped out of the back of the SUV, I grabbed his leash and that was it, we lifted him into our Highlander(could not jump) and brought him home. He was a sweet, gentle, big boy and I was in love from day 1!! We welcomed Sara one year later and she was his buddy until she passed in 2012 from Hermangio. Max went everywhere with us, he was the easiest, most gentle soul, never messed in the house, no separation anxiety, he loved us from day one and tolerated the cats even when they clawed his crate and stepped over him while he slept. We went to Dewey 3 years, Paw House Inn, our Lakehouse, 3 different parks locally, walked everywhere. He taught me to love unconditionally, was my every day best friend when my husband took a job in Wisconsin for 2 years, he saw me through the death of both of my parents in these past 2 years and losing Sara. He has been my inspiration to start a Reiki business for animals and their humans, Grey's Soulful Reiki, of which I just did cards for and am volunteering my healing sessions for shelter animals. There is not enough words to describe the relationship we have had and the joy he has brought us, he was a proud, beautiful boy and the pictures above show him when I 1st got him through his 13th birthday on Columbus Day, I was honored to have him for over 11 years and will miss him every day.

Shannon I am so sorry, thank you for sharing his story, try to focus on his early days and not the end, sending big hugs.

I am so truly sorry, she was such a special soul!

I am so sorry, she was beautiful!

I have been off GT a couple weeks and I am just seeing this, I am truly sorry for your loss of your sweet boy. I got to meet him a few years back at Dewey and thought that he looked almost identical to my Bridge girl Sara who was a sort of Silver Brindle. He was a sweet boy and I loved that you shared his pictures of running @ Dewey recently. :grouphug

My sweet Sara, 4/13/12, Hemangio Sarcoma,inoperable tumor in her spine between 2 disks and already in her lungs, almost 11 years old, this picture was taken in 2009, 2 years post GME diagnosis and after a year of chemo treatment, she was a fighter and insisted on enjoying life, she lived 5 years past GME, almost unheard of, still miss her

Big hugs to that sweet face!!

Beautiful and courageous Henry, hugs to you, Sterling and Truman, so very sorry

My heart sank when I saw this, so relieved that Murray has chosen to fight and big hugs to all of you, such an emotional roller coaster ride, enjoy Dewey!

I am so sad along with everyone here, so sorry

I am so very sorry, you and Henry fought hard for your time together on this earth, my deepest sympathies

Sending good thoughts for Jeff and for you, its incredible hard to see them so sick

Beautiful tribute to a beautiful soul, my deepest sympathy

Wow, so much information, my head would be spinning, I try to trust my gut instinct whenever in doubt, you got so much advice, I have no experience with this disease but wanted to let you know that you are in my prayers and I am hoping that Sneakie Pie continues to stay comfortable, she is beautiful.

I am so sorry, such a tough time, so much loss.

Black or Brindle, she is gorgeous, congrats to you!!!

Great update, how is the foot doing?

Great News, keep us posted!!

He is gorgeous, congratulations!!!!!

So sorry, run free handsome boy

I am just seeing this and am so sorry, I loved your story and have been following along with your struggles, run free Kasey and hugs to you

I am so very sorry.

We had a female(Sara) who was diagnosed with Multifocal GME, she had an MRI and spinal to confirm lesions/inflammation in brain and spine, she was diagnosed in 3/07 and lived another 5 years. She was seen by a Neurologist to diagnose and spent a week in ICU before coming home, she could not walk at onset of disease and within a day of being given Cytarabine injection, she stood up on her own, she came home with many meds, Prednisone, Phenabarbitol, Doxy, Pepcid, and her Cytarabine (Leukemia drug, Immune Suppressant) was injected every other week -4 injections each time given 12 hours apart, she had blood work on every 3rd week but never Gabapentin, no pain meds given. She had a whole year of her drugs, everything but the Doxy which was discontinued after 2 weeks, she was also on Metronidizole(spelling). We treated this aggressively and she honestly lived a full life and after 2 weeks on drugs, she was running the back yard and playing with her toys. This is a rare disease for Greyhounds and there are only a handful of us on GT who have Hounds who lived thru it, sending lots of hope and prayers for San Tan, lots of hugs too, you are on the right track with meds. PS, I met Dr Couto(Greyhound Specialist), the year she was diagnosed and told him what meds she was on, he said that he had been using Cytarabine for 20 years on dogs for treatment and that he had lots of success with it.

I am so sorry for your loss.