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Ouchie!

Such a beautiful tribute to your very special boy. I'm so sorry to read that Heisman has left you. He was gorgeous.

Congrats!

Holly is still with Trupanion, but I just set River up with Healthy Paws. It was the per incident deductible that I was tired of.

Yikes! Waiting for an update.

That is fantastic!!

I'm so glad to see your post. Here's to many more happy days with your dogs.

Chase

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I loved your pictures of Mary with Fencetop so much.

I'm so sorry, Mary Pat.

Paula, I'm so sorry to read that Phaelin has left you. He was a stunningly handsome boy. How lucky he was that that you came to his rescue. I'm so sorry for your loss, my friend.

I'm so sorry. I've be where you are and it's awful. Praying for a peaceful passing. I'll be thinking about all of you tomorrow.

We will never forget Morty, Erika. I know how badly it hurts to lose your best boy. Sending you a hug across the miles.

It's ok.

Do you guys remember the story of Manny, the greyhound who had a 16" stick in his chest? The veterinary hospital stopped billing the family when they reached $20,000. This was all from an accident in the backyard. That story is here. Accidents can happen in a flash. Those bills can really pile up quickly.

Murray wasn't sick for a single day in the seven years we've had him..... .......and then (at age 12) he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The best advice I can give any pet owner is to have pet insurance. We spent close to $20,000 on him this summer and fall trying to figure out what was wrong with him and then having him treated with cyberknife radiation. I made payments on his pet insurance policy for seven years and never made one claim on him. This fall, Trupanion paid out 90% of the $20,000 we spent on him. Murray was in and out of the emergency hospital three times in the last week of his life. We spent $2,300 in that week alone. Veterinary care is very expensive. I'd never want to make a decision about my pet's health based on money. Thank God for insurance.

I wrote this post back in August, 2014 to another GT member who was where you are now: I'm sorry to read this news about Jackie. We went the palliative care route for Bee Wiseman. If amputation could have cured Bee's cancer, we'd have done it. We managed her pain for eight weeks with a combination of Deramaxx, Tramadol, and Gabapentin. We upped the doses of drugs very regularly with the help of our vet. At eight weeks post diagnosis, her pronounced limp was uncontrolled with this combination of meds. We were also very concerned about a catastrophic break. We knew that she had to be in terrible pain, so we made the choice to let her go. We did not consult with an oncologist, as I felt my vet was aggressive in prescribing and increasing dosages of these pain medications. This summer I've been reading The Emperor of All Maladies A Biography of Cancer by cancer physician Siddhartha Mukherjee. This Pulitzer prize winning book tells the story of cancer and its treatments throughout history. It's a fascinating read and absolutely accessible to nonmedical people like myself. Last week, I came to a section on palliative cancer care. While doctors aggressively treated cancer patients with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (where the aggressive treatments themselves often lead to the deaths of the patients), a British nurse named Cecily Saunders resurrected the discipline of palliative care while caring for man dying from cancer in London in the 1940s. She sought to ease the burdens of these pariahs of oncology, the ones who failed to respond to treatment. Saunders noted that these patients were often denied pain relief, dignity, and, at times, basic medical care. She created a hospice for these patients in London in 1967. The hospice was called St. Christopher's, named for the patron saint of travelers. Saunders recruited psychiatrists, anesthesiologists, geriatricians, and neurologists to help these patients die painlessly and gracefully. I wanted to share some of Saunders's words because I think they are appropriate here: "The provision of... terminal care should not be thought of as a separate and essentially negative part of the attack on cancer. This is not merely the phase of defeat, hard to contemplate and unrewarding to carry out. In many ways it's principles are fundamentally the same as those which underlie all other stages of care and treatment, although it's rewards are different." I realized that this was our truth in choosing palliative care for our beloved Bee Wiseman. Some days the pain of her loss is still excruciating. I wish you peace.

So glad to read that the stroke is far behind Twiggy.

Sonny was a beautiful boy. How lucky he was to have ended up with you, Diane. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm a teacher, too. We were able to afford the treatments because we had pet insurance. We had been paying on Murray's policy for seven years and had never made a claim on him. Within four months, we submitted close to $20,000 worth of bills. The insurance paid 90%. We were so thankful to have had that policy. Here's to hoping the pred will help your boy improve. Within days on pred, Murray was able to rest and lay down on his own. He was also eating again. He raced at 68 pounds and at one point he was down to 52 pounds. It took weeks for us to figure out what was wrong with him. Every test he had showed that he was perfectly healthy aside from restlessness and refusing to eat he was demonstrating. We thought he would die from anorexia before the brain tumor would get him. He rallied on pred and got up to 62 pounds just before he fell ill around New Year's Eve. He was my son for eight years. I'm still reeling from the loss. Keep us updated on your boy's condition, okay?

Our greyhound Murray experienced most of the symptoms you are describing (circling, inappetence, inability to lay down). We also had to pick him up and lay him down. Once he was down, he would rest. He had an MRI and was diagnosed with a brain tumor (pituitary macroadenoma) in September. He was treated with cyberknife radiation and was on prednisone for three months. He just passed away at the beginning of January. We were hoping that the radiation would buy him more time, but things did not work out that way. We did see quick resolution of the strange neuro symptoms once prednisone was started. I wrote about his brain tumor experience/treatment/diagnosis here. We will be thinking good thoughts for your boy.

Cody was a pretty girl. I'm so sorry that we never got to meet her, but I'm glad we've gotten to know you over the years, Jeannine.

Your tribute is beautiful. It's so clear how dear Zeke was to you and you to him. I'm so sorry for your loss of your favorite boy.

Exactly. Please adopt.