tra708

i will definitely keep those things in mind. abby's comfort right now is our top priority, of course. she is still loving food and now she's sound asleep.

hello all, my heart is with everyone going through a tough time with their greyhound (or any other loved one). does anyone have any words of advice for losing a dog for the first time? we've had abby for 13 yrs, and i honestly feel like i'm going to come completely unglued when "it" happens. bringing abby to her favorite spots, getting visits from her favorite people. she's sort of comfortable, but not great. feels like she's slipping away and that we'll have to help her pretty soon. much thanks, and happy day to all moms.

thank you so much for sharing all your experiences and advice, everyone. she had a great day yesterday, ate TONS of food, and acted pretty much normally. in a way, that's what makes this harder. it essentially means letting Abby go when she feels good and is still enjoying life. she's my first dog and we've had her for 13 yrs. taking her to all her favorite places and people in the next few days while we keep a close eye on her. still thinking. thanks again and keep sending me more stories if you can. they help. love, tracy, ellen, and abby

hi, i'll try to make this brief. our 13yr old, Abby, has sort of advanced mast cell cancer, internally. on the way to the vet today, she coughed up blood in the car. the oncologist (we like her a lot) did an ultrasound, revealing a big mass in the liver, and little spots on the lungs (blood clots?). anyway, she gently warned us that this would probably lead to coughing up lots more blood, and possibly a traumatic event that would cause our last time with Abby to be very unpleasant and terrible for her, and us. however, this could happen in a day, a week, a month...who knows. The diagnosis was DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation). needless to say, i haven't stopped crying since we got home. Right now, though, Abby seems good, eating well, happy, and will still run around and play. What do we do? We certainly don't want her life to end in a traumatic, bloody event. And what if we're at work or something? yikes. She has had a GREAT life, and i only want to be of service to her. Has anyone else had experience with this condition, or a similar situation? it's really hard. thanks, tracy, ellen, and abby http://www.petnutrisystems.com/pet_spotlight.html

My Abby had no health problems until just shy of her 13th birthday. She has cancer now but is still chugging along at 13yrs 3months.

I HAVE TWO 2lb. BAGS OF BIRKDALE PET MIX, THAT I WILL SHIP TO ANYONE WHO NEEDS IT!!! THIS WILL MAKE A LOT OF MEALS. My dog Abby had a mast cell tumor, and at first she liked this specially formulated, super healthy food. But now she doesn't care for it any more. It wasn't cheap, so i don't want it to go to waste!! Please, if you know of any greyhound or dog with cancer who could benefit from this, let me know. I would be happy to ship it for free. BIRKDALEPETMIX I hope someone can use it!! My email is tra708@comcast.net

here's an update: abby went to the oncologist, who seemed to know her stuff. she's had one dose of CCNU chemo, she's on a very low dose of prednisone, and taking the K-9 Immunity pills. her incision is now totally healed, she's eating well, and seems like her old self. she does seem more tired than usual....she doesn't want to play or run for as long as she did before. anyway. i am hopeful and encouraged in her progress and i'm planning on having many more months with her. thanks for the kind replies to my earlier post. happy holidays/new year!

thanks for the advice about the tea! we will try that. we went to a second opinion vet.....he seems more thorough than our first vet. he looked at the stuff that was oozing out, under a microscope, and thought it was slightly infected. gave us more antibiotics, since she was off them. we'll see how she does. meanwhile, an appointment with an oncologist tomorrow and a holistic lady on friday. exploring ALL options!!

hello, i got so many sweet replies earlier this week, when i wrote a post about my 13yr old, Abby, had a mast cell diagnosis. our problem is-2 weeks post op, and the incision site is healing nicely, but it WON'T stop bleeding! there's always a slow bleed from one or two of the staples. (there are about 25). the rest looks like it's healing and the skin is fusing together like it should. i have a vet. appointment tomorrow. just wondering if anyone else has had the problem of slow healing from a mast cell tumor surgery. i'm sure it is NOT infected. just slowly bleeding all the time from one spot. abby's not in pain as far as i can tell, and she wants to play! she's so frustrated about that. also, thanks for all who recommended that i contact dr. couto. he's great. just wish i lived closer. thanks all, tracy (and abbydog)

i'll be thinking of willie and i hope things turn out well!

i'm so sorry about Jett. Can i ask how old he was? and when he was diagnosed, did he feel fine?

thank you so much. tracy

this is abby's video on you tube.

thanks. and also by the way....she feels perfectly normal and great. playful and active. it's hard to believe that anything is wrong with her. here's a youtube movie about her. check it out!!

hello all lovely greyhound people, my greyhound abby had surgery to remove a tumor on her leg. the test results just came back and it's cancer...a mast cell tumor. stage 3. which i know is not good because i've already read a ton about it. i was just looking for others with real experiences with this to tell me what worked well and what didn't. please help. i'm new here and i just got home from the vet so i'm still freaked out. Abby's 12, soon to be 13, by the way. THANK YOU so much for any advice. in the meantime, i'll search this forum for more. tracy in naples, FL

hello, my 12 year-old greyhound, abby, underwent surgery last week to remove a tumor on her back leg. we haven't gotten test results back about what we are actually dealing with. QUESTION: has anyone ever used EMU OIL for its healing and anti-inflammatory properties?? i've been reading a lot of stuff about it, for use with animals as well as people. now that she's feeling better, it's hard to keep her down, and the incision is still seeping a bit when she gets up too fast. thank you for any advice, tracy