XTRAWLD

Kasey has done that numerous numerous times. For him, he's always taken a few days to get back to "himself" because he has overstretched a region (thankful that's the worst of it for him). The falls that don't bode well are the crashing ones on their rib cages. He has missed a step before, splayed out and has hit his rib cage against the stairs. Thankfully no serious injury, but you can see how it can get bad. If she got trampled when she was in that position, she would have had further pressure on her rib cage against the ground I would guess. Maybe when she's reacting to you it could perhaps be a hairline fracture of a rib? Purely speculation. As they get older, this is something that happens and like the suggestion above, carpet, grippy areas, etc help. Since you are noticing a reaction from her, a trip to the vet might be a good idea. Hopefully she'll spring back with no ill effects.

Yeah, he gets ALLLLLL the ladies. Thank you all.

(He may have actually said hemangiosarcoma but I didn't hear the hem part....either way, it's still the same cancer sadness) :'( We're fortunate that Kasey's specialist regularly consults with Dr. Couto and that he will be a topic of conversation when he visits Guelph for a seminar this weekend (if not discussed sooner). Next option will be an ultrasound to see if it has affected any organs and then go from there (the potential that it has affected organs is high). Likely won't have a full idea on prognosis until the ultrasound. I was told that surgery and chemo are rather successful ways to treat this, but that depends really on what is going on inside that we can't see. Thank you for your thoughts, we could always use more. I told Kasey when I got home.....his optimism is nearly contagious - he in fact had the biggest smile. "Have no fear" he says, he is still relatively happy.

Got the news. It's not good news. It's Angiosarcoma. There are lots of options to pursue. Just letting it sink it for right now.

I've had one or two like that appear on my boys and the next day they were gone....but it did not protrude however like it is in shot from above. You say "at least one", so where are the others? Are they similar? My only experience with these sudden things is what I'm going through right now with Kasey. He has no reaction to it if I touch it but it feels firm and otherwise is acting like not a thing is wrong in the world. I'm still waiting on the results of his biopsy from last week. I'd imagine (as they did for Kasey) they could aspirate the bump just to get a quick idea of what's going on, and then a biopsy to get a definitive diagnosis and then you take it from there. Hugs.

Thank you for this. It's given me a few ideas. I'm more concerned of keeping some pressure on it initially. With enough cleverness I should be able to figure something out with my mom and she could sew something together for me. Hmmm, now i'm thinking of turtlenecks.... I think what I might do is use Ryder as my trial boy for a stand in while I experiment with what might best fit. He's gonna hate me LOL You are all so helpful!

That's nice of you, thank you! No fluids were given, he was just given a general anesthetic in the area. Kasey is weird with meds...he has opposite side effects to prednisone for example (not thirsty nor hungry but pees like a racehorse - sort of like water retention)....so I'm not sure what side effects Amicar would have, but I will ask my vet too next I chat with them. Oooooo, now that is a very very good idea. Thank you so much for the suggestion! The first picture on this page was how the vet wrapped him, which failed to stay. But that webbing sounds like a winner, although I agree it might not be tight enough.

I didn't really have access to Amicar unfortunately before this biopsy (this bleeding was also completely unexpected), but I suspect my vet will give me some before surgery (and I will ask based on this disaster). Can I ask what the side effects of Amicar is - he seems to be urinating more often than usual.

This dog just wouldn't settle. I know he's old. I know he's uncomfortable, but unless he just calms down, it will just keep bleeding. So utterly restless. The bandages never did really hold, so I gave up to try something else. I soaked the whole area with some CS to get it cleaned up, took a good look and the wound itself really isn't bleeding very much although the mass itself is very very angry looking. So, I thought the bleeding was under control when I put some gauze on it with three bandaids. That got soaked somehow after about 2 hours. Likely because he was just walking around the house uncomfortable..... Tried to wrap it.... and that failed Gave up. This should do the trick right? Put on one single tough bandaid and that worked all night long. Surprisingly uneventful sleep and he only got up 3 times to re-situate himself. Since the bandaid still looked good this morning I didn't bother touching it. Will take it off tonight after work and have a look. I will really need some better suggestions on how to take care of this when the mass is removed. If bandages won't stay for a little core sample and one suture, I don't think I have a chance when they try to take the whole thing out. Suggestions on how to wrap a bum? I'm thinking I might put some really long sanitary napkins from the top of his back to the thigh and maybe stick those on with tape to his fur somehow, but I have no way to put pressure on it. I was thinking a pair of spandex shorts, but where would I find them?

10 very long days (now 8)!!! We are all sharing in your excitement. What a cutie patootie.

Can someone explain to me how Amicar works? He got up, pulled off what little scab has formed as well as the bandage and is bleeding again. Sigh.

So he had his core biopsy this morning, or should I say blood draining episode. After a local anesthetic they went in for the biopsy, where it promptly spewed blood ALL over the place (because as mentioned previously the mass is full of blood). They got what they needed, and sutured it up and put a bandage on, which of course fell off en route to the car. The tech bandaged it up again and in the car he went where of course the bandage fell off again. Blood on the bed, the towels, the back of the car......bandage put back on. But of course he is not comfy, so proceeds to get up and turn around constantly in the car.....more blood LOL. Poor guy. They sent us home with Amicar which he's been given as well as a meal and is now laying comfortably, but oh me oh my. Here is the pitiful looking boy. On the plus side, he gained 3 pounds in a week. Results of the sample expected in a few days.

He actually will pee on the road or cleared sidewalk instead LOL. He does pee in the snow but it took a long time for him to realize he has no choice and it must be done whether the snow is 1 inch deep or 1 foot deep.

Kasey prefers to pee on grass and not snow, so I have the completely opposite issue of you! IMO it's a wait him out game.....sorry buddy you gotta go sometime and we'll stand out here as long as you want until you just GO! Your training ideas are all appropriate, take him out, if he doesn't try again, etc., just have to keep trying to find out what works best. I was wondering, have you thought about buying some straw and putting it down...maybe he'll associate with that?

Ryder does that when he drinks too much and too fast. I think it goes down the wrong pipe....kinda like us hoomins.

What an adorable look he's giving the camera! I don't see hip bones, or the ribs...well faintly on the one pic, but if you can that's all that matters He does not look overweight to me. My Ryder looks very much like that, and I know he's a bit hefty but what's strange...I tried to tone his food down, and he lost 8 pounds in as many months and you know what...he looks the exact same......as he did before the weight loss..... If he's happy and healthy, that's good!

Duct tape worked for me, I couldn't believe it. Glad you had success.

I use Off! kids spray. After hiking in the woods, it's often the only thing that works. I spray it on my hands to put in on their face, and I reapply when the bugs start trying to get them again. There was a dog friendly bug spray I bought a long time ago with essential oil hoohaw, but it didn't seem nearly potent enough to ward off a few bugs in my backyard let alone the ones that are the size of a small car in the woods.

OK thanks. I didn't want to try this weekend until I had heard some feedback. I'm not sure if he would eat 6 lbs and then puke, or maybe bloat or something. Got all the supplies to make the satin balls so he'll be enjoying those tonight. Hopefully he'll be able to gain a pound or two by Thursday when he goes in for his biopsy.

This has made me feel some relief, and sounds very similar. Vet is hoping to get clear margins as well and hoping no or slow regrowth, really hoping it's a vessel that isn't clotting that explains why the whole thing is full of blood and only blood, but who am I kidding I'll know more in about 2 weeks time, but he did throw out the words like hemangiosarcoma and hemangioma and more vet speak. I'm just waiting to hear the results before I jump to conclusions and worry myself even more. Thank you all for your thoughts. It pains me to see him declining so rapidly, with seemingly a new issue every few weeks.

I weighed Kasey on Monday and found out he lost about 10 lbs in the course of a month and a half as a result of being on meds for LS, his recent D situation, and turning his nose up on a raw turkey mix he has had regularly but no longer has a taste for. While I'll be making some satin balls this weekend to help stimulate his appetite and prevent further weight loss I have a question.....can he eat too much? I've recently switched to a new raw beef mix that he very thoroughly enjoys. There are some instances throughout the week where he is absolutely completely famished and will polish off a pound of raw and 100g of rice in a sitting, other times I can't get him to eat a spoonful for several meals in a row. I would like to take advantage of the days he does have an appetite and feed him more. The problem is what if it's too much and how much is too much and what happens if he has too much or his feedings aren't spaced out enough? I try to feed him a pound of raw per meal, so that's 2 lbs a day on a good day. Before March, this was enough food as a maintenance to keep his weight on. I (just now) was able to get him to eat another pound before bed. (He ate a full pound + rice for breakfast, a full pound + rice for dinner, and a full pound now) If I gave him 2lbs now, he would have eaten that too I have no doubt, so that would be 4lbs in one day. Can I do this? Can HE do this? Is there a limit to how much he should have that is safe? When I get around to feeding satin balls, I was expecting to give him one or two in replacement of his daily cookies (2 in the morning before I leave for work and 2 at night for bedtime). What about these extras in addition to more food throughout the day? I want to keep weight on him, and I'm doubtful he will gain, but it's worth a shot. So, can I feed him 4lbs throughout a work day and like 5 or 6 throughout a weekend day when I'm home if he's willing to eat?

Oh I'm so sorry to read this. Karma was so sweet. We were very happy to go hiking with you two. It's not the best photo as she looked away just as I was snapping the pic.... Rest well Karma.

UGH! But....some progress is better than no progress?

There is a mass on Kasey's leg. High up on his bum/upper thigh on the inside, about 2.5 inches by 1 inch or so.....Got him packed up in the car and off we went to the vet to figure out what it is. I had brought it to their attention when he went in for his LS diagnosis in mid March and at the time it wasn't a priority. I was to monitor it if it got bigger/smaller, etc. He feels no pain to having it touched. There is no bruising or obvious visual issue with it, it's just a big big bump. It actually didn't change much in the past month, and if anything only got slightly bigger but barely noticeable for size difference. Since I decided it's not changing one way or the other, and I seem to now have a better handle on his LS let's go take a look. He had a fine needle aspiration which revealed it's all blood within the area. Best guess is that a blood vessel is broken and the blood is just sitting on top of the muscle. But that the vessel isn't healing and is still leaking and causing it to continue filling. The blood also isn't being reabsorbed by the body....so what we have here is strange. I'd like to think it happened under trauma - he was falling a lot and doing the splits before I was able to get him his diagnosis and meds, but really we discussed all potentials including dreaded cancer type words. While the vet believes the likelihood of it being cancerous is slim, we won't know until we explore further. He's going in for a tissue biopy next week, we wait for 3 or 4 days for results and then are scheduling a surgery to have it removed (they also agreed to do a dental while he's under, I'm so grateful). This old pup has had an absolutely horrible week. I could use some good thoughts.

What a tribute. Thank you for the story. Rest well now Bobber.