shepherds

Bindo. I haven't been on here much and have just read this and I am so very sorry for the loss of your beloved Lucy. RIP dear sweet girl.

Oh gwp4me, so very sorry to read about the loss of your beloved Struppie. In time I hope you can take some comfort from knowing you gave the fight everything you had and more and Struppie couldn't have asked for anything else. I wish you strength over the coming days and from one grieving owner to another there is nothing that can take away the pain of the loss, it is something we just have to endure and the price we pay for having and loving them so much....and in the end I know you would do it all over again for the joy and love that he brought you. RIP Struppie.

Sounds like a lovely start to your day.... Enjoy :)

No real words of use for you gwp4me, except I'm just so sorry you are having to go through this with your beloved Struppie. I'm still not convinced they all let us know when it's time, but I do believe when you are in tune with your animal and particularly having spent an intensive time nursing them as you have gwp4me, there does come a point when both your head and heart come together and knows what has to be done. Be kind to yourself gwp4me and give Struppie a hug from me.

Great to hear Lucy is doing so well Bindo....and sounds like your son did a great job looking after the zoo. Your holiday sounds lovely and just what is needed here...just need a build in babysitter.....kids do have their uses.... Now we will just sit a wait for the photo of the zoo...with Lucy front and center.... :)

How's Struppie doing gwp4me? Hope the past couple of weeks have been kind and Struppie still has the happy wag in his tail. Have you continued with the chemo and how's his appetite been? Did the antibiotics do the trick and hold? Levi is doing well thanks. He seems to have come back quite well (fingers crossed) from his geriatric vestibular episode and has since celebrated his 13th birthday :) I was in at the vets this earlier this week and she handed me a beautifully wrapped gift with a big K on the front and said do not open until you get home. It was a picture frame with Kobe's name down the side and a beautiful poem with a diamanté paw print embedded in the frame and more diamanté 's sprinkled across the poem. It's lovely. We spent a lot of time at the vets particularly as the IV'S took around 2-3 hours each week and she used to spoil him rotten every time we were there, with special privileges and treats to tempt him when his appetite was bad etc, but this gift was completely unexpected and bought me to tears ( yet again). When I rang to thank her, she just said your welcome, he was a very special boy.

That's is good news....and the ditto to stop reading stuff. :). While its good to be informed, one of the biggest challenges when living with a sick animal is being able to live each day as it comes and enjoy. I failed miserably at it...and probably my one biggest regret was not being able to let go of the stress and the worry and just enjoy more of the moments. Hope everything continues to go well for you and Boof.

Sorry to read this Wuffies, I hope your boy is continuing to recover well from the surgery. While I've not had direct experience with this myself, a close friends dog had this surgery at 12 years of age and lived another 12 months quite happily and healthily before passing away from unrelated causes.

Hello gwp4me and Bindo. Haven't been on DOL much of late, to be honest it's still a bit to fresh and painful as we adjust to life without Kobe. But that said you guys have not been far from my thoughts and I'm very happy to read that despite continued ups and downs gwp4me, Struppie is still here with you, continuing to defy the odds and has bounced back with a happy wag in his tail from the latest challenge. I agree with you and the vet about the food and anti cancer diet. That was always a huge battle ground with Kobe and if nothing else, I'm very very grateful that the last few weeks with Kobe after ditching the worst parts of the anti cancer diet and introducing the vitamin b shots, his appetite improved dramatically and it was lovely to have calm peaceful mealtimes and the old Kobe back, whinging in the kitchen again looking forward to his meals. They are part of my precious last memories. Bindo,...great to hear Lucy is also doing well and I look forward to reading her update. Long may Lucy and Struppie continue to fight the good fight

Thank you everyone for your words of comfort...they help.

So very very sorry for your loss. May the support of others here, help comfort you at this unbelievably sad time.

Probably should be putting something in rainbow bridge, but not up to doing that at the moment. And without hijacking anyone else's thread where we've talked about my boy, just wanted to let my fellow Dolers in here know that Kobe deteriorated very quickly over the last two days and we gave him his wings this morning. I'm overwhelmed and still reeling from the suddenness of it all and as I think someone else mentioned, the watching waiting, worrying is now over, but I've lost my beautiful man. ...I would do it all again in a heart beat, just to have that extra time. To everyone here, thank you for asking after him and for being part of your own difficult journey. Continue to love and do the things that make you happy today, because tomorrow is uncertain. My Life will not be the same without you in it Kobe.

Same, about 1 month ago woke up to find my eldest boy (nearly 13), barely able to move, staggering, eye flickering, etc etc. he has other health issues (degenerative myelopathy) and I seriously thought that was it. Some how he managed to get himself outside, promptly vomited everywhere and would take one steps and either collapse or fall over and couldn't get up...it was terrifying. By the time the vet got here he was able to stand unassisted. Vet diagnosed geriatric vestibular syndrome and we elected to nurse him over that weekend to see how he did. Gave him anti nausea meds. It took 4 days for the eye flickering to stop (each day it would be a bit slower) and the 4 days before I was comfortable enough that he could be left on his own without getting himself into trouble (falling over and getting stuck somehow). It has taken about the whole month to get back to where he was prior to the episode. I can certainly relate to how scared you would have been, it's horrifying. But ditto with leaving lights on (they are very disorientated), given my boy is fairly big I also used a harness to help steady him, assist him up and help him around corners, made sure food and water bowls were raised and I also had boots for his DM and they were great in helping him with stability and traction.

I hope Struppie has a good nights sleep with his belly full and you get the start you want to your working week.

Struppie sounds like he is the same position as what Kobe was, turning his nose up at everything, handfeeding to get them to try and eat (I would spend breakfast and dinner sitting on the floor and if he wouldnt take it out of my hand I was poking it in the side of his mouth). It was really really doing my head in, not to mention how stressful breakfast and dinner times became, always trying to think up new and exciting ways of what to try and feed him, then getting him to eat then the crashing disappointment and worry when he wouldnt. It was after I binned yet another home prepared meal (more or less like a shepherds pie for us humans), that no dog in its right mind would walk away from (and I dont think my cooking is that bad) and that was the 2nd day in a row with no food, after discussion with the vet we decided to try the vitamin B. As far as I know gwp4me, oral vitamin B (if it is the missing link and will help) will take far to long to get into his system and for it to build up enough for any effect. Orally it has to go through the gut, be digested to then be absorbed and going the oral route will take too long to build up what he needs and improve things for him. the 1st one we gave Kobe as I mentioned was IV and effect was almost instantaneous, got home from the vets and he ate a decent amount that night, with the next day normal appetite restored. Approx a week later the appetite started to go off again and over the course of two days disappeared. The next vitamin B was administered subcutaneous (as his veins are getting very very messy) and subcut it took 3 full days to kick in. Last vitamin B shot was last Friday night and by Monday his appetite was back to what it was after the IV B the week before. He is getting another subcut tomorrow which hopefully will maintain levels and if need be I will keep getting them done every other week. I did try to reintroduce pumpkin today, but hes not having a barr of it, but tonight happily ate chicken and our veggies mashed in together. I was following the no carbohydrate, no sugar cancer diet with him as well, but it has got to the point that I need him to eat and stop losing weight, so for now have made the decision to feed what he will eat. I did wrestle with that decision, but he needs food, he needs to keep things moving through and it is what it is...... How did your walk go?