pixandpug

Thank you to everyone for your kind words. I am not going to respond at the moment because it is too hard for me. I keep breaking down. When I got home from work, Oscar was waiting for me at the door and I had a moment of hope. He ate his chicken (his favourite) and then we sat together on the couch. I looked at him and saw that he is again worse today. So much worse than yesterday. The dermatologist rang me just now and confirmed that I have made the right choice. He doesn't think treatment will work for Oscar. I am very grateful to Dr Burton and will write him a note when I can manage it. I will work from home for the next two days and sit with him. He likes that. I still find it hard to believe it has come to this. He has been my best friend and at my side for 9 years. This is a picture of Oscar before this horrible disease came to take him away.

I only have his antibiotics and his prednisone (which I think helps quite a lot) that he has twice a day. I know gets much worse when he doesn't have it. Would there be anything else I could give him? Somebody had organic rump steak for dinner... and will definitely be sleeping on our bed even if he stretches out in the middle leaving us hanging onto the sides... I am dreading work tomorrow. Hoping they will send me home.

I reread the report from the dermatologist and reading between the lines I think there is not much left to do for Oscar. I am trying very hard not to feel angry at the 4 vets that have seen him in the last year or so because it won't change anything. Oscar's cancer is very advanced and if I am honest with myself - I would say he is suffering. The dermatologist hadn't even touched him when he said what it was which was followed by a comment along the lines of "I could of told you what it was when he was walking across the car park". The horrible thing is that I had said to my colleagues yesterday that I hoped the dermatologist could tell me what it was straight away. I had imagined lots of allergy tests, diet restrictions and all the other things that can happen when a dog has skin issues. I know many dogs can go into remission and live for another year but the vet has written it would likely be a matter of months for Oscar. So we have made the hardest decision we have ever had to make and we will spend the next couple of days with lots of hugs and cuddles and he will have all the yummy treats he has been missing until the weekend. How does anyone ever get over this?

Oscar has cutaneous lymphoma. I am devastated. The dermatologist says that with chemotherapy he could live for another 6 - 12 months.

Just an update on Oscar... He has had a few calendula baths which seem to soothe him somewhat but we are always back to the redness and scratching come morning. I am reducing his cortisone dose as instructed by the vet to avoid masking anything before he sees the dermatologist. As it has in the past - this seems to make things much worse for Oscar. The good news is that I managed to have his appointment with the specialist brought forward to this Tuesday. I am counting down the days as it feels as though this could be our last hope. I just hope I don't see that same look of despair I have seen with every other vet that has treated Oscar. Will keep you all informed. p.s. we have moved twice since leaving the SE suburbs, so I have discounted floor coverings etc. Am thinking it could be plant based. One vet said he thought there were more allergens in the North. Who knows...

Thanks everyone for all the offers of calendula tea. I managed to find some today and am getting it ready at the moment (looking for instructions on this forum actually). Poor little boy hates a bath - but at least he won't have to stand there with chemicals all over him for 10 minutes whilst they penetrate his skin. We are located in Ivanhoe for all those that asked. One of the things I will mention to the specialist is that Oscar's problems began when we moved to the north side of the city. We used to live in the south east. It could be coincidental but you never know.

He is currently on Science Diet Z/D Allergen Free. Before this I was making him a homemade diet of veges, roo meat and wholegrain rice for approx 3 months and before that he has always eaten Science Diet dry food with raw bones about once a week. I'd like to change his diet when/if we get to the bottom of what the problem is but have been having a hard time navigating through all the conflicting ideas on diet.

I don't have an issue with it - though some might be put off by the little patches of blood and other mysterious substances he leaves all over the place at the moment. Thank god for the washing machine!

Oscar had his visit with the emergency vet today. It is very disheartening when you can tell they don't know what to say to you and can't help. He advised to keep on the antibiotics and cortisone until he sees the dermatologist. I agree with all the suggestions here to keep things as simple as possible. Tomorrow (when the shops open again), I will pick up some calendula tea and see if this will offer him some relief. I think I will try oscar on a chicken only diet. Would it be better to feed this to him raw or cooked? I noticed some people suggest adding rice and others don't. On a positive note - we took Oscar for a walk after his visit to the vet and he appeared in good spirits. Very busy sniffing and marking every 3 meters. He appears to be maintaining his bottomless pit of an appetite too. There were lots of naughty doggies at the emergency hospital today. I heard many mentions of easter eggs!

Oscars appointment is with Doctor Burton and I will call them first thing on Wednesday morning to see if he can be seen earlier. Today I think we will visit the emergency vet in the hope he can be made more comfortable in the mean time. Oscar was meant to of had a skin biopsy during his skin scraping procedure but apparently the vet 'ran out of time' and the biopsy was not taken. I have never understood what happened as it was my husband that picked Oscar up afterwards. Has anyone had any experience with Canidae Grain Free Salmon food? I can't seem to locate the equivalent in Eagle Pack. Once again, many thanks to everyone for your help. I have really been at a loss as to what to do.

Oh - and it is very difficult to keep a head collar on Oscar. His neck is thicker than his head!

I am taking Oscar to see the dermatalology consultant at Lort Smith on Wednesday (earliest appointment I could get) and will harass the specialist for an earlier appointment too. I have stopped the ivermectin. Oscar currently takes 1 Cephalexin and 1 Prednisone a day. He had been on 2 Prednisone a day but that was reduced. He is currently not taking his normal dose of advocate any more as I was worried about the cocktail of drugs he was on but I will ask the vet at Lort Smith for advice on this. Many thanks for all the feedback

Thanks for replying. This might be upsetting to some people, but Oscar has been sleeping on our bed. It is not his habitual sleeping place - but we feel very sorry for his and he loves sleeping on the bed. Cotton sheets. I will make sure I cover the couches in cotton too. Thanks also for the sock tip. I hadn't thought of that. I'll need to put it on his front and back leg as he uses both. He doesn't scratch all the often but tends to rub his face in whatever he can find with the occasional foot scratch I have tried all sorts of diets of late but am thinking of trying vets all natural complete mix next. I don't know whether I should use chicken or roo. I have heard red meats are not great for sensitive dogs. I have read that people use calendula tea to soothe itchy or inflamed skin. I am interested in trying this but don't want to aggravate his skin anymore than it is.

I have a 9 year old pug that has been suffering from an unknown skin condition for quite some time. The first sign appeared around a year ago with a small patch of missing fur that gradually moved from one spot to another over the course of around 9 months (and several different vets later). We finally settled on one vet and Oscar underwent a skin scraping and blood test with inconclusive results. The vet prescribed some antibiotics, cortisone and regular baths with Maleseb. We also started Oscar on a restricted allergy diet which he is still currently on. Several visits to the vet later and his condition was not improving, but rather getting worse. The vet changed his wash to Sebozole and a week after that, Ivermectin - just in case. The vet thought the skin scraping may have presented a false-negative for mites. It looked as though his skin was getting no worse and then a month afterwards his skin was in a much worse condition. Dry all over with scabs, weeping and very red skin. The vet upped his dose of cortisone and suggested we continue with the other treatments. After another period of time - Oscar's condition was much worse with secondary infections all over his body and we have requested he now sees a dermatologist. I feel terrible as I realise we should have asked for this much sooner but we thought we should trust the vet as he is a lovely man and seems knowledgeable. He now says there is nothing else he can do. The earliest appointment we were able to get with the dermatologist is 6 May. Just before the long weekend, Oscar's skin has gotten much worse yet again with open sores and his general physical condition worsening. Before he didn't seem too uncomfortable and now he obviously is. I called Lort Smith Animal Hospital hoping to be able to see someone and they said they would only be able to treat Oscar in the same way he is currently being treated. I am very scared about what will happen between now and 6 May and would very much like to find an way to make Oscar comfortable until then. In the last two days Oscar has scratched off half the skin on his face and there is no fur left on his front paws. It doesn't look as though his body has any ability to heal itself at the moment. I have stopped washing Oscar in the Sebazole because I feel as though it was responsible for his skin becoming so dry and crusting up. A few days ago he was washed in Maleseb again, but afterwards he was shaking in pain, so I am not sure this is a good idea either. I don't know what to do now... On Wednesday, I will call the Dermatologist and beg them for an appointment ASAP. Sorry for the long post but I was hoping someone might be able to help.

Thanks for all of your recommendations. I'll keep you posted in Oscar's progress