Isabel964

Wow, how beautiful and special is she?! What a gorgeous old girl. She looks amazing. I agree, she is very fortunate to have you in her life. Very special. Thanks for sharing :)

Love those photos, and it's so heart warming to see how two dogs play and interact. Your dogs are gorgeous. I'll always have two dogs. They are so good together.

Love those photos, and it's so heart warming to see how two dogs play and interact. Your dogs are gorgeous. I'll always have two dogs. They are so good together.

What a gorgeous bundle of fluff

How ended fly to read. Thank goodness for people like you. Thank you for sharing.

Freisia you have a wonderful approach to things. I am adding K9 supplement to Jindi's diet and one other thing I can't remember the name of. These boost the immune system and in some dogs seem to have a remarkable impact. George at www.dogcancer.net.au is sending to me, you just call him with a credit card - he is good to talk to, genuine and knowledgeable. I also met a lady yesterday and her dog has bone cancer, was given 2 weeks to live 6 months ago, she has added tumeric to her dogs now natural diet. You may (or not) be interested in a closed Facebook group called Tumeric User Group. It is for humans and furs living with cancer. This lady says Tumeric is amazing. If you want to request to join it, it's the group with around 150,000 users, it has a pivture of a seedling with two leaves on a light blue background. I don't know anything about it yet, I've just requested access to join the group myself.

Thank you, yes I think circulation isn't so good with the older souls whether they be human or canine. She is back to normal today. I feel bad I didn't see she avoided done medication from the morning. Now I'm watching her and baking sure she has it by putting it into cheese etc and watching her eat that.

What a beautiful gorgeous boy was Mac. Your post is very special. What a life, what a story, so much adventure and treatment you went through together. I am so sorry for his history before he met you, and for your loss, the hole they leave we feel so much. You gave him the best years of his life - wonderful beautiful years. He 'looks' in such good shape - such a stunning boy even in Nov. And a real handsome cutie in each photo. Once in my life, I was so grief-stricken I swore I would never have dogs again. Then I realized that the joy of every moment with them is worth the gutwrenching heartbroken grief we feel when they go to the rainbow bridge. Big hugs.

Great thread - all the best with your gorgeous girl. For what it's worth a good private one on one dog trainer in my opinion is worth it. They can be amazing. I had one for my kelpie when she was 2yrs old. One hour he spent with us. Since then she learned to walk off lead, be so obedient it's been like a dream with this girl. She had no issues, it was more me wanting an obedient dog that I could take anywhere anytime and be in control to keep her safe.

Oh you know what I did find a tablet near her food bowl tonight. I can't tell if it's the pain killer or the anti-inflammatory from this morning. I didn't know she could shake from pain. I think this was it! For two years she has had those tablets every morning... except today. I gave her another of each tablet with dinner and she seems fine.... maybe it was pain. She is a dear old thing ❤️ Very lovely sweet and beautiful.

My kelpie is 15 years old and often her rear legs shake a bit. She has arthritis and has daily pain killers and anti-inflammatories - been a couple of years on this and she is doing great... albeit increasingly fragile. She still goes on daily walks of around 15-20 minutes. Today I found that she was shaking/shivering all over. I thought she could not be cold because the house was at 21 degrees. But when I put a heated throw rug over her bed and a little blanket over her she soon stopped shaking. She was then fine for a couple of hours. She lay there for maybe half an hour and then came and lay in the lounge room where I was, followed me around a bit. A few hours later she was laying there shaking/shivering all over again. I put her in the heated rug again, put a little blanket over her and she was ok again. I called the vet surgery and asked if they could get a vet over to check her. I arrange house calls for her these days because going in the car is just too risky as she doesn't have strength to balance. The vet surgery said they just didn't have the resources to do it. I'm wondering... is her body finding it difficult to manage/regulate her temperature because she is quite old now? She does not have thick fur. She never did except around her neck and chest. Is this is a sign of something else? I thought someone may know.

FreisiaI am so sorry to read of your kelpies diagnosis. Having my Westie diagnosed with a tumour in her spinal cord Tuesday evening, being recommended surgery and chemo, I too am going through this. My two first questions were 1. If we do surgery + chemo, what is the best case scenario? 2. If we do not do surgery and chemo what is the best case scenario? I was told 6-8 months is the best case scenario with surgery and chemo, 3 months is the likely time she has left with no surgery or chemo. That gave me infomration to weigh up - am I going to put my beautiful girl through surgery and chemo for a possible 3 month life extension or let her live out her life without treatment as best she can without the trauma of treatment. Then I asked What do they do in surgery, how do they get in side the spine to get to the tumour (they drill a hole through bone in the spine to make a window they operate through) How major is the surgery and what is the recovery time, can the dog die? Recovery time tends to be 3 weeks before the dog can really walk again, sometimes more - some dogs never walk again after the surgery. What is involved in the chemo, how many times, for how long (three weeks in Brisbane in a special facility) That was enough for me. We elected to not do surgery or chemo, and instead to give our girl the best quality of life. with the help of this forum I found www.dogcancer.net.au and I called George and spoke to him - lovely guy, feel welcome to call him (number is on his website, know they are three hours behind Syd/Melb time) - he has lots of experience with dogs with cancer and helping people with it. Your dogs cancer is different to mine. He may be familiar with it. Ive now started researching what foods are best to feed dogs living with cancer, seems cancer likes carbs and sugar..... if you google dog cancer you will find alot of info. George's website has heaps of information too. there are also vets who work in holistic medicine, acupuncture and more. I'm just finding all this out myself. Even if you do decide that surgery and/or chemo is best for your dog, the food you feed them is important, and all the alternative therapies can aid recovery. I met a lady in the pet store today when I was buying a harness, and she said apparently tumeric is amazing for dogs with cancer. I wish you all the best with this difficult time and decisions to make. I send you and your kelpie hugs (I have a kelpie too).

Oh yes thank you so much - I'll definitely do that Westiemum. The only concern is its her front right leg that is going to get worse. Thats harder to have wheels help. I could also use a pram type wheelie thing so we push or pull her along on walks (we are always a two dog family). We'll tackle things one at a time. Thank you again for your kind offer and always being so supportive.

Thanks - will check mcdowellsherbal out. George did also ask about my other dog, which is a 15 year old fragile kelpie doing absolutely great with bad arthritis, so he is also sending me synflex for her too :) Plus I have her sharing the anti cancer diet - all my future dogs will also live on an anti cancer diet now.

You are all so wonderful. and I'm hearing a number of stories where dogs live for alot longer than vets predict without treatment. Jindi is very happy, and at least she can now go on walks. The local vet said no walks as she needed complete rest due to arthritis. Now we know its not arthritis, the specialist vet said she can walk as long as she is comfortable, and so thats good. We of course don't do full walks now, but she goes into the park or around our block. Jindi thinks life is normal, and just adores it. she is very happy. Yes there is a chance of losing her during surgery, plus a chance she would never walk again. We are definitely not going down the surgery/chemo route. Her quality of life is what counts. We have started her on an anti cancer diet - hormone and chemical free meat, vegies, immune boosting supplements etc thanks to George at dogcancer.net.au I still have lots to learn about how to stop the cancer from growing, make it go away or slow it down. The doggies wheelchair is a great idea - I'll look into that. I have seen the wheels that support the back legs where the front legs do all the work - but don't know what can support the front when one leg won't work anymore (Its working fine at the moment) - I will look into that for sure. Thank you all for your support and well wishes. It sure helps so much during a time when there is shock, confusion and grief. Now there is calm and positivity :)

OMG George from www.dogcancer.net.au is lovely and amazing. :)

Thank you both so much, that's great. For other looking for the same thing, I also have been given the following - if you google then you can see more - both are in Melbourne. Dr Rebecca Bugg 0415 773 670 Dr Margaret O'Riordan 9480 1823 I have not been in contact with anyone yet - will do so soon.

Such a beautiful boy. Sounds like he had a great life with you and was much loved. I know the pain of losing them all too well and send you my deepest sympathies. I have learned that every moment we have with them is worth the pain of losing them one day.

I am so very sorry you had to say goodbye to Annabelle. What a pretty name she has. Its so hard to make that decision. And life will never quite be the same without her - but her memory will live on and she will always be a part of you. Big hugs, Isabel

I would like to find anyone, on the planet, that knows about natural therapies or alternative therapies for treating cancer - a tumour in a West highland Terrier. We are opting not go with surgery and chemo which if we did go ahead would give our girl a 6-8 month life expectancy, so we are instead giving her the best quality of life without major medical procedures which gives her a 3 month life expectancy. So we need to try everything we can to slow down this meningioma tumour in the spine of her neck, that is partially invading her spinal cord. Any ideas or thoughts very welcome.

Update: Vet called. The tumour seems to be outside the spinal cord but has invaded the spinal cord. They feel they could get most of it out but then would need chemotherapy. They think it is a meningioma type tumour but don't know exactly without surgery and a biopsy. To get it out they drill a hole into the bone of the spine to create a window they can operate in. It's major surgery. Most take 3 weeks to start walking again after this surgery. Some dogs never walk again after this surgery. Recovery once they start walking again is slow. Chemo therapy has to follow and can only be done in Brisbane, she would be hospitalised for three weeks, and get several bursts of chemo. She will be radioactive during this time so has to stay in the hospital. Then there is recovery time. If we do everything the vet thinks she has 6-8 months. We may have three months or so with her if we just manage the pain. But she will be at home living a normal life. She will get worse in time and when she can't walk anymore because the leg keeps collapsing that's when we have to let her go. We want her to have quality of life. We are getting an additional pain relief for her. That way she has anti inflammatory pain relief and nerve pain relief. The nerve one needs to be compounded and that's being organized today/tomorrow. Edited to add, thank you for your support and kind words xx

Thanks Podengo. We won't being going down that route - the surgery required is too major. Vet called. The tumour seems to be outside the spinal cord but has invaded the spinal cord. They feel they could get most of it out but then would need chemotherapy. They think it is a meningioma type tumour but don't know exactly without surgery and a biopsy. To get it out they drill a hole into the bone of the spine to create a window they can operate in. It's major surgery. Most take 3 weeks to start walking again after this surgery. Some dogs never walk again after this surgery. Recovery once they start walking again is slow. Chemo therapy has to follow and can only be done in Brisbane, she would be hospitalised for three weeks, and get several bursts of chemo. She will be radioactive during this time so has to stay in the hospital. Then there is recovery time. If we do everything the vet thinks she has 6-8 months. We may have three months or so with her if we just manage the pain. But she will be at home living a normal life. She will get worse in time and when she can't walk anymore because the leg keeps collapsing that's when we have to let her go. We want her to have quality of life. We are getting an additional pain relief for her. That way she has anti inflammatory pain relief and nerve pain relief. The nerve one needs to be compounded and that's being organized today/tomorrow.

My beautiful Westie Jindi has just yesterday (6pm) been diagnosed with a tumour in her neck, which is pushing against her spinal cord. I noticed she was limping, the vet couldn't see it and over 7-8 weeks its gotten very bad - diagnosis = arthritis. That felt wrong to me, so I went to a specialist and ended up finding the tumour. See http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/265547-my-beautiful-westie-diagnosed-tonight-with-a-tumour-in-or-near-spinal-cord/page__gopid__6780599#entry6780599 I'm waiting for a call today from the vet once they know more about this tumour. If it is not in the spinal cord itself, they may be able to operate to remove as much of the tumour as they can and they said chemo or radiotherapy was an option. My primary concern now is for Jindi's quality of life for whatever time she has left. Can anyone tell me what chemo is like for dogs? I may have a decision around surgery plus chemo vs pain management for as long as possible.

Thank you both. Yes Westie's are very stoic. The vets said that given the size of the tumour and how much it is already squeezing the spinal cord, they would expect more impact. I saw the tumour in the MRI at different angles - its big. Its sitting in a tube like thing that has room only for the spinal cord and some fluid. There is no room for this tumour, its taking over where the spinal cord should be and squishing the spinal cord - hence the impact on the front right leg, limping and pain. Its been such a shock diagnosis, I couldn't stop crying. But Im getting better. Tomorrow I will be able to ask the vet alot more questions than I could today - and they will call me when they have more detailed information on the tumour.

My most beautiful West Highland Terrier Jindi (10 years old) started limping a couple of months ago. Vet said they couldn't see it. Took her back, vet said probably arthritis, but since she was cortisone for an allergy, nothing else they could give her. a week ago they said arthritis and prescribed a pain killer - previcox. I said Arthritis doesn't feel right to me, a gut feel. I also found dreadful information on previcox so didn't give her any. I got a referral to the Melbourne Specialist Vet Clinic. XRAYS yesterday should no cause for the limping, including arthritis. So we went and got an MRI. Unfortunately the MRI shows Jindi has a tumour in or next to her spinal cord in her neck. It's putting alot of pressure of the spinal cord. So unfortunately this means best case scenarios is this is a tumour that is 'next' to the spinal cords and not within the spinal cord, they can surgically get what they can out, it is s tumour that can be tested with chemotherapy or radio therapy, and responds very well - she may live for another 12 months. OMG I was so shocked and devastated, Worse case is the tumour is in the spinal cord. We may have days or weeks left with her. The tumour will be identified in the next 24 hours, then we do nothing, do surgery, do chemo/radio therapy or a combination depending on where and what it is, and what decisions we make. I am inconsolable. I am in shock. I never thought I could lose this little one so soon. But the important thing for me to do now is focus on giving her the best of her time left and making the best decisions for her. She is home for now and the specialist vets said Previcox will be ok, be sure to give it with food - and all things considered, I decided to go ahead and give it to her 1 x 57mg tablet once a day- I want her to have relief from the pain. If you have any tips on what I should ask the vet, different things to consider, please let me know. I am very experienced with cats and dogs, but never have I had this scenario to deal with. I'll let you know when I get more specific information on the tumour and the recommendation from the vets.