Sadly today was the dreaded day. We tried everything we could the last few weeks and sadly it wasn’t enough. Sophie lost even more weight and started to refuse to eat even when she was hand and spoon fed. Yesterday she couldn’t walk on her own anymore. We took her to the vet today and they said that it’s most likely cancer that initially didn’t show up on the blood work, but with the extreme weight loss in such a short time that was the likely case. We could have done more blood work to see and potentially done treatments, but the vet (and us) felt that all it would do is prolong Sophie’s suffering. So we had some cupcakes (the only thing she’s eaten in a bit) and a couple of pepperonis off a pizza. We cuddled her and told her she was the prettiest and goodest girl (because she is) and she crosses the rainbow bridge. The room we were in had a window that let some sun in, so she was also able to sun bathe, which was one of her most favorite things to do.
I’m no going to take down her blog so we can still look in on the memories, but I want to thank you all for the well wishes and support in this trying time. It’s not easy losing a pet, but we’re trying to keep in mind that she’s no long sick and in pain.
Hi, I don't follow you but I just saw your recent post about Sophie. I obviously don't know the details, but what you described sounds very similar to what I went through with my coonhound, who ended up having Blastomycosis. It was misdiagnosed and treated as cancer by the first vet we visited, and unfortunately the delay in a proper diagnosis led to her passing away by the time we started her on antifungals. I just wanted to say something on the off chance that it might help, because it's not a very common or well-known illness and it looks a LOT like various types of cancer. Anyway, godspeed and best wishes
Thank you so much for letting me know and I’m so sorry about your coonhound 😞 I’m going to make sure I make a note of that so we can keep an eye out for it!
The appointment went AMAZING! Sophie is obviously severely underweight (58lbs!) but she had a lot of energy today. The doc said her heart and lungs sound really good and it’s possible that one of the masses on her stomach is a hernia, which is obviously better than a tumor.
Obviously it’s hard to tell what’s going on just from the outside, so we did a full blood panel and are going to collect stool and urine samples to see what’s going on inside her body. She does seem to have cataracts, which that paired with weight loss can indicate diabetes, but she doesn’t think she’s diabetic. She’s also been given some dewormer, as severe sudden weight loss can be a worm issue (especially in senior dogs) and some antibiotics because she has been vomiting and having diarrhea. She also said that, until we get the tests results, she doesn’t think Sophie is in need of being put down!
We’re so happy with this vet and this appointment, and obviously once we have results on Monday I’ll tell you guys the outcome!
I know it’s been a HOT minute since we’ve posted on here (between moving and life, things just kind of slipped) but I wanted to come on here and give you guys an update.
Sadly our Sophie isn’t doing the greatest. Since the end of January this year she has had unexplained weight loss, even though she’s been eating as usual. She’s also developed several small and medium sized masses over her entire body within the last couple of weeks.
This past Sunday we (my brother, SIL, and boyfriend) decided to take her to some of her favorite places to walk around and just have a “her” day. Since then she’s declined even more; she hasn’t eaten any food (I had gotten senior wet food to try and help with weight gain) and will only eat the dog cannabis treats that I got for her. She hasn’t really moved off the couch and hasn’t really been going outside. We will be going to the vet tomorrow (2/24/23) to see what there is left we’re able to do. As much as I want to be optimistic, she’s in bad shape when she shouldn’t be. I’m hoping tomorrow won’t be a “last visit” situation, but I figured until I find out I’d let you guys know what’s going on.
Honestly, I hate to gatekeep pet ownership, but if you hear the words “a dog can survive on a vegan diet, but will probably not thrive on it” and your immediate reaction is “cool, so I can feed my dog vegan!” then you shouldn’t have a dog.
No ifs or buts about it, you just shouldn’t have a dog. Give it to someone else.