I’ve been away for a little while here with non-fur baby issues, but with all the support and guidance I’ve received from everyone here, I wanted to let you know what’s going on.
Casey started slowing down about 6 to 8 weeks ago, and was developing a cow hop, typical of dogs with hip dysplasia. He also had a couple new, hard, subcutaneous lumps. I took him to a new vet for a PT evaluation, and she identified a few things. First, he was suffering from laryngeal paralysis that she believed was migrating down his spine and causing his unusual gait, as well as some atrophy in his hind legs. She also aspirated one of his lumps and while she saw nothing definitive, thought she was seeing cancer cells under a microscope. Bottom line, she was amazed that Casey was doing as well as he was ten months after diagnosis, but while he might enjoy an underwater treadmill, she did not feel he was strong enough for physical therapy.
We continued our walks but they kept getting shorter, and Casey was much less active around the house. The hard lumps are multiplying quickly, and while he was able to jump onto the couch ten days ago, and get off the couch and climb the fifteen steps upstairs last week, we are now helping him stand, and carrying him in and out to tend to his business. He has great difficulty maintaining his balance when we set him down. Yesterday, Ann carried him down from upstairs, and when I went to the foyer to take him out, he was all smiles and excitement, with his tail wagging, but today, not so much, and he’s whimpering when I pick him up. As Ann puts it, he really can’t dog anymore, and he’s telling us it’s time.
Casey was diagnosed on 12/16/2017, and became a TriPaw almost a year ago on December 29th. We were told maybe a year with amputation and chemo (possibly more), and we got a very good year. It’s notable that, to our knowledge, his lungs are still clear (his one osteo vaccination perhaps), and while his recent difficulties may be cancer related, we now know that he’s dealt with the laryngeal paralysis for years (we always told him he had locomotive breath the way he’d pant whenever he got excited). While he fought the good fight against osteosarcoma, at twelve and four months, he can’t fight the calendar.
So, a difficult day. I plan to put together a collage to, as his primary care vet puts it, the quintessential Golden, and I’ll share that here once my emotions settle down.
Finally, thank you again, all of you in the TriPawd community, for your support and guidance over this last year.
Tom