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**Stefrobrts** · 06-10-2007, 10:48 PM

A lot of folks have met our pooch Alki at rallys, including Trout Lake last month. We recently found out she had bladder cancer, and the vet proclaimed it inoperable. We tried medicine for a month, but the tumor still increased in size a little bit. Trout Lake was a special campout for us, because we were thinking it might be her last one, so we brought her without our dalmatian Chester, so Alki could get all the attention for a change. It really was great and everyone had a fine time.

Last week we took her to a doggie oncologist, and they looked over all her records, took more xrays to make sure the cancer hadn't spread, consulted with a surgeon and radiologist, and decided she was suitable for surgery. So week after next she'll be going in to have the cancer removed from her bladder, and will then undergo radiation treatments. We're all keeping our fingers crossed that this works, and that it is not too uncomfortable for her. The oncologist thinks that she has a few more years ahead of her, and we hope she's right.

C Johnson · 06-10-2007, 11:02 PM

Sorry to hear that Steph. I hope that everything works out for the best !

I had no idea she had cancer. She's pretty active. Good Luck and best wishes.

juel · 06-11-2007, 04:48 AM

That's great news. I'm keeping a good thought that this will work for you. Can't let the little critters down, can we?

silverhawk · 06-11-2007, 05:29 AM

here's hopeing for the very best for Alki, best doctors, best care and best outcome. Get well soon Alki. Bob,

overlander63 · 06-11-2007, 05:33 AM

It's great news that they may be able to help Alki, we'll keep her in our thoughts.

Sugarfoot · 06-11-2007, 08:16 AM

It's great to hear Alki has a good chance to defeat the cancer. She's a beautiful little dog. May you have many years with her yet.

Mel · 06-11-2007, 08:19 AM

Glad to hear there's hope - we're pullin' for you Alki!

3Ms75Argosy · 06-11-2007, 08:25 AM

I had no idea she was ill, she seemed to be in fine spirits at the rally! We'll keep her in our thoughts -
Take care!
Marc

cameront120 · 06-11-2007, 08:26 AM

So glad to here some hopeful news. My thoughts will be with Alki in the coming weeks.

Aria · 06-11-2007, 08:36 AM

Alki, Thanks for sharing the photo. She is beautiful. She is well taken-care.
You are doing your best. Let's pray for many more years for Alki. YES. Aria

**Stefrobrts** · 06-11-2007, 09:30 AM

Thanks for all the well wishes! Yes, she is pretty active and outgoing. She still acts about like she did when she was 3, even though she just turned 12! I think that's definitly in her favor in the vet deciding she was a good candidate for the operation.

I tried not to spread the news around too much at Trout Lake, because I didn't want to bum everyone out, but I know I told a few people when it just happened to come up.

safari57 · 06-11-2007, 11:20 AM

Steph,

Crappy news to get and when they tell you it's inoperable you just think they are giving up on the little critters. It is tremendous news to find out that this really is operable. We will have your little furball in our thoughts and prayers for the next little while. They are family, after all.

Barry and Donna

guy99 · 06-11-2007, 03:06 PM

Stephanie,

I truly hope Alki gets a new lease on life. Losing a canine family member is so hard, they are so innocen. As long as they have the spirit and will to live, I believe one should do everything thing possible to extend their time on the planet.

Alumatube · 06-11-2007, 03:40 PM

Shadow and Tillie (baby-sat dog) say "Get well soon, Alki!" Best wishes and lots of prayers to all of you during this stressful time.

Susan

str8strm · 06-11-2007, 06:32 PM

milo and lucy our bassets, extend their best wishes as well. We lost a wolfhound to bone cancer 4 years ago and now have pet insurance with a cancer rider. Our wee girl has blown out both of her ACLs in the past 6 months to the tune of $10000 and the insurance has covered over half of the cost so we are quite happy! They are the best and we do the best we can to take care of them. They are so stoic!

**Stefrobrts** · 06-12-2007, 09:39 AM

Thanks for the well wishes!

Yes, the price of vet care can be outrageous when you get into these exotic problems. Alki's surgery and radiation treatment is going to cost a LOT. We said yes to it without hesitation, our main concerns being what are the odds of success because I don't want to put her through this if the odds are very slim and she'll end up spending her last days recovering from surgerys and treatments. But the specialist assures us her potential for recovering and living out a normal life is very good.

However after we were driving home we were like WOW, that IS a lot of money. But I couldn't see looking at her and saying 'nope, that's just too much'. Dave agrees, the only regret he would have would be if we didn't try everything reasonable that could help her. So it's not like we have the money, but that's what credit cards are for. Hopefully we won't still be paying for it after she's gone!

This would be a good time to find another cheap Bambi to flip

Also, I'm not too happy with our original vet. I don't mean to blame her for being the bearer of bad news, but I have yet to find a vet I really feel like I trust. We had a great vet years ago when Alki was a puppy, but we moved to another town. The current vet did fine in the diagnosing, and seemed to be taking all the right steps, but when she found out it was cancer she said it was inoperable, and pretty much laid out a future where the tumor would close off Alki's ability to pee, and then she would have to be put to sleep. I'm sure she has clients who would stop there and not be willing or able to afford taking the treatment further, so she has to be sensitive to that - but after two years she should know how important Alki is to us. We've never hesitated to pay for anything she needed done. We asked her to consult with the oncologist, and that's who said there were other things we could look into if the medicine didn't work, which gave us a little hope. Still, I had a pretty miserable month thinking this medicine was our best chance, and I was pretty devastated when the second ultrasound showed the medicine hadn't worked.

But now we have this surgery and treatment to hang our hopes on. Alki has 7 more days of romping at the park before her surgery. We'll have to spend a little extra time at it so she can enjoy every day before this all begins. I guess it's a blessing that dogs don't understand more. I wouldn't want her to worry about it. I'll do that for her

CanoeStream · 06-12-2007, 10:43 AM

This has been a good read Stephanie. Having reasonable prospects makes these decisions 'no brainers' when it comes to our furry family members. Larger dogs age faster, so little Alki could have a lot of good times left. Our 13 year old Airedale has been our most expensive pooch to date and a joy the whole time. Her interest in long walks has not changed but we have adapted to the very slow pace in continuing to share these with her. Best wishes to you all!

safari57 · 06-19-2007, 09:16 AM

We put our kitten of 20 years through some difficult surgery in February 2006. It was really hard on her, and us, and at her age she was very susceptible to infections and sure enough, we had a round with them as well. By April she was back to being as close to normal as she got. By September she was having the same problems and we decided to let nature run it's course. I had a heart to heart with the vet who was very positive about doing the surgery (another $3,000 on top of the $3,000 we'd already spent) and although we did not want this to be a dollars and cents decision, we wanted to make sure it was truly adding benefit to Cricket and something more than just a few months of health. When I asked the question "would you put your almost 21 year old cat through this surgery and the subsequent at home intravenous feedings and needles and pills four times a day" she said likely not. So, with heavy hearts, we let nature run it's course and in mid-November she passed with minimal pain and a long and happy life.

We wouldn't hesitate to spend whatever the costs are again no matter what that meant as these are our children. They give us their complete love and trust, and our part of the bargain is the provide them with a quality life to the best of our abilities, and as much of that love back as we can.

We miss her still a lot as does our other cat, Smoky Bear, but having him has been very helpful.

So, in our view and only knowing what we've read here, you are doing the right thing without question. You do need to trust your vet and feel comfortable with the fact that they are not in this just for the money, but also are able to see the whole situation. Our vet negotiated reduced rates from the surgeon who did the actual work and the anesthetist - required due to the age of our cat. She also reduced her rates significantly and even still by the time it was all done we hit $3,000, or 1/3 more than originally estimated. Still, money well spent, we did have a wonderful last summer together, and we would do it again in a heartbeat.

Good luck with you little pup. You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Barry and Donna

yukionna · 06-19-2007, 09:21 AM

Barry & Donna -- I'm sorry to hear of your loss but it sounds like you did the best you could for your pet. Now that modern medicine can work wonders (for a price), pet owners have additional challenges to consider when making these types of decisions about their pet. I too would spend what ever it takes to save my pets but I also weigh that against the future quality of life the pet will experience. This is always a weighty but personal decision for each pet owner.

**Stefrobrts** · 06-19-2007, 12:10 PM

I too am sorry to hear about your cat.

Today we dropped Alki off for her surgery. We spent about 45 minutes with the surgeon and she explained everything they were going to do. She said Alki is in excellent condition for her age, but that the cancer may have spread further than the ultrasounds and xrays told them. She said that she would be removing the bladder tumor, and then radiation should hopfully stop anything that was missed. She seemed very competent and confident that this had great potential for being successful, though she warned us there may be some ups and downs along the way.

So she will be having surgery in a few hours. They will call us before and after, and keep her there for at least a day until they feel she is ready to come home.

It's very hard to do this to her because she appears to be perfectly healthy, but we know she has this cancer inside. So we feel we are doing the right thing, and we hope it all works out so she can get back to doing the things she loves - barking and going for walks, as soon as possible.

Think good thoughts.