What we do for our pets...

[millvalleyca]

Hi Prim and Kevin
Sorry to hear about Bandit.

We have Scottish Terriers and were members of a bred club.
Check this website out.

You never know.......

Good luck
Dennis

PJ Scots

[ROBERT CROSS]

You can't hug'em and love'em enough....

We are all with you...

[redstart]

hello prim and kevin,
i am sorry to hear about your sweet bandit. my alaskan malamute daisy had liver cancer. she was the type who never complained so we only discovered it with her yearly blood tests. She was around 12 or 13, we don't know for sure because she showed up at our farm pregnant about 10 yrs earlier and we never found her owners so we kept her. The vet thought it was a secondary tumor since she could feel a lump in her leg as well. She was overweight and we hadn't noticed the lump. We couldn;t do much for her, just gave her painkillers which turned out to be a mistake, we think her liver couldn't handle it. It was hard to know what to do because we didn't want her to be in pain but we weren't ready to say goodbye. But she deteriorated very quickly after the painkillers and we had no choice. It was really hard, she was one of the best dogs ever. I know that people have liver resections so maybe dogs can too, if somehow you can find out whether it is the only tumor and if you have the money. I spent a lot of money on surgery for another dog (different problem) and it was worth every penny. Good luck with bandit, we will be thinking of you.

[juel]

What a beautiful dog. They are the sweetest breed. Vet schools may be an option for you if there is one you can get to. I believe you need a referral from your vet. That said, I will tell you that your own vet may be a better sourse for finding the "right" vet for your problem. My vet gave me the name of a great private practice vet with a Phd and an operating suite that was as good as any hospital, maybe better. I was dealing with a cat problem; however, Logan is still with me and doing just fine. Liver cancer is a tough one in any mammal. The liver can regenerate, so hang in there and never give up hope for your friend.

[jnerges]

That is a beautiful picture.

I am sorry to hear about this diagnosis. You probably remember me pouring my heart out last year when Chief got sick with Prostate Cancer. This forum was awesome. We did learn some things I wanted to share.

We spent gobs of money. Thank God we had it, if we had kids or other big bills, I dont think we could have gone the distance. To this day, we don't know how much because we refused to count it up.

The first thing my wife and I agreed on was that money was a consideration. We kept saying when it gets this much, we will stop, OK, this much, now this much. Point is: don't bother using a $$$ number. You will probably blow by it serveral times.

At first, we spent the money for ourselves. WE didn't want to lose Chief and we were'nt really doing it for him. But that was cool because he was trying to recoever.

We went to any lengths and he hung in there. He actually cooperated. As time went by and we couldnt get a handle on the cancer, he started to tell us things, mostly when the tail wag went away. When he was through, he told us and it was his pain that made the decision for us.

My advice is to go for it, if you can treat the little rascal, go for it, hard and as long as you can. If you pooch can't do it anymore, you will know.

I guess that is the best thing we learned. Your pooch will let you know when and if its time.

Best of luck in this dark time. You are in my prayers.


John

Originally Posted by Bambi_Bandit

Today, I find myself reviving an old thread I started over a year ago....

Originally I started this thread to highlight the things we do for our beloved pets and companions. No expenses barred to diagnose or fix our "babies". Heck, if we bought a trailer so we could all travel together, you could sure bet we were gonna spend the bucks and the time to make sure they had the best medical treatment and care....

Today I hesitantly revive this thread, as I have found out my beloved soon-to-be-12-years-old Siberian Husky (Bandit) has liver cancer.

Ultrasounds have identified a mass, and blood tests indicate elevated liver enzymes. We will meet with another vet on Monday to determine if surgery is an option...

I'm still in shock, but I am hopeful that we can win over this issue and I can have my Bandit for a few more years longer....

Anyone who has had liver cancer experience with their pets, please chime in on the circumstances and outcome, surgery or not.

Thanks.

[Stefrobrts]

Take care, we've been there too. We went through bladder cancer with Alki. Not that you're ever really 'through' with it. But we are headed for two years since the initial diagnosis, and she's still going strong. We met some fantastic vet specialists, and our oncologist was fantastic. She never tried to sell us into doing anything, just laid it out as best as she knew how. Never promised anything either. We still give her monthly updates. They really care about their patients.

The big thing for us was that the cancer was such a shock, and she seemed so healthy otherwise, we just weren't ready to let go, even though she was 12. She acted 3! Well now she has had some time to 'get old', her hearing and eyesight are failing her a bit. But she's still happy. So I'm glad we had the money to spend to give her a couple more years. Now if it comes back we're ready to let what happens happen to the inevitable end. Like John, we also kept spending a bit more and a bit more, we couldn't let money stop us as long as there was a dollar left to spend on her. If we had to do it again, with the economy like it is, we simply couldn't. So I'm glad it happened when it did.

[cameront120]

I have no experience with the disease, but am here to offer my support and healing thoughts.

[safari57]

We've had a couple of much loved cats go through this over the years. In both cases we too spent large but they are our children. In restrospect we'd do it again just because we couldn't bear to think that if we hadn't and there was a chance to get either one of them over the hump then........

Our first cat we managed to get two very healthy years for him and thus for us and felt it was a wise investment. For the other she only got 3 months of reasonable health before it was back and it was painful for her and for us. That is the one that hurts the most because we feel at times that she really did not need to go through the treatment hassles and an operation for such a short recovery time. But who knew? I would, though, in future always seek a second opinion on the options available, something I hadn't done with either of mine but having spoken to friends later who went through a similar situation their vet costs for an almost identical process was half of ours and the care was at least as good.

It is such a personal decision and based as much on your finances as your willingness to put your friend through the treatments/operation(s) and resulting illness.

All we can wish you is best of luck and you are in our thoughts.

Take care,
Barry

[imeynstein]

G-d bless!! I had a chihuahua/pickinese mix named Armondo that was born with a congenital heart defect...All of the vets from Ca. to TX. said he would not make it until his first birthday...He lived for 8 years and his beloved best friend--Harry a rat--was his companion. Harry was 5 years old when he passed...I missed them dearly...Our pets have a quality that humans do not possess and that is unconditional love. To me, there is not enough money on this earth to ever compensate for these little loves of my life that I have lost. Never feel guilty for what you have done for your little friend as he/she will be most grateful....I think the only reason why my little friends lived so long was due to the fact that I was an I.C.U. nurse at the time and was able to notice signs and symptoms and requested treatment according to thier diagnosis' at the time....I can never replace my little guys....You are blessed.....Good luck and keep me updated on the recovery....

[Bambi_Bandit]

Thanks to all who are thinking of us and Bandit.

This past week since my last posting has been difficult. We've tried to "live normal" and not let Bandit pick up on our sadness, and have spent the past weekend in Cosmo in South Austin letting her spend her days outside, walking, and lusting after squirrels.

Last night and this morning was the toughest, as we brought her to the vet this morning for surgery to see if the mass could be taken out. They may open her up and find it too difficult and/or risky and simply biopsy the mass and leave it and close her back up, or they may take it out. All depends on the Surgeons call.

The next few hours have Prim and I on edge as we wait for the call from the vet after the operation.

Bandit is a tough girl, so we hope for the best. I've come to the point where I will spend the $ and do what ever I can for her at this point for her health and quality of life. It has not come to the point that I am doing things to prolong the inevitable only to be selfish for my own. That time has not come yet....

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers...

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Bambi_Bandit

It has not come to the point that I am doing things to prolong the inevitable only to be selfish for my own. That time has not come yet....
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers...

That is the hardest part, but I know from experience that your friend will let you know when it's time. Somehow they know...

Fado sends his Love

Bob & Sandra

[Crusty]

I've spent several thousand on my 17 year old buddy Spook, who developed renal insufficiency about 3 months ago. Since that time I've begun the every other day ritual of giving him 150 cc of fluids subcutaneously as well as 4 mg of Pepcid daily to keep the acid down. He's responded well and with his kidney numbers are down to where they're in the bottom of the high bracket, so it looks like he might have several more years of quality time before I'll have to relieve the misery.

How could I not take care of my old friend?

[Bambi_Bandit]

Vet just called - Bandit is out of surgery.

They were able to remove a large mass, requiring the removal of her "left medial lobe".

Good news that it was a localized mass and it did not look like it had spread to other organs, but she did also do a intestinal biopsy for the due to the recent weeks of the "runs" she had, which may or may not have been related to the liver mass....

Now they watch for hemorrhaging for the next 24-48 hours....

Biopsy results to follow by end of this week / early next week.

Thankfully Bandit has one the first battle of this war...

Again, thanks for all the thoughts and prayers....

[Stefrobrts]

Hang in there. I remember how hard it was when Alki had to stay at the hospital after her cancer surgery. There's a lot of hanging in there and waiting for good news. We'll keep you in our thoughts.

[Jimandrod]

We have our fingers crossed that all will be well with Bandit. Rod and I have had cats for the entire 29 years that we've been together. Our pets are family and it's difficult to see them in these tough situations.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Kev, Prim

Maybe this will bring a smile.....http://www.airforums.com/forums/f239...rom-35130.html

[silverhawk]

I'm hoping for a speedy return to health for your Bandit. May your beautiful Husky be with you for years to come.
I was once bitten on the hand by a wolf / Husky mix named Bandit. Five stitches took care of that for me. Boy, did I ever want tons of bad things to happen to that dog. A couple days after when Bandit disappeared and I had cooled down. I learned that he was given to one of the local animal control officers, who gave him a much better home with a fenced in yard to run. Much better than the end of a chain where he was when we had our encounter. I was very happy for Bandit. Now days I'm kinda proud of that faint scar on my hand, knowing that I received it from a dog with wolf blood in his heart.

[rettoc625]

Miracles happen every day. The days surrounding Logan's cancer surgery waiting for the biopsy results were excruciating. And then the daily trips for radiation treatments in Boston... 18 months later...we are still competing in agility trials!
Sounds like you have some good news to sleep on. Veterinary medicine is incredible...Lots of puppy prayers are heading your way.
Mary

[Bambi_Bandit]

Miss Bandit made it thru the night without any issues. They monitored her vitals and some blood count analysis to determine if any hemorraging was occurring and it looks like all was good so far.

Vet called this morning and we could even hear bandit doing the Siberian whimper/whine/growl in the background. The vet even suggested we could possibly take her home today, but we may play it safe and have her there for observations one more day....That will be determined later this afternoon.

Thanks for all the support everyone. Miss Bandit has proven herself to be a strong girl wanting to do some more Airstream travels, at least a little while longer...

[Stefrobrts]

Good for her, keep it up, Bandit!