Goodbye MooDoggie

Mushka was always his own dog and much the individualist, and so his cancer was very different than Sam's cancer. That didn't make the last few days, and especially today, any easier.
After doing more research on the tumor growing on his spleen and liver, we realized we were gambling with time if we kept him for very long. His fever kept cycling higher and his appetite was diminishing even while offering him chicken. We spent all day Friday and Saturday with him trying desperately to appreciate every second. Last night and this morning we tried to use cold compresses to bring his temp down but it didn’t seem to work. He ate a small breakfast and we gave him his meds but the fever stayed high.
Today, six months after we lost Sam, we had to say goodbye to Mushka. Dr. Stoll and Charman came to the house at 11am and were as caring and supportive as Dr. Stoll and Dawn had been with Sam in February. Sadly, Dawn had a car accident today and wasn't able say goodbye to Mushka. Our hearts broke when we heard her news. We are very grateful that they would come to our house for our final goodbye. Mushka was not a fan of Vet offices, but did enjoy his time outside. Ever the guard dog, he got up and summoned his last bit of energy to bark at them when they came into the screen porch. We were able to calm him and had him lay down between us while they setup his IV. We were there for Sam in February and we were there for Moo today, telling him we loved him and that he was a good dog.
After Dr. Stoll and Charman left, we spent quality goodbye time with him under his favorite cherry tree. We kissed on his snout more than he ever would have allowed when he was alive. That Moo Doggie did have a kissable snout!
At 2pm we took Mushka to Southeastern Pet Cremation. Christy Blanton was there to meet us and was very supportive. She'd lost her shepherd, Fletcher, recently so we shared shepherd stories while she made a paw print of Moo's back paw. The day was eerily like our last day with Sam. We helped her place Moo in the same cremation unit where we'd said goodbye to Sam.
We chose to sit outside in our car and look at photos while the last of Moo left us. The same type of bird that flew overhead on Sam's last day was back, but this time there were two of them, flying together.
We brought Mushka home and placed him along side our SamDog.
They are with us for too short of a time, and when they go, it is so fast. Mushka was our first dog together. We adopted this four month old 32lb pup from the Chapel Hill Shelter Nov. 6th 1998 and our lives were forever changed. Today, we said goodbye to Mushka and again, our lives are forever changed.
We love you Mushka and we’ll never ever forget you.

hemangiosarcoma

I took Mushka to ECVR at noon today for his ultrasound with Dr. Dupree. Dr. Stoll called at 5pm to give us the bad news. Dr. Dupree found a mass 11cm (4 inches) on his spleen and several nodes on his liver 2.6cm. This is very bad news. The diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma has few options and very little time. Dr. Stoll explained our limited options and that she thinks this cancer is the cause of his cycling temperature.
We brought Mushka home and plan to spend as much time with him as possible but fear the possibly of his tumor rupturing.
Sunday will be 6 months since we lost SamDog. :(

cycling high to normal fever

Mushka's walking does seem to be better than last Thursday but his fever continues to cycle. Over the weekend it stayed in the 101-102 range but Tuesday morning & this morning it has been 103.3 & 103.2. Midday and evening checks of his temp show it down to 101/102 again. Dawn from ECVR call to check on him yesterday but Steve missed her call. Dr. Stoll was concerned they didn't hear back and call this morning. I explained his cycling fever and she said several things could cause an undulating fever. She explained that since the x-rays didn't show any clear signs of possible infection and his blood work isn't showing much either that she would like to have Dr. Dupree do an ultrasound. We are scheduled to take Moo to ECVR at noon on Thursday for Dr. Dupree to do an ultrasound that afternoon.
We have also noticed him sitting differently - he seems to prefer to have his legs under him like in the photo below which seems odd to us. He used to sit with his legs off to his side. Maybe there are nerve issues and the new position feels better. ?? :(

possible nerve issues

Last night we noticed Mushka seemed deflated so we took his temp. It was 103.7 so we gave him some Cephalexin we had left over from SamDog's Rx supply. (We still have his Rx drawer in the kitchen). We checked his temp several times during the night and it did come down and was 101.7 this morning. We still wanted to take him to ECVR for blood work and to be safe.
Late afternoon Dr. Stoll called with concerns about his spine or believes he is having some neurological issues. He appears to have a lack of knowledge or lack of conscious proprioception about his back feet/legs. They ran is blood work and saw his WBC were up slightly. Dr. Stoll gave us a stronger Rx antibiotic (Ciprofloxacin) and wants to see him back in two weeks.
When he came home he appeared to be having more issues walking and is still very weak. His back left foot appears to be turning under when he walks which is NOT a good sign from what we've read. We are very worried it may be Canine degenerative myelopathy
He hasn't been off leash since before his surgery and hasn't fallen anywhere in the house so we are puzzled about what could have caused this setback. Not sure if the nerve issues are even related to his surgery and how they are connected to the fever and lack of appetite.
The lack of appetite and hind leg issues brings back memories of the last weekend we had SamDog. :(

lounging

Mushka has been enjoying some time outside with Steve & 'the boys' lately. He had his followup apt with Dr. Still on Tuesday and got a good report. His knee is still turning out but she was happy with his progress. We can now take him in 10-15 minute walks and slowly build up to 15-20 minute walks in two more weeks.
If only we had a pool for him to swim in & exercise that hip.....

road to recovery

Mushka continues down the road of recovery and is doing great. We've had a lot of activity in our back yard lately and he has enjoyed watching every minute of it. He'd prefer to be in the middle of it all but we've found a shady spot in the back corner of the yard that keeps him cool while giving him a front row seat. Our follow up apt with Dr. Stoll is Tuesday, we expect she'll be happy with his progress. Hard to believe his surgery was just a month ago. He has been wanting to walk further and further down street each time we take him out.

grass dog

Mushka has been doing much better. The heat finally broke so we've all been enjoying time outside. The muscles in his leg are getting stronger and the fur is growing back, we are in the fuzzy stage. We've continued to let him have more area of the house when we are away which seems to have improved his mood. Still...he does enjoy some time outside.

bored pup

Mushka continues to improve and be totally bored with his situation. We've taken him to the end of the drive way and back but he wants a full walk around the block. Poor pup.

futon Friday

Mushka seemed restless Friday as we watched him on the webcam but when we got home he relaxed. He just wants to go back to his daily walks and being able to roam around the whole house. It will have to be small steps until he is back to his normal routine. He has been wanting to get on his futon to nap but we've been blocking it during the day for fear he'd jump off too fast. Tonight we helped him get up and he snoozed for hours.

bionic dog

We returned our den to mostly normal with cage sides blocking the exits but the new arrangement seems to make him happier. Since he won't need to wear a cone we hope he won't try to escape this new area.
We took Mushka to ECVR for his first post surgery follow up appointment. It was hot as hades here today so the ride in a car without good A/C wasn't fun for any of us. Dr. Stoll was waiting for us when we arrived and took Moo back for an exam. Within a few minutes she was back and said he looked great. They took his staples out sooner than planned because the incision is healing so well. We asked about the loss of appetite and she said the antibiotic, Cephalexin, could be to blame. She suggested we continue to give him one Pepcid a day. She is very happy with his progress and wants to see him back in three weeks.
We got copies of his x-rays - the before & after are amazing to see.

determined dog

We tried leaving Mushka in the cage without his cone. Around 11:30am Steve noticed on the Dog Cam that Moo was still trying to escape and had unlatched part of the cage. We'd setup our Skype account to auto answer at home so he could talk to Mushka over our stereo speakers but that didn't stop Houdini Dog. When he came home at lunch Steve had to reinforce these cage area but did give Mushka more space. We have a stubborn dog on our hands and have to be creative to contain him and not make him miserable while keeping him safe. Not easy. SamDog sat in the same cage area for months and never even touched the cage. Two very different dogs. Luckily, it doesn't appear he is bothering his incision. After work we took Moo out and noticed he seemed more limpy. We have a follow up appointed with Dr. Stoll Thursday afternoon & are anxious to hear how she thinks he is doing.

trying Tuesday

I worked from home ½ the day but when I left at noon I put Mushka in his cage and put the cone on. When I got to work & checked the dog camera he seemed to be resting comfortably but that was short lived. I sat & watched in horror has he tried to get out of the cage area. He pushed on one side and move the whole cage! I was terrified he would push it down and then fall and dislocate his hip while I watched unable to help or stop him. I called Steve & he left a meeting at work to come home. Once out of the cone and with an expanded cage area Mushka slept the rest of the day. We know the cone changes things for him so we plan to try Wednesday morning without the cone and hope he will leave his incision alone. He is eating better today than yesterday but still needs a bit of hand feeding to get him started.

Below are images from our dog camera - the bottom one is where the cage has been moved toward the right away from the glass door on the left.

mopy Monday

I worked from home today so Mushka wouldn't have to be alone and wear the cone in his cage today. We were thinking another day for him to get used to his new hip before we make him wear the cone would be good. He seems depressed & isn't eating normally. Moo has never been a pup to give up a chance to eat so it worries us. If we hand feed him the first few bites he starts to eat but isn't finishing his kibble or beans. Maybe the antibiotic, Cephalexin, is causing him to lose his appetite but we haven't found that to be a side effect online. He enjoys time outside and walks so missing both of these can't be helping his mood. Poor Moo.

restful Sunday

Moo seems to rest better Saturday night. We only got up with him once. We didn't make him wear his cone since he hasn't seemed like he'd lick his incision. The warm compresses and massages relax him and should help his muscles around his new hip.

sleepy Saturday

Moo didn't rest very well Friday night. We got up with him several times. He seemed restless and couldn't seem to get comfortable. Steve built a ramp for him out the back door today so he wouldn't have to use the steps. We had a thunderstorm this afternoon which worried him but he was able to sleep some and seems to understand he has to stay in his caged area.

Mushka home from hip surgery

Dawn from ECVR called this morning & said Mushka was doing so well he could come home today! We scheduled a discharge apt for 3:30pm. We met with Dawn for the details post surgery and got to see very cool xrays of his new hip. She offered to burn a disk for us so I'll post when we have them. We went outside to back the car to ECVR's side door & Dr. Stoll came out to make sure we didn't have any questions. She explained that Moo's surgery was text book & he is recovery nicely. A Vet tech brought Moo out and loaded him into the car. We brought him home and he is taking some power naps in the peace & quiet. Soooo good to have him home!

Post Surgery Day 1

Steve took some kibble by ECVR early today so Mushka would have his own food. Mid morning, Dawn from ECVR called Steve today & gave an update. Moo is putting weight on his new hip, eating & drinking all good signs.
We visited him at ECVR tonight after work. Odd to be back there after hours. It brought back lots of memories of our nights visits to see Sam. Moo is being kept in what was was Sam's old cage. :( We waited for a Vet Tech to bring him into a visiting room. He was happy to see us but seemed stressed and cried most of the time we were there. His incision is about 7-8" long on the mid thigh. We hope to bring bring him home Saturday and visit again Friday night.

Mushka Hip Surgery

This morning we took Mushka to ECVR for hip surgery. It was the first time I'd been back there since we picked up Sam on Feb 13th. Steve had taken Mushka to be evaluated for his surgery last Wednesday. It is hard to belive four months have passed since we lost SamDog.
Dawn called at 10am to explain that after both Dr. Stoll & Dr. Williams evaluated Moo they both agree his left hip is the side that needs the surgery more. They took him into surgery at 10am and called back at 1:30pm to let us know the surgery went well & he was in recovery.
We couldn't visit him tonight but plan to see him tomorrow. Poor Moo Pup - we know he doesn't understand why he is there but hope he'll feel better soon & the new hip will allow him to take LONG walks without pain.