Insert all the swearwords here including the worst one of all... (TW/CW dog illness)

I don't post all that much, but I lost my deerhound to osteosarcoma nearly 3 years ago, so I can only totally sympathise. Hers was on her hind leg, so very obvious. We had no idea till we noticed a smallish lump, thought it might be a cyst or there was something in her leg which had got infected, so to be told outright it was osteosarcoma was a complete shock, to say the least. We were offered chemo/radiotherapy or amputation, but with the advice that the first probably wouldn't do much and the second was not advisable with such a big dog. She was 7 and an important half, which in deerhound terms is getting on a bit.

So we opted for just keeping her comfortable. We were told a month tops, but she was diagnosed in April and we had her put to sleep July 7th. We are lucky enough to have our own land, so she could potter as she liked and she still came down to the field we have fenced off for the dogs to run in when we took the others down there. She could still walk and trot a bit, but no running. She was still alert though and eating, just the odd gabapentin here and there if she looked uncomfortable.

But we knew there was no way back and the growth was getting bigger all time, so we did the deed before she started noticeably suffering at all. They are very stoic. Absolutely heartbreaking; she was such a lovely dog, but.... She was put to sleep at home on the sofa and went off very quickly and peacefully. I'm really not saying there was any humour in it, but all credit to my partner who dug her grave in the garden, as she was 8 stone in weight and 6ft tall if she stood on her hind legs! Which she didn't voluntarily, being a dog with very good manners!

I have another deerhound now, who is not yet two and is as scatty as she was well-behaved, but still adorable. I said for a long time I wouldn't get another, but you know how it is. This one was born on the Isle of Skye, a place I love, so I'm sure it was fate. I have also had a black greyhound as well. Love them. I met someone once who had 6 of them, all black deliberately, as apparently black greyhounds are either more difficult to home for some reason, or there are just more of them to re-home. But they are just so elegant.

I hope it all goes well for you, inasmuch as these things can. It is always awful, never gets any easier, but it's the proper and right thing for us to do for them when the time comes.
 
I think I'm going into denial. Partly because spine/vertebrae OS seems to be very rare. And partly because she seems to be doing so well. It's hard to put the potential diagnosis together with the dog who woke me up this morning by launching herself onto the bed for some fuss! That's not a particularly Ivy thing to do. She'd woken OH up for her breakfast with her usual happy snorty-ness to hustle him out of bed, had a little snooze on the bed with me, and then OH took her out for a walk. Apparently she was very much in charge of their route. Other than perhaps that very subtle bit of stiffness, in many ways she's on good form.

It's like she was feeling super sorry for herself for a couple of days after the x-ray, definitely not helped by her constantly sobbing humans over the weekend, then has rallied (as have we) and although I really am looking out for signs she's not happy, she seems content. She's alert and being a bit nosy at next door's builders doing their extension roof. She's not reminding us about her dinner time so much but she doesn't always, particularly in warmer weather. When the food is prepared she is definitely still keen.

It seems dangerous to get my hopes up but come on?!?! At least these good days are helping us be in a better place for Friday, whatever comes next, and a good day/week is better for her than a bad day/week. I genuinely think she is having quite a nice week.

We've gathered some information about PTS options so we are more prepared should the worst be confirmed. Our preference would be for a local vet we have found who will PTS at home then does individual cremation and would have her ashes back within a couple of days.
 
SaddlePsych'D said:
I think I'm going into denial. Partly because spine/vertebrae OS seems to be very rare. And partly because she seems to be doing so well. It's hard to put the potential diagnosis together with the dog who woke me up this morning by launching herself onto the bed for some fuss! That's not a particularly Ivy thing to do. She'd woken OH up for her breakfast with her usual happy snorty-ness to hustle him out of bed, had a little snooze on the bed with me, and then OH took her out for a walk. Apparently she was very much in charge of their route. Other than perhaps that very subtle bit of stiffness, in many ways she's on good form.

It's like she was feeling super sorry for herself for a couple of days after the x-ray, definitely not helped by her constantly sobbing humans over the weekend, then has rallied (as have we) and although I really am looking out for signs she's not happy, she seems content. She's alert and being a bit nosy at next door's builders doing their extension roof. She's not reminding us about her dinner time so much but she doesn't always, particularly in warmer weather. When the food is prepared she is definitely still keen.

It seems dangerous to get my hopes up but come on?!?! At least these good days are helping us be in a better place for Friday, whatever comes next, and a good day/week is better for her than a bad day/week. I genuinely think she is having quite a nice week.

We've gathered some information about PTS options so we are more prepared should the worst be confirmed. Our preference would be for a local vet we have found who will PTS at home then does individual cremation and would have her ashes back within a couple of days.
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It sounds like you're prepared for the worst but hoping for the best, which seems like a very sensible approach to me. Enjoy these good days with Ivy. Hopefully you will get many more, but if you don't, you'll never regret an extra happy memory with her.
 
Titchy Pony said:
It sounds like you're prepared for the worst but hoping for the best, which seems like a very sensible approach to me. Enjoy these good days with Ivy. Hopefully you will get many more, but if you don't, you'll never regret an extra happy memory with her.
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Absolutely this. And remember, she'll have been sore from the x-rays, as they pull them around a bit. So getting over that, plus pain killers to support her are clearly helping.

We're all hoping the initial diagnosis is wrong. But even if it's not, I know that we hope you have many, many happy and good days on front of you xx
 
Amymay Again said:
Absolutely this. And remember, she'll have been sore from the x-rays, as they pull them around a bit. So getting over that, plus pain killers to support her are clearly helping.

We're all hoping the initial diagnosis is wrong. But even if it's not, I know that we hope you have many, many happy and good days on front of you xx
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The vet said she was really reactive under sedation which was likely pain. I just can't help but feel fairly confident she would have strongly objected to her back legs being moved around like that, at any time during the entire time we have had her!

I might take my DSLR camera out this evening and see if we can get some nice pictures of her when the sun is going down. It's so beautiful here. I am grateful we are not having to navigate this in the city; the nature and peace we all need so much is just right there at the end of our street and for miles around.
 
Really hoping it will be good news for you this week. Someone locally with a youngish corgi had that diagnosed with bone cancer in a leg. Must have been wrong as a couple of years later he is still happily trotting around, in fact he looks likely to outlive his owners who are not in a good way.
 
Errin Paddywack said:
Really hoping it will be good news for you this week. Someone locally with a youngish corgi had that diagnosed with bone cancer in a leg. Must have been wrong as a couple of years later he is still happily trotting around, in fact he looks likely to outlive his owners who are not in a good way.
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Hope seems a bit dangerous but it's getting me through the week. At least we are prepared for bad news on Friday unlike last week which totally shocked us.

Also, unless something goes wildly wrong between now and then, she's been doing so well this week I just can't see us not bringing her home on Friday. Even if PTS is still in the very near future, as it stands I think we could do that at home not at the CT. The way the vet was talking to us, I thought we wouldn't even make it through to the CT.

I take back what I said yesterday about Ivy not hassling us for dinner. She was super sassy about it later yesterday evening!
 
SaddlePsych'D said:
Hope seems a bit dangerous but it's getting me through the week. At least we are prepared for bad news on Friday unlike last week which totally shocked us.

Also, unless something goes wildly wrong between now and then, she's been doing so well this week I just can't see us not bringing her home on Friday. Even if PTS is still in the very near future, as it stands I think we could do that at home not at the CT. The way the vet was talking to us, I thought we wouldn't even make it through to the CT.

I take back what I said yesterday about Ivy not hassling us for dinner. She was super sassy about it later yesterday evening!
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Hope should be the thing you hold on to for as long as possible, you retain that until it's her time
 
Thank you for thinking of us. It really helps!

We have just dropped Ivy at the vets now. They are taking her in to CT straight away so we should know more by lunchtime.

She was a bit unsettled again last night after a few good nights. She started digging at the side of our bed and we couldn't work out what was up. With the right configuration of her own beds (two put next to each other!) she settled down in the living room.

I feel like I'm going to be sick and/or 💩 myself.
 
SaddlePsych'D said:
Thank you for thinking of us. It really helps!

We have just dropped Ivy at the vets now. They are taking her in to CT straight away so we should know more by lunchtime.

She was a bit unsettled again last night after a few good nights. She started digging at the side of our bed and we couldn't work out what was up. With the right configuration of her own beds (two put next to each other!) she settled down in the living room.

I feel like I'm going to be sick and/or 💩 myself.
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I hate this waiting for answers. Fingers crossed that you get a good outcome today.
 
Well holy freaking guacamole...

With the huge caveat that she's not a radiologist and we need to wait for the full radiology report early next week... The CT vet said she could not see anything of concern on the images taken. She's experienced with racing greyhounds so did the imaging around Ivy's hips and then in the usual suspect places for OS. Nothing there.

So now we're back to probably iliopsoas muscle injury.

Pass me a gin. What a rollercoaster! On our way to pick Ivy up now.
 
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