Experienced at Having an Old Dog with Major Surgery?

C.-
I am a vet tech and, unfortunately, we are seeing lots of this type thing.
I would recommend that you have the U/S and some chest radiographs. (To see if anything has metastasized)
This will tell you what direction to go.
If it were my dog, if I could afford it (Prices vary greatly from state to state, and city to city) I would do it. Then make my decision based on the outcomes. Your dog will do fine with recovery. The first day is usually harder, as is with most humans. Your vet will have a miriad of pain medications and will know which ones best suit your baby.
Good luck!
Praying for you all!
Jennifer

C.,
I am so sorry you are going through this. It is a hard choice. We had a 10 year old German Shepherd (our first child) who tore the ACL in her knee. She couldn't walk. We met with the surgeon who said he would question doing the surgery on a 10 year old shepherd except she was otherwise in good health. We did explain she was on seizure medication. She made it through the surgery but had a seizure and went into a coma the next morning. Two years ago we chose not have an MRI to rule out a brain tumor as the cause of her seizures since there would be nothing we could do anyway except to treat the seizures, which we already were doing. Hind sight, that test may have given us information that may have determined she would not have been able to handle the surgery two years later. At this point, we really don't know but I still think I would have attempted the surgery anyway since she was in so much pain and couldn't walk. We still had a $3,000 bill from the surgery following her death which was painful, but atleast we knew we had done what we thought and still do think was best for her.
I would just recommend you to do what you feel is best for your dog. She has already had a great life. I would go ahead with the sonogram just so you have all the facts to make the next decision. The sonogram will only hurt your pocket book.

Good luck,
B.

Go to imom.org (In Memory Of Magic) and click on "other sources". There are links to resources where you may find financial help and/or advice. The Imom site itself is inspiring - check it out.
I feel for you. I've been there, but with cats. It hurts either way.
Put your hand on her head and look in her eyes, think about it, you'll know what to do. The answer is in your heart. My thoughts are with you.

It's so hard to know what to do but, personally, I would probably go ahead with the sonogram so I could make an informed decision.

We lost our beautiful husky mix suddenly last month; he was only 8 1/2.

I paid for expensive back surgery for one of my dogs many years ago when he was 8 years old. He lived to be 14, and I never regretted the decision. We have always had dogs that are members of the family, and never regret spending money on them, but do struggle with how much care they need in order to let them live out peaceful old age, and we've had to put a few to sleep, which was devastating. In your situation, I would see a different vet. I can't imagine your vet not giving you more guidance. I rely so heavily on our vet to guide us in situations like that. I didn't check to see what area you are in, but I'm in Mansfield and I drive to Arlington to see our vet. She isn't in the best part of town, but I've gone to her for 20 years or so because she is so good. If you're interested in a second opinion, I recommend Alice Lippit at Arkansas-Browning Animal Clinic in Arlington. When my dog had surgery all those years ago, she knew how much he needed people around him, but he wasn't ready to come home with me, so she took him home with her each night while he was recovering from surgery. I was so impressed with her for that. I'm sorry about your sick doggy. I hope you get good results, whatever you decide.

C.,
It seems like I have some answers for all your problems. I have a friend from high school who is head of radiology at the dog speciality hospital in Carollton. His name is Dr. Ronnie Green. He should be able to help.
Thanks
N. Cox

My sister in law has both a veterinary license and is also a pediatrician. I asked her several years ago why she stopped practicing veterinary medicine and became a people doctor. She said because she got tired of people easily writing off their animals for the sake of money or fear of their pet being uncomfortable during recovery from something. She said a lot of animals don't get a chance at quality. Ouch, but I guess it's true.

If I were you, I would get a second opinion and then do whatever I feel is best for my dog to have a good quality of life. If treatment involves temporary discomfort such as surgery, then I would do it in a heartbeat. I know what it's like to invest $$ in saving a pet even though the outcome wasn't what I had hoped. I would still do it again and never look back.

I wish the best for your dog.

I feel your pain. We had to put down two old (14) and ailing (one Cancer and one arthritis so bad he couldn't walk)dalmatians - that was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do! I was at peace with it because I knew there was nothing else I could do for them and they were in pain. Thank goodness the events were a year apart! The one with Cancer we put through a fairly major surgery to remove a growth on her toe and the toe itself (main middle one). She was 11, and did pretty well... came through the surgery/anesthesia well and walked great on the foot right away. Like I mentioned before, she lived to age 14 (the Cancer was all over at that point and she was in a lot of pain). It is very hard to make decisions for our beloved pets, procedures are so expensive and there are no guarantees for the outcome! I agree with the other posts, get the sono and see what more it can tell you. Maybe a second opinion after that. You and your pooch are in our prayers.

I feel your pain! I have a 13 year old German Shepherd mix, and I know I'd struggle with this decision, too!! Personally, I would definitely pay for the sonogram. That might make the decision easy, if it involves the liver. If it's only the spleen...man, that's hard. For another 1.5 years that might be a struggle for her...geez!

I think I would probably do it, but you have to keep her happiness in mind. If you do it, but she never really seems to recover, you probably shouldn't wait for the 1.5 years. There's a book I've been meaning to read that might provide some insight: Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life, by Nancy Kay. Maybe it will help you lean in one direction or the other. I hope I've helped, maybe a little, and I hope everything goes well for your sweet girl!

Hi C.,

I can so sympathize with you. I lost my precious little dog in December 2008 out of the blue, she was almost 12 years old. We spent over $5,000 dollars trying to save her but in the end it wasn't meant to be.

That's not to say that it won't help your baby, but you have to decide if it's in your babies best interest and if you can afford to do so. We wanted to save our baby and so we choose to go that route, but it's up to you.

I don't know if you know this but you can apply for a card by Care Card at the vets to put the expenses on and pay it out rather then putting it out all at once, that really helped.

I felt guilty for awhile because our baby had never spent a night without me or my husband and here we had her in the hospital for 5 days feeling abandoned and then lost her.

It's up to you but I would get a second opinion. We don't regret the money, we regret that we didn't get to hold her much while she was in the condition she was and having to stay in an Oxygen tank. We did what we thought we should do. We loved her so much. Tess was her name and I still feel her around me all the time.

Pray about it and ask for direction and follow your heart, Love can never steer you wrong if you listen to your heart, feel it.

I don't know if your into this but I know of a lady who is an animal communicator and she lives in Little Elm, she is wonderful and I just love her. Please check out her website, she can come over and talk to your baby and see what your baby wants. I wish I had done that before we went through what we did, but it happen so fast that I didn't have time to think.

You can check her out at sandralarson.com I highly recommend her.

One thing I had to learn as a Reiki Healer is that a Healing is a Healing regardless if they live or crossover. I was told by Tess that the healing work I did on her kept her from feeling the pain while she was here, she said she only felt a little uncomfortable, that was wonderful to know and helped me to recover from it. She wasn't in pain and that meant a lot to me.

I'm sending light and love to you and your baby. Ask your healing angels to be with your baby too.

Love and Light,
Rev. G. Hudson, Reiki Master.
www.reikigailhudson.com

This is a tough decision, we've been there with 2 Cockers.

The first, we opted to let her live out the rest of her life as peacefully as possible. The surgery for her cancer was more risky than allowing her a couple extra years. This was around age 12 and she lived to almost 15. We new when we had to put her down because of the look in her eye that morning. That was the hardest this we had ever done. She was our baby.

The second Cocker, was a little younger when he needed major surgery. We did pay costs for him because we knew it was likely he could recover and have a good life. After thousands for surgery, he did go on to live until 15. My neighbor is an orthopedic surgeon for dogs and he is the one that worked with us. I've always told him that one of the rooms in his house needs to have our name on it, LOL, because we gave him a lot of $$.

We have 3 dogs now and the hardest thing to do is let go. I would encourage you to get a second opinion, you never know!! We do not regret the costs involved with our pets. They are family to us and we make sure they have the best care.

Best wishes.

I am a veterinarian and I think the ultrasound would be a great idea. If it does just involve the spleen they usually do well. Of course their can always be complications with any surgery, but for the most part, they do well. If it involves the liver as well, I would not recommend surgery. You do not want to get into trying to resect the liver. If you went ahead with the ultrasound too at least you could make an informed decision about surgery as well, and you wouldn't second guess yourself later. That is just my opinion but you have to do what you feel is right. Hope this helps.

I TOTALLY understand your dilemma! My 9 yr. old 'found hound' Gracie, was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of months ago--diagnosis/treatment =$$, then within about 2 weeks, she tore her ACL in a back leg. That surgery made the ongoing diabetes med. look like chicken feed...And I am seriously under-employed for the time being. 8( I will tell you that although the surgery was expensive for my old girl, she has re-habbed beautifully, and pain meds have kept her very comfortable. The ones that my vet prescribed just happen to be "people" meds, too, and Albertson's will fill that kind on their new $4/10 program! Yea! I just stick the tiny pills in a small piece of Velveeta type cheese, and she gobbles them down, 2x a day. (She became quite adept at spitting them out of everything else I tried, including hotdogs!
By the way, make sure that you have plenty of time set aside post-surgery to keep her quiet while stitches heal.(Few visitors, no excitement...no social life) I have had to watch my other dog, George, to keep him from playing with Gracie while she is healing. I was told to keep her either in a crate or on leash 24/7 for the first few weeks while stitches were in, and she didn't fit in her crate with the Elizabethan collar on that prevents tearing at her large incision, so I put HIM in the crate while I was at work, and kept her tethered to the crate with the collar on. That way, they were close but activity was restricted. Now that her staples are out, I reverse this, and she goes in the crate when I leave the house. (She did NOT do well being shut in the bathroom,, and was stressed being away from him.) She is still on very restricted activity, and I have cancelled my outside life until she is fully healed, which takes several months for a leg.
Good luck with your beloved husky!