Kurt took Tuesday off work so that I could take Chelan, our 10 year old husky, to the Veterinary Specialist Clinic for an ultrasound. We knew this would be an all day event and I didn’t want to try and entertain a toddler at a clinic for hours on end. We weren’t very optimistic because over the weekend Chelan had stopped eating and we had to get creative by putting her food in the blender with a ton of water for a nasty doggy-kibble-shake. She still didn’t eat very much. I don’t really blame her it looked horrible.
In March we went from filling the dogs’ outdoor five gallon water bucket about once a week to filling it every other day. That switch happened practically overnight. She’s drinking about two and a half gallons of water a day! The only other possible clue that she was sick was back in December she lost some weight but she easily gained it back after I started giving her a little more food. Thursday I finally got all the results back. After several blood tests, x-rays, and an ultrasound they told us it started as a tumor in the anal gland that has now metastasized to lymph nodes just under the spine.
We’ve decided that she’s just too weak for surgery and chemotherapy. Jumping out of the truck, she would nearly hit her shoulder to the ground. Chelan’s usual vet chalked it up to arthritis but the specialist we were referred to confirmed for me that it was her high calcium levels that were making her so weak and affecting her appetite. She is on pills to keep her calcium levels down. She’s doing a lot better now but obviously this is not going to fix her cancer. We’re just making her comfortable.
On Wednesday, Sophia added another word to her vocabulary, “Bye”. She says it very abruptly unlike it’s antonym, “Hi-eeee”, which she happily says with a wave. She said her new word a few times outside of it’s context but alternating it with it’s antonym.
The next day she added another word. I picked her up from her nap and she said, “momma” before laying her head on my shoulder and sucking her thumb. She only said it once though. I told Kurt when her arrived home from work. He told me that on Tuesday, the day I spent hauling our cancer patient to and from the vet clinic, Sophia was grumpy so he asked her what she wanted. She answered, “Momma”.
Tell Chelan it’s not Anal cancer it’s Farah Fawcett Cancer. Poor little dog. And my heart melted too! Too bad Chloe won’t do that. I don’t think she even missed me while I was in the hospital. Traitor, lol. She’s enjoying her new sister, though while roughly grabbing a leg like a wishbone.
Susan Anderson – LMAO Farah Fawcett Cancer! Chelan is still going strong. Obviously without Chemo her Farah Fawcett Cancer isn’t going to go away but she is still with us and enjoying the evil anti-cat cheese twice daily.
I’m sure Chloe missed cuddling with you and eating, what was it? Crunchies? I need more pictures of Chloe with her sister!