Actually she is my family's dog but I love her too. Her name is Sugar and she is a 12 year old chocolate lab. She belonged to my grandfather who died 8 years ago. So after that the family kept her out on some family land (143 acres) with a farm house. She got to run and play almost every day. And me and my Great Dane came out there every Saturday and Sunday morning for 7 years. We would walk through fields and forrest trails  for hours at a time. It was a good stress reliever for me and the dogs had a great time too.

Sugar is a really sweet dog like most labradors tend to be and it makes me sad to think she will be gone soon.

My folks were out of town this weekend so I went by to feed her and play with her. But she wasn't herself. She didn't eat her food from the day before, would hardly move and was in obvious pain. So I took her to the vet and he diagnosed it as lymphoma. He said we would try to treat her with steriods and said it could buy her maybe another 6 good months.

Just wanted to share. I guess maybe I needed to talk about it.

I'm so sorry Dan.
I'm sure you'll do your best to make her remaining time here as nice as possible. :(

I too am sorry Dan.  Make the time special and enjoy her company while you can.  Toy

I know this doesn't help buy you gave the dog a life it wouldn't otherwise have.

I think the plan will be to give her steroids as long as they help the symptoms and give her quality of life.

I had to put my Great Dane to sleep last year after a heart attack. It was her second major one and her heart was just too dqmaged. When they don't hqve the prospect of any more good days then putting them to sleep is a kindness because I don't want their lives to just be suffering.

Thanks for your kind words everyone. I really appreciate it.

Dan, having a Brown myself, I can attest as to their demeanor and intelligence. They are very special. Browns march to a different drummer, from what I can tell, and you become attached to them very quickly.

Unfortunately, at 12 years, the big Pups start to really go down as they age. Sounds like yours has had a great life, and I certainly don't envy what you will face later. been there and done that. God Bless you and the Pup.

 Sorry about your friend Dan.

As a dog lover, I'm really sorry to hear about this, but I hope you guys can make the best of her remaining time  :(

Quick update. Sugar is responding well to the steroids. She is moving around much better. Her appetite is coming back. She seems pain free and even playful again. Not sure how long it will last but as long as we can give her a good quality of life we are going to do what we can. But we have all agreed that we aren't going to let her suffer with no prospect of good days ahead. So once that day comes we will say our goodbyes and end her pain.

But like I said, for now she is doing well.

Thank you for all of your sympathy and kind words. I was just really low when I wrote the original post and needed to share. Thank you, all of you, for helping me with this difficult news.

Quote from: Dan on September 28, 2011, 07:05:31 AM
Quick update. Sugar is responding well to the steroids. She is moving around much better. Her appetite is coming back. She seems pain free and even playful again. Not sure how long it will last but as long as we can give her a good quality of life we are going to do what we can. But we have all agreed that we aren't going to let her suffer with no prospect of good days ahead. So once that day comes we will say our goodbyes and end her pain.

But like I said, for now she is doing well.

Thank you for all of your sympathy and kind words. I was just really low when I wrote the original post and needed to share. Thank you, all of you, for helping me with this difficult news.

Anytime Dan....

I'm sorry to hear about your family dog, Dan, but I'm glad she's responding well to the steroids. Years ago, we had a dog that we all loved so much. But he developed cancer in his old age, and he had to be put to sleep. The hardest thing was that we had to schedule an appointment to put him to sleep, and so for the next few days it was so hard for me to even look at him without crying. On the day of the appointment, before my parents took him to the vet, I said goodbye to him and he kept looking at me as if he knew it was goodbye for good. It was so hard to deal with.

May God give you and your family strength and comfort, and bless your beloved pet and make her as comfortable as possible.

Last year I had to put to sleep my great dane. She was my baby. I got her for my ex but when she left me the dog was sick and she said it was mine. So I kept her and after about a dozen vets we finally figured out what was wrong with her. Her thyroid and adrenal glands had basically shut down and that compromised her immune and digestive systems. We almost had to put her to sleep before she was 2 years old because of it. But once we identified the problem and got her on a hormone replacement regimine and she did really well for a few years. But when she was sick she had a pretty bad heart attack. I had to feed her pedeolyte and baby food for a week and carry her out to go to the bathroom. Eventually she recovered but then a year later she had another massive heart attack and the vet said her heart was so weak that it was filling up with fluids and there was basically nothing he could do for her. So I had a few minutes to say my goodbyes, held her in my arms and looked into her eyes as the vet gave her the shot and her eyes closed for the last time.

Sugar, the dog with lymphoma stayed out at the 143 acres we have that me and my great dane visited every saturday and sunday. I would walk back in those woods for 2-4 hours each day and the dogs would come with me. They would run and play as we went through fields and woods and they would sniff all sorts of cool animal scents and we just had a great time.

So when Sugar passes it won't just be losing her. It will also be losing the last living connection I had to my dog.

Well Sugar's lymph glands in her throat have swollen to the point where it's affecting her breathing. The end is very soon. Maybe this week. She had a great life but we aren't going to let her suffer.

Quote from: Dan on October 17, 2011, 05:48:27 PM
Well Sugar's lymph glands in her throat have swollen to the point where it's affecting her breathing. The end is very soon. Maybe this week. She had a great life but we aren't going to let her suffer.

Really sorry to hear that. Can't imagine what you guys are going through... You have my deepest sympathies.