Post by InBetweenDays on Dec 17, 2014 16:01:28 GMT -5
This morning I was leaving to take the kids to school and P pointed out that Tucker had blood in his urine. He's been on antibiotics for a possible UTI, so we immediately call the vet who had us bring him in. They did a rudimentary ultrasound and it doesn't look good. His bladder is very thickened and bumpy. Could be just serious inflammation, but more likely could be bladder cancer. The vet said the long term prognosis for bladder cancer isn't good. They called in a radiologist and we're bringing Tucker back over for a better ultrasound this afternoon.
If it's bladder cancer I'm not sure what I'm going to do. He is our first baby. I truly think he's our "dog of a lifetime". We used to joke that we would clone him if we could. I don't know how to explain this to the kids - they LOVE him. Or how our other dog will handle it. Because of his health problems we always thought Hoss would go first, which wouldn't be easier but I think Tucker would be okay without Hoss. Hoss won't be okay without Tucker.
I know I may be jumping the gun because we don't know anything for sure yet, but my gut tells me it isn't good. So any thoughts you could spare would be greatly appreciated.
I'm sorry. We have a dog of a lifetime too and often joke that we want to clone him. He's only 4 but I already get choked up knowing that one day I'll have to explain his loss to our kids too.
Post by InBetweenDays on Dec 17, 2014 17:29:34 GMT -5
Thanks all. @aellasbeth Thanks so much. Waiting to hear from the vet - I'll PM you.
toratoratori he's at the vet now. The radiologist is mobile and travels between clinics, so they weren't sure what exact time he'd get there. But we should hear from him by 5pm (and will hopefully have results then too).
Post by InBetweenDays on Dec 17, 2014 20:24:35 GMT -5
It's cancer. H is on his way to get him and we just talked to the kids. I was a mess after getting the call from the vet so we couldn't really delay telling them.
We're going to start him on some drugs to slow its growth, and may consider chemo (the vet is going to look into the benefits of chemo versus the drugs). Still hard to say how much time it will buy us. The vet said we could be looking at anywhere between 1-6 months if we don't do anything, but it depends on how quickly it grows (which can vary a lot). So hopefully we can get at least 6 months with drugs.
I'm sorry InBetweenDays , it's never easy. Hopefully these treatments will make him comfortable and give you time for closure. My heart hurts for you. ?