The Dog Days of January

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TW: Dog Health / Sad




Tomorrow my 13 year old dog is having an xray and ultrasound because the vet suspects he has either bladder or kidney cancer, based on the result of a urine test done back on Christmas Eve when I thought my dog had a UTI.

There was no UTI. The urine test showed an extremely high, "off-the-charts" number of cells. I forget what the cells were called but the vet said it was cells that sloughed off internally. That finding indicated there was a very high likelihood of blockage, which would usually be from organic matter like a mass or tumour. I was told this right before our Christmas Eve dinner. It never fails with my bad luck on Christmas Eve, does it?

It's taken from Christmas Eve until now to get funding secured by a veterinary charity group, which will cover the entire cost of these tests for me. The xray and ultrasound will both be free. This funding was approved based on my income as a disability recipient. Otherwise, it would have cost me close to $3,000 because veterinary radiologists do the tests. That would just be the tip of the iceberg. If they find a mass my dog would also need a CT Scan, or possible MRI.

I don't have vet insurance for my dog (stupid me), so I'm very grateful the charity is able to help. The charity is funded by people who donate directly, so I'm grateful to anyone philanthropic who has it in their heart to think of our pets. There are annual maximums I'm allowed to spend with this funding, though. If my dog does have cancer I doubt they'd pay the entirety of CT, MRI, chemo and radiation, surgery, or whatever ridiculously over-priced cancer medication they'll prescribe.

If it's cancer my daughter and I already agreed we don't want to put him through all those tests or treatments, even if it's free. He doesn't seem to have any symptoms right now apart from peeing on the floor now and then, which he hasn't done since December. Assuming he's not in pain we'd want to just give him the best quality of life possible until he appears to deteriorate or become unwell. Regardless, we do want to find out if it is cancer, especially since the xray and ultrasound will be non-invasive. After that ... I just don't know.

I'm sure dietary changes might be recommended but considering he's allergic to five or six different proteins, all grains including flaxseed, all dry food, and a long list of vegetables, he's already on the most bare-bones natural diet we can find. He drinks lots of water. He's otherwise very healthy, afaik, according to recent blood tests for other things.

Anyway, this would be just one more cruel joke by the universe if it does turn out to be cancer. I don't know how much more cancer my little family can bear, or how much more suffering I'll have to witness before I lose my mind. I haven't even told my mother because she wouldn't be able to deal. That would be her final straw.

I'm hoping it turns out to be a big mistake. He has a habit of eating from the cats' litter box (ewww - I know .....), so maybe it's a lump of litter or something not quite so ominous. Maybe they'll laugh and say it was nothing at all, and that my vet is off his rocker. That is possible, as I think he's a bit cray at the best of times despite his excellent reviews.

Anyway, just ranting. Knock wood.

It's time to move my brain from people trauma into dog cancer mode.


FUGGGG.






https://youtu.be/0Uc3ZrmhDN4?si=Sh-zufLhBqyU5db-





Livin' with Louie Dog's the only way to stay sane. ^

I hope your Dog has a healthy outcome after all gets checked out and treated ..Hang in ..please . Pretty sure yout
Dog appreciates you ..and i think that probably goes both ways .

Dear Is … I’m so sorry that on top of everything else, you’re going through this as well. I’m in a very similar boat with my very loved Archie(rescued him from Crete). For him, it’s stage 4 of 6 of a serious heart murmur. Discovered around Christmas too & it’s been pretty distressing. Know just what you mean about the cost of scans, treatment etc.

Sending love & very best that it turns out to be something less serious than cancer, something treatable. Whatever happens, sounds to me like he’s in very good hands having you by his side. Any results from today’s x-ray/ultrasound?

Thinking of you & hoping for the best. xx

Oh no! Not the dog on top of everything else. Poor hairy boy. Hoping it turns out to be something odd he ate...

Thanks everyone, and extra hugs to Jules & Archie.
I know how much you love your little guy.

No news yet on the test results.
They said it will take a few days to get the report from the radiologist.

I tried to read their faces, but I suck at stuff like that.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for good news, Isabella. I'm so sorry that you have to deal with this. Take care of yourself.

Thanks Jenny. ^

Well, this just in .... I could have called it myself. He's 100% fine.

Eye roll.

I'm very glad, of course. Don't get me wrong.

I'm frustrated because my vet clearly overreacted to that urine test in December.

If I didn't have the charity funding it would have cost me $3000 out of pocket for the scans, which seem to have been unnecessary.

I'm very grateful that the charity paid for them, but now I'm ineligible for any other charity funding for the rest of 2024 for any of my other five pets. I'm maxed out.

My only consolation is that the charity must have agreed the scans were warranted, or they wouldn't have agreed to pay for them. Maybe there really was an ominous anomaly at the time?

I'm glad he's OK but the rest of it kinda sucks.

In the meantime my 20-year old cat injured his leg very badly. It seemed to be broken or dislocated so he needed an xray, and the charity wouldn't pay for it because I'd used up my money for the year. It cost me $500 to find out my cat's leg wasn't broken and to give him a shot of painkiller. It's a soft tissue injury or sprain, but there's no fracture.

My other four cats all have vet insurance, so they'd get free xrays.

Not my injured cat.
He's the only one without insurance.

It figures.

Sigh.

Glad they're both ok.

Thanks.

I should have taken them to a more reputable Australian vet.

Very glad your dog is ok! That must be such a relief, in spite of the understandable frustration. Wish these scans etc didn’t cost so much!

Sorry to hear about your cat, and hope he heals up alright. Glad it wasn’t a fracture. Over here, I had one Vet insisting it was necessary to pay £800 for a scan on Archie, but was so glad I wound up seeing a different Vet at the same practice recently. She gave Arch a diuretic injection to nelp clear fluid from his lungs as well as trialling him on a heart medication & daily diuretic. I’d originally been told it would be dangerous to give him medication without a scan first, as they need to know exactly which heart valve’s being effected & to what extent etc. Clearly, this would have been a wasted £800. I’m so relieved that so far, Arch is doing better & no longer in respiratory distress.

Sorry you’ve had to forfeit any further charity funding for this year, but am so relieved that your dog is going to be alright.

{{{ Hugs }}}

I'm glad you consulted with that other vet and got better advice! It sounds like the right course of action for wee Archie. I hope he's tolerating it well and will continue to get better.

I use two different vet hospitals. The first one is this man who ordered the scans. After going there for a while I started thinking he was a little crazy so I found a second place. I've always trusted the second place more, but unfortunately they aren't affiliated with any charity groups so everything costs full price there. Four of my five cats have insurance so I take them to that second place, and get reimbursed on insurance. My dog and the oldest cat don't have insurance. I can't afford full price so I have to take them to the first place with the crazy guy, because I can apply for charity there. Otherwise I wouldn't go to him at all.

I can't believe the irony though. Out of all six of my pets, the only two to need service have been the two who aren't insured and thus, had to go to the first guy.

He's so creepy he calls my daughter "beautiful" and asks to hug and kiss her all the time.

She's 27.

{{{Hugs back Is }}}

That situation with the creepy vet & your daughter! That is an all too similar situation to what happened to my daughter when she was working at a private Autism school. A male teacher there brought on the MG(myasthenia gravis) that had been laying dormant. Would hug her & corner her each day! The anxiety he caused was beyond damaging. A nightmare followed! He was a terrible teacher too! I hear he eventually lost his job & the school was investigated for other wrongdoings.

That’s frustrating that the 2nd Vet doesn’t happen to be alligned with that wonderful charity. Creepy vet needs to “act appropriately” … “professionally”!

Oh crap. That's disgusting and I'm glad he lost his licence.
Not that it makes any difference, but was he autistic?


This creepy vet actually interviewed my daughter for a receptionist job.
She mentioned something about being disabled or being on disability.
He said she wasn't disabled, and proceeded to ask personal medical questions.
Then he said he couldn't hire her because he knew her too well as a customer.
Why did he invite her to the interview, then?
He hounded her to apply for the job, which she didn't even want.

For everyone's viewing pleasure, here's my cat's leg xrays.

I don't know about you, but I think xrays are cool.

I love the way his little toes are bent.

He said he would email me the dog xrays too, but I haven't received them yet.

I'm really glad that your dog is okay, Isabella. It's good that your cat's leg wasn't broken, too.

Hooray For Isabellas Cats " NOT" broken leg.. whew ! ...A hugg