soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
...because my dog has at least a little more time.
I have a 12 yr old Basset Hound. About 2 weeks ago, the whole left side of his face swelled up to twice its normal size. I took him to the vet, who said that his back tooth was abcessed and needed to be pulled. OK, no big deal...until the vet listened to his heart and, hearing a murmur, ordered X-rays and blood work. The tests showed that he has thyroid disease and his heart is enlarged 2x its normal size with a tumour on or in it. Putting him under anesthesia to remove the tooth would almost certainly kill him. So we put him on antibiotics and pain meds for a couple of weeks, with the understanding that if the tooth was still infected and painful we would go ahead and have it pulled. I would rather my dog die on the operating table than to have to live with a painful abcessed tooth. So today I took him in to have the tooth reevaluated and to schedule the dental surgery that he has almost no chance of surviving...and the vet said his tooth looks 100% better. No surgery needed. Now we can put him on about $100 a month worth of heart meds and maybe he will have a few more months of quality time to enjoy with us. He still enjoys his walks and like to run around in the back yard and play with our other dogs, so spending the money is worth it for now. Once he gets to the point where he isnt enjoying life any more then we will have to put him down, but for now at least its all systems go. Thank you God!
I have a 12 yr old Basset Hound. About 2 weeks ago, the whole left side of his face swelled up to twice its normal size. I took him to the vet, who said that his back tooth was abcessed and needed to be pulled. OK, no big deal...until the vet listened to his heart and, hearing a murmur, ordered X-rays and blood work. The tests showed that he has thyroid disease and his heart is enlarged 2x its normal size with a tumour on or in it. Putting him under anesthesia to remove the tooth would almost certainly kill him. So we put him on antibiotics and pain meds for a couple of weeks, with the understanding that if the tooth was still infected and painful we would go ahead and have it pulled. I would rather my dog die on the operating table than to have to live with a painful abcessed tooth. So today I took him in to have the tooth reevaluated and to schedule the dental surgery that he has almost no chance of surviving...and the vet said his tooth looks 100% better. No surgery needed. Now we can put him on about $100 a month worth of heart meds and maybe he will have a few more months of quality time to enjoy with us. He still enjoys his walks and like to run around in the back yard and play with our other dogs, so spending the money is worth it for now. Once he gets to the point where he isnt enjoying life any more then we will have to put him down, but for now at least its all systems go. Thank you God!