Apollo may have liver cancer....or maybe not

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
Do not let them guilt you into excessive tests or treatment. What you are describing sounds like severe pancreatis. It can happen suddenly and is life threatening. It can happen easily in older pets given foods to fatty or rich including well means humans who think they are doing right by feeding them our real food. Schnauzers are extremely sensitive. We almost killed one ourselves.
Don't know what you're feeding him, Vrai, but if pancreatitis is suspected, maybe switch over to one of the fresh, refrigerated pet foods that they sell at PetSmart or other places.

Beyond that, I can't offer much. Had to put down my friend many years ago, it was time. But I felt SO guilty for such a long time, still do, even tho it was the best for him. It was like watching a brother pass.

:huggy:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Do not let them guilt you into excessive tests or treatment. What you are describing sounds like severe pancreatis. It can happen suddenly and is life threatening. It can happen easily in older pets given foods to fatty or rich including well means humans who think they are doing right by feeding them our real food. Schnauzers are extremely sensitive. We almost killed one ourselves.

Apollo rarely gets people food and when he does it's scrambled egg or a bite of grilled chicken or a bit of Greek yogurt or carrots. I never thought about pancreatitis, I just don't give him fatty people food because it gives him diarrhea and other gastric unpleasantries. Nobody likes that. :dead:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
not investing enough $$ into her care. but her age and condition made surgery unrealistic and offered little satisfaction of success.

Two stories, and you know both of these people:

The woman whose cat had a flea allergy, so the vet talked her into getting the cat a $2000 blood transfusion. The cat died a couple days afterward.

And the guy whose vet convinced him to have a new sphincter made for his ancient on its last legs dog so it could control its bowels better. Not 100%, now, just better.

I certainly understand how easy it is to get sucked into the emotional side of pet treatment, I just don't want to do it myself.
 

ontheriver

Well-Known Member
First off....I am so sorry for you, Monello, and your little jumping buddy, Apollo. Truly. :huggy:

We had a similar circumstance recently with our 12 year old doggo. She had all the attributes of a happy, healthy, and active dog....aside from the fact that she pee'd all of the time. Thankfully it was always outside. BUT, she would hold her position for peeing, but yet little to no pee would come out most of the time. She would assume the pee position for 5 minutes or so, and you could sense her anxiety about "needing" to pee, but not being able to. Come to find out, she had a cancerous tumor on her bladder. It put pressure on her bladder, leading her to think that he bladder was full - when it really wasn't. She would just stand there trying to evacuate her bladder when it was already empty. The local vet here didn't do much to investigate her condition, but we finally got the bladder cancer diagnosis when we hit up an emergency vet in Ocean City. It was there that they did a sonogram and found a sizeable tumor. We brought her home, and within a few days we scheduled her to be put down. It was a grueling decision, because, like I said, she was otherwise healthy and happy, and she continued to snuggle and give kisses, etc. But her discomfort was painful to her and to us. The morning of her euthanasia, she jumped into the back of the car with a wagging tail and a big old smile. I felt terrible. While I am confident it was the right decision, I am still plagued with guilt over not doing enough, not investing enough $$ into her care. but her age and condition made surgery unrealistic and offered little satisfaction of success.

Best of luck to you, Monello and Apollo.

:huggy:
 
Apollo rarely gets people food and when he does it's scrambled egg or a bite of grilled chicken or a bit of Greek yogurt or carrots. I never thought about pancreatitis, I just don't give him fatty people food because it gives him diarrhea and other gastric unpleasantries. Nobody likes that. :dead:
I am always very careful with mine. She got something on her one one night and that was all she wrote. Very sick dog for a few days. In your case, they must be seeing something specific in the blood work.

I am of the opinion it is more humane to give them eternal slumber than to send them off to a kenneled setting away from family and then poke, prod and medicate them which they will not understand at all when we know in our heart it may only borrow some time. But everybody has to make their own choices based on their own experiences and interactions with their animals.
 

Dakota

~~~~~~~
Do not let them guilt you into excessive tests or treatment. What you are describing sounds like severe pancreatis. It can happen suddenly and is life threatening. It can happen easily in older pets given foods to fatty or rich including well means humans who think they are doing right by feeding them our real food. Schnauzers are extremely sensitive. We almost killed one ourselves.

The first time our JRT had pancreatic issues, we were the cause. The second time, we don't know what was the trigger. Our bet was the food. My husband switched her 2 or 3 years ago to Royal Canin and CROSSING FINGERS, we have had zero issues since. He switched her food at the time my son's cat (now mine :rolleyes:) got severe IBS. Our vet put kitty on Royal Canin so he just put them all on Royal Canin.
 

frequentflier

happy to be living
Vrai, so sorry to hear this. I hope the meds help but if they don't and he doesn't pull out of it, the kindest thing to do is let him go.

But I have to tell you- my cat, Ivy, cat was diagnosed with pancreatitis 4 + years ago. She started acting weird and kept getting on the counters looking for food. She managed to get bacon off the stove. Lost weight, hair and bad prognosis. Raw goats milk brought her back to health and kicked out the pancreatitis and several years later, she is fat and happy (and I went and bought another case of goats milk today)

Also our store kitty, Shy-Anne, approx age 16, was diagnosed with cancer about 4 years ago. With a small dermal steroid treatment daily, she is living a happy life with one of my coworkers. Her prognosis was iffy.

And last but not least, my alpha boy, Zuma, was diagnosed through blood work to have cancer 2 years ago. He is still alive and kicking.

So my hope is the vet is wrong or at least not completely right and that Apollo sticks around for a couple more years
.
Love to you and Apollo and Monello :huggy:
 

black dog

Free America
The first time our JRT had pancreatic issues, we were the cause. The second time, we don't know what was the trigger. Our bet was the food. My husband switched her 2 or 3 years ago to Royal Canin and CROSSING FINGERS, we have had zero issues since. He switched her food at the time my son's cat (now mine :rolleyes:) got severe IBS. Our vet put kitty on Royal Canin so he just put them all on Royal Canin.

We do some work for Tractor Supply at a Distribution Center, never in my life have I seen so many different dog and cat foods available.
I was given a broken 25lb bag of dry Taste of The Wild roasted bison and roasted venison.
That food is almost 2 bucks a pound, I torchered my Chessie for days giving him a handful as a treat each night.
I now tend to rotate the higher end dry foods with him. He seems happier, farts less along with he digests it much better with what he leaves in the yard or field.
 

AnthonyJames

R.I.P. My Brother Rick
Didn't you post about him having a spot on his leg and licking it incessantly, and having to put some kind of salve on it to make him stop? He may have made himself sick from that.

Please, give him his prescribed antibiotics and something easy on his tummy to eat, like baby food if you know what flavor he may like, and a chance to recover. Hydration is extremely important also so try to get him to drink, and they do make flavored water to make it more palatable for pets if they are not used to drinking a lot. He may be a little old but he at least deserves a chance, and a second opinion.
 

Dakota

~~~~~~~
Didn't you post about him having a spot on his leg and licking it incessantly, and having to put some kind of salve on it to make him stop? He may have made himself sick from that.

Please, give him his prescribed antibiotics and something easy on his tummy to eat, like baby food if you know what flavor he may like, and a chance to recover. Hydration is extremely important also so try to get him to drink, and they do make flavored water to make it more palatable for pets if they are not used to drinking a lot. He may be a little old but he at least deserves a chance, and a second opinion.

Wow - excellent point!
 

limblips

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
You are living my fear. My eldest is 12 and has a history of bladder stones. Expensive surgery and prescription food for life. If the time comes to make the decision just remember it is the hardest right thing you will ever do.

As for vets pushing things (ours current ones are the best) we took him to the vet for his annual and talked about his increasing neurosis with thunder and lightning. The vet told us we could start a "behavior modification" program consisting of drugs and immersion training. My wife asked how long would this go on the response was it could be 6 years or so. He was 8 at the time. Wife told her he would likely be dead before the treatment was over. Last trip to that vet. He now gets a Trazadone an hour before a storm and is usually fine.
 

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
He now gets a Trazadone an hour before a storm and is usually fine.
I have friends with a pup that did the same, fine forever, then one bad July 4th he got gun shy, and progressively got worse. He now gets trazadone, zanax and a thundershirt.
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Happy to report that the vomit meds seem to be working. Apollo has eaten and kept his food down. He's also a lot perkier today when compared to yesterday. Yesterday he barely raised his head when he was laying down. Today he's showing a lot of his normal behaviors. He's not running around, tearing the place up. But he isn't laying around barely moving either. I think if he can keep food down he will get his strength back and be more of his old self again.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Didn't you post about him having a spot on his leg and licking it incessantly, and having to put some kind of salve on it to make him stop? He may have made himself sick from that.

I put Neosporin on it and it was either bandaged or he had the Cone of Shame on so he couldn't get to it. I don't think it's that, but it's possible.

Anyway, I'm switching vets. IMO you start on the lower end of things that could be wrong, treat them, then move up if needed. You don't start at DEFCON 1. This vet came out of the gate talking about hospitalization and surgery and liver cancer. And that may still be the case, but he seems to be improving just since this afternoon. He had a small dinner of sweet potato and boiled chicken, and earlier he had some mashed banana with peanut butter. Not as much as he normally eats but it's something.

We'll see what tomorrow brings but I am cautiously optimistic, as opposed to this morning when I thought his demise was imminent and yesterday when I was scared he wouldn't make it through the night.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
You are living my fear. My eldest is 12 and has a history of bladder stones. Expensive surgery and prescription food for life. If the time comes to make the decision just remember it is the hardest right thing you will ever do.

As for vets pushing things (ours current ones are the best) we took him to the vet for his annual and talked about his increasing neurosis with thunder and lightning. The vet told us we could start a "behavior modification" program consisting of drugs and immersion training. My wife asked how long would this go on the response was it could be 6 years or so. He was 8 at the time. Wife told her he would likely be dead before the treatment was over. Last trip to that vet. He now gets a Trazadone an hour before a storm and is usually fine.

I'm 😍 that your thunderstorm problem has been solved and :burning: that the first vet wanted to soak you financially. I hate not being able to "trust the professionals".
 
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