Migraine

I just got home from droping the car off and the dog. Nala dog gets to get xrays, blood work and a sample taken of a neck mass. The neck mass has been there some time. We've followed it, but today when the doctor checked it seems to have grown invasively into the muscle.

She is 13. I'm terrified about what they will find. We lost our German Sheperd 2 years ago that we'd only had for 5 years (she was about 12, age unknown as she was a stray). We've had Nala since she was a puppy. Nala has had arthritis for some time, very well control and that's really it. She has been so healthy. I'm just praying everything is ok. She was whimpering this morning. No matter how stiff she has been with her arthritis, she has never whimpered.

I need to focus on work. Keep good thoughts for Nala dog.

Cindy

Cindy- I know dogs can be so precious to a family, and I hope Nala will be okay! Here's sending some hugs and positive thoughts your way-keep us posted on what is going on !

Valerie

Cindy,
Here's some and prayers your way for Nala. I hope everything turns out OK for her. I know that our pets can be like family. Let us know how everything turns out.

Cindy,

My thoughts are with you and Nala dog today. Please let us know what the doc says.

Dar

Keep us posted, Cindy.

Keep us posted on Nala-dog's progress Cindy. Lance, my sheltie who thinks he's a yorkie, sends Nala a bucketful of licks. He says: "Anybody who is sick and has to go to the schtinky vet needs a comforting bath!"

Tracie

Nala is a sick girl. Since she was seen in August for her shots and check up she has develop a lung tumor, probably primary and yes short of doing a biospy, we're calling it cancer.

The lipoma's (fatty tumor's) she has had around her neck has changed drastically. Due to how it changed, it was not noticable by me or the kids. But on xray it can start encroaching on her trachea or putting pressure on nerves. Oh and of couse the arthritis in her spine is no better. There appears to be greater narrowing in the vertebral areas where nerves pass.

So after we get blood results back tomorrow I basically get to watch for signs of nerve and respiratory problems. She's 13, I won't let them do a lung resection. The lipoma is too large to resect without doing muscle and nerve damage that isn't there now.

I asked about oral chemo and she said that usually wasn't an option without a biospy to see what the cell type of the tumor is. And doing a lung biospy with a general anesthesia is not something they are anxious to do. You see we keep going back to her being 13.....

I feel so awful about not removing the lipoma a year ago. But the so rarely do anything bad. The risk of of surgery is usually worse than the mass.

The worse part of all of this is talking to the kids about it. We're had Nala since they were 3 and 4. Piper named her. She's ridgeback and lab. Lion King was her favorite movie and when she found out ridgebacks were lion dogs she had to name her something from the movie. Four year olds are hard to reason with. Nala made me feel safe when I separated from their dad and lived alone for the first time in 15 years.

She will be fine for some time. Nothing immediate is going to happen unless her blood work has abnormal values tomorrow.

She gets grilled chicken tonight for dinner along with the rest of us. Her's will not be seasoned.

Cindy

Nala dog certainly has my prayers, along with googobs of pats and tummy scratches. Not to mention piles and piles of virtual treats!

Poor Nala! I hope she's not in pain!Here's hugs for everyone

Valerie

Nala is not in pain now, she certainly was this morning. Since she was off her feed today, they gave her a shot of her NSAID and she felt much better when she came home. I also have tormadol for her again. She was hungry and ate very well when she got home.

The werid thing is she doesn't want to sleep on her bed. I'm thinking it's too over filled with stuff and hard to get off of. I have extra blankets on top of an old bath mat I'll use instead, firm, but still soft, for her. She has a similar bed outside she likes.

Thanks everyone. She is a good and loyal friend to us here and we love her dearly.

Cindy

I'm so sorry, Cindy. Make the most of whatever time you have left with her.

Watching much loved furry friends suffer is so hard and emotionally draining. There wasn't a gramelin for praying, so I put the crossing fingers there to let you I am crying and praying for Nala and your family.

mary in nm

I'm so sorry to hear everything about Nala. We put down an 18 year old poodle in November and it was devastating. At her age, all you can do is try to make her comfortable. I think she deserves people food from here on out.

It's hard to watch them suffer. It's also hard to decide when to put them down if you have to. We struggled with that for months. Finally our Peaches was howling in pain and we couldn't stand to watch that anymore. My husband and I cried (sobbed was more like it) and I have to say it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

My heart goes out to you right now. Animals are our children too and it hurts so much.

We're here for you anytime you need a shoulder to cry on.

P.S. (my daughter's cat is named Nala too!)

Oh, Cindy!

Ebony and Winston send their best doggie licks. Banzai and Chloe send their best cat "soft paws." I'm sending my best healing thoughts.

I understand the conflicting issues about the mass and Nala's age. PLEASE don't beat yourself up about what you did or didn't do last year! You had no way of predicting the future.

It is so hard to decide what to do for our "critters." Look into Nala's eyes. Are they happy eyes? Is her tail up & wagging? As long as her eyes and tail stay happy, she's happy. If you can keep her happy with a lower bed and pain meds, go for it.

Whatever happens, you know we're right here.

With love,

Rebecca

Oh Cindy--

I'm so sorry about Nala. Our SpringaLab, Saxon, had pretty much the exact same thing, lipomas that grew in and impenged on his lungs and thrachea. Once we were sure what was wrong, our main focus was keeping him comfortable and as happy as possible. You'll know when the time to say goodbye comes. Understand that you couldn't have really made a difference in the diagnosis. I am so good at beating myself up for missing those kinds of things. Our vet sat me down and really talked to me about how impossible this type of cancer is to predict; how it's just a part of life, and that giving our pets the comfort and peace that as humans we are often denied is a special gift. I have remembered those words ever since. Saxon was the dog my kids grew up with, and saying goodbye was hard, but again, that's part of life, and he had lived a wonderful, if not as long as we would have liked life.

Tracie