Mediastinal tumor

[arousa]

Hello everyone,

We have a 10 year old female rottweiler that suddenly became ill. We took her to the vet and was diagnosed with a mediastinal tumor. The tumor is about 9cm and is located by the lungs, heart an exofugus(spelling). Also the blood work came back as having a very low count of red cells and overall not good. She is also anemic.

The vets (specialist)recomended we put her to sleep. Which is what we believe is the best thing also. But have not been able to do so because of how we see her. Although she is not running around she does not seem to be in pain. But we really dont know. Our regular vet told us to hold on an see how she does before putting her to sleep.

Surfing the web we read about natural medicines like essiac tea and Pau d'arco, cq10 and so on. We have been giving Pau darco and cq10 but havent gotten the essiac yet as its not sold here in our country.

My post is to see what your opinions are. Should we give up and just let her rest or see how she continous and try and fight it. Which I know is probably not the best option.

Thank you all.

[LavenderRott]

I lost my girl to osteosarcoma a little over a year ago. We had her put to sleep the same day she was diagnosed because of the amount of damage to the bone and the massive amount of pain she was in.

I can not tell you what to do about your girl.

I do know that for all that we do for them, our greatest gift is letting them go when the time is right. To look past our selfish need to have them by our side and release them from their pain.

May you have the wisdom to know when that time has come and the strength to hold her and let her know that she is loved as she leaves.

[observer]

I would watch very carefully, and try to be objective about whether she is really enjoying life as she did before she got sick. If, or when, she is not, then it is time. Rotties are VERY stoic about pain, and will not show it until it becomes extreme. Also, dogs live in the here and now... they do not think about maybe feeling better tomorrow or next week. Keep all that in mind as you make this difficult decision.

But also remember that when that time comes that we can give them the gift of setting them free from illness, is when we come the closest to giving them the unselfish, unconditional love they ALWAYS give us. She will love you forever.

[hokisteph5]

Originally Posted by LavenderRott

I do know that for all that we do for them, our greatest gift is letting them go when the time is right. To look past our selfish need to have them by our side and release them from their pain.

May you have the wisdom to know when that time has come and the strength to hold her and let her know that she is loved as she leaves.

Beautiful post! Here's a site I found over a year ago that helped me put in perspective this decision - Pet Loss Support Page: Defining "Quality of Life"

My mom just went through this with her five year old cat, Boo (or Boo Boo Kitty to me). Since Boo was about a year old, she had what my mom thought was asthma. She would have flare-ups, but they would be controlled with medication.

This past Sunday morning, at around 2:15 am, my mom said she was woken up by a scratch on her foot. She's not sure if it was Boo that did it or one of her other cats, but nonetheless when she looked at Boo, she didn't look good. Her mouth was open, there was a white film, and her breathing was labored. Her mouth was also ice cold.

My mom, thinking it was an asthma attack, rushed her to the emergency clinic and Boo was started on oxygen and given a few injections. A chest x-ray was taken and the vet asked if she had ever been told that Boo's sternum looked to be malformed (she hadn't). It also appeared that she may have a hernia. My mom had to leave Boo there overnight and in the morning she got a call - Boo hadn't shown any improvement, but they were still trying.

My mom and I went shopping on Sunday because there were some errands to be run, but our goal was to try to see Boo when the clinic wasn't so busy. We called twice to see Boo and both times were told they were a little busy. While driving to our last stop, my mom got a call from the new vet on duty and she was told Boo's condition had deteriorated in the last hour. The vet also asked if the subject of euthanizing Boo had come up (it hadn't).

We rushed to the clinic, my mom talked with the vet, agreed to have Boo put to sleep, but wanted some time with her so she could say goodbye. Like my mom said, she could've waited until Monday to take Boo to her regular vet and see if they could do surgery to repair the hernia, but if Boo would've passed away overnight, all by herself, that would've been so much harder.

Boo was brought in, but within 10 seconds of my mom looking at her and her condition, my mom had me ask for the vet to come back in. I later told my mom I don't think Boo would've lasted overnight and once we saw her condition, putting her to sleep was the right and only option. It never gets easier, though, making that final decision and the void they leave behind is incredible.

[arousa]

Well today has been one of the hardest days of our lives. We have put our loved daisy to sleep. We got home today and she had been almost 3 days with hardly a bite of food. So far she was doing OK but when we got home and she stood up to go outside she curled up like a donut and was really stiff.

The vet said it might be due to stomach/intestine pains as well as the tumor growing more. Her vowel movements was like water today. We couldnt bare to see her suffering like this. Although when the vet arrived at our house, daisy was a lot better and was not curling up. And while lying on her bed she looked really happy. Maybe if we try this or that? Lets wait and see how she does tomorrow. But we decided that we could not see her go through another episode of pain.

At 10 years and 6 months of life with us we had to let her go. It was the last thing we wanted to do and felt so helpless but I hope it was the best thing for her, I really do hope it was. At least we got the chance to put her asleep at home and my wife, myself, our other dog and a vet that really cared for her where by her side. We buried her rolled in her blanket on my grandmothers land. A place I have loved all my life.

Daisy we love you, you have taken a huge piece of our hearts with you. You will always be in our hearts.

[smileygirl]

Fly free Daisy..on your angel wings...let your family know you know you were loved and will meet again...thoughts and prayers are with you...Tina