This is a quick and dirty blog post, but I thought it would be easier to point everyone towards one post instead of writing and rewriting what’s going on into a bunch of different emails, postings, etc.
Despite her age (16 1/2), Brandy has been very bouncy and energetic on walks since we adopted her. She would even get excited and chase after Snickers or Secret when they’d run through the apartment. Her vet appointment in February was very positive; she was in relatively good health for her age! Over the past two to three weeks though, her energy level has been diminishing and it’s been difficult to get her to just walk around the block. A few days ago, she began accidentally pooping in the house (even in her sleep). By today she had pretty bad diarrhea.
We took her to the vet and she has a huge tumor inside her mouth. No wonder she isn’t feeling well! She was dehydrated as well, so they gave her some subcutaneous fluids. We have a twice daily antibiotic/anti-inflammatory for her plus a mild dewormer (just in case). They drew blood and I’m planning to take her back for x-rays tomorrow or the next day. We’ll decide what to do after all the results are back. If the tumor is cancerous or there is more than the one, there isn’t really anything we can do except treat her symptoms and make her comfy. If it isn’t cancerous – and her blood work indicates that it is safe to do so – we’ll give her steroids to try to shrink the tumor.
Either way, she’s a sick, old girl and we’re heartsick to be dealing with this so soon after having adopted her. We knew we wouldn’t have her for an incredibly long time, but we’ve fallen very much in love with her and we’re not ready to let her go. Most importantly though, we want her to be comfortable and know how dearly she is loved.
We tried to get some pictures of the three of them together after we got home from the vet today. It was tough because (1) Secret can’t do a sit stay to save her life and (2) Brandy was tired and droopy. Here’s the "at least we tried" series of resulting photos!
