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Wiley, my Australian kelpie dog (and my special boy) seemed to be aging really well. At 13, he still had his hearing, no signs of arthritis, and was spry and sassy. We joked sometimes that he'd give old Maggie (the kelpie who lived to 30) a run for her money. Then he collapsed on New Year's eve. We took him to the emergency vet, and it turns out his pericardial sac was filling with fluid. After consulting with various specialists, we got a diagnosis--heangiosarcoma, which is a very aggressive and invariably fatal cancer that seems to mostly afflict dogs.
We're pursuing some palliative care that should make him more comfortable for a while and may slow the cancer down a bit, but it's highly unlikely we will have him more than a very few months more, and that's if we're lucky. I won't let him suffer, so there will be a point where we'll have to let him go.
So I'm feeling pretty crappy about this. Heartache is part of loving animals, but damn I really wish he could have been in the world a few more years. He's the sweetest, most loving dog I've ever known. He's never met a person he doesn't like, and he got me through a really rough time 12 years ago when I adopted him.
We're pursuing some palliative care that should make him more comfortable for a while and may slow the cancer down a bit, but it's highly unlikely we will have him more than a very few months more, and that's if we're lucky. I won't let him suffer, so there will be a point where we'll have to let him go.
So I'm feeling pretty crappy about this. Heartache is part of loving animals, but damn I really wish he could have been in the world a few more years. He's the sweetest, most loving dog I've ever known. He's never met a person he doesn't like, and he got me through a really rough time 12 years ago when I adopted him.
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