Bad Week Here
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 7:29 am
On Sunday morning, we found our rescue bunny had passed. We had had her for only six days but at least she died warm and loved. RIP Jasmine.
I had saved her from being sent for meat. The guy who was trying to sell her in his agricultural feed shop (and who should be charged for cruelty) did not bother to seek veterinary help for her when she was attacked by a cat in his shop two months ago and either a) her jaw had been broken and allowed to set like that or b) she had an abscess from the bite that went into the bone and left a huge calcified mass. It was hard for my vet to tell from the X-ray. She had been improving and I was hopeful, but even with her daily weigh-ins her body condition was poor and I think she was just to far gone by the time I got her.
On Sunday evening, we lost Homer, our foster kitten. He died at the vet from cardiac arrest.
On Wednesday, Elsie died. She was our 12+ year old Shih Tzu we had taken in December 23, 2009. She had been found as a stray and was obviously dumped.
We brought her to the vet Wednesday morning for her dental. All of her teeth were falling out and when the vet tried, very gently, to extract a tooth, Elsie's jaw broke. Because she had noted a large black mass on the bottom of Elsie's mouth and under her tongue, the vet put two and two together and took an X-ray. What she discovered is that this mass had encompassed almost her entire jawbone and that there really was no bone left. I asked her to try to wire the jaw shut but as she went in, the jaw broke again. At this point, we were looking at amputating the whole lower jaw and it just would not have been a good life for Elsie. My son and I rushed over and while she was still under sedation, we ended her pain.
When we analyzed the whole picture after, the vet explained that black masses like that indicate melanoma. She also suspected that this spot in her mouth is not even where the cancer had started but where it had spread. It all kind of made sense since she had multiple lumps on her skin and it was likely metastatic cancer (though I had been hopeful they were just cysts). Even her body condition kind of hinted, in hindsight, at how sick she was: her coat was thin and her skin was flaky even though she was on fish oil supplements. The only good news is that the meds we had been giving her for her heart murmur worked well because her heart was steady and strong.
Elsie slept with my son and I every night. She was my shadow. I feel like she had been here for a long time. Even though she was only 14 pounds, there is a huge void here and a lot of sadness.
I had saved her from being sent for meat. The guy who was trying to sell her in his agricultural feed shop (and who should be charged for cruelty) did not bother to seek veterinary help for her when she was attacked by a cat in his shop two months ago and either a) her jaw had been broken and allowed to set like that or b) she had an abscess from the bite that went into the bone and left a huge calcified mass. It was hard for my vet to tell from the X-ray. She had been improving and I was hopeful, but even with her daily weigh-ins her body condition was poor and I think she was just to far gone by the time I got her.
On Sunday evening, we lost Homer, our foster kitten. He died at the vet from cardiac arrest.
On Wednesday, Elsie died. She was our 12+ year old Shih Tzu we had taken in December 23, 2009. She had been found as a stray and was obviously dumped.
We brought her to the vet Wednesday morning for her dental. All of her teeth were falling out and when the vet tried, very gently, to extract a tooth, Elsie's jaw broke. Because she had noted a large black mass on the bottom of Elsie's mouth and under her tongue, the vet put two and two together and took an X-ray. What she discovered is that this mass had encompassed almost her entire jawbone and that there really was no bone left. I asked her to try to wire the jaw shut but as she went in, the jaw broke again. At this point, we were looking at amputating the whole lower jaw and it just would not have been a good life for Elsie. My son and I rushed over and while she was still under sedation, we ended her pain.
When we analyzed the whole picture after, the vet explained that black masses like that indicate melanoma. She also suspected that this spot in her mouth is not even where the cancer had started but where it had spread. It all kind of made sense since she had multiple lumps on her skin and it was likely metastatic cancer (though I had been hopeful they were just cysts). Even her body condition kind of hinted, in hindsight, at how sick she was: her coat was thin and her skin was flaky even though she was on fish oil supplements. The only good news is that the meds we had been giving her for her heart murmur worked well because her heart was steady and strong.
Elsie slept with my son and I every night. She was my shadow. I feel like she had been here for a long time. Even though she was only 14 pounds, there is a huge void here and a lot of sadness.