Lost My Beagle Buddy to Lung Cancer

by Ann
(Bell Island, Nfld., Canada)

I rescued a beagle 9 years ago who I named Buddy for he became my constant companion. I am a cat person, or so I thought. But he changed me forever. He became the love of my life and gave me a reason to get out and walk and he kept me company when my hubby had to work at night. He was cold and hungry when he found me but I sure changed that in a hurry.

He was about 12 or 13 we think. I say "was" because we lost him through lung cancer Dec. 28, 2011. I didn't have the opportunity to try different treatments because it was too far advanced and if I took him home to our Island where we lived and couldn't get back to our vet by ferry, when need be, I couldn't live with that. We have no vet on this Island.

I loved, and still do, my beagle so much I nearly went crazy with grief. But if anyone's dog has cancer, try your best to keep them comfortable and try different things. If I lived on the mainland I may have tried some treatments but in hindsight I know in his case he only would have suffered needlessly. You see we had him to the vet for arthritis on Nov. 10 and had x-ray and blood work done and he was well enough to take an anti-inflammatory. He passed every test but some of the side affects of the drug was also a symptom of cancer. When he started breathing fast and had a dry cough I knew we were in trouble.

I console myself now by knowing we gave him a good life and in the end he didn't suffer. But my heart will ache for a long time.

My advice is keep them as long as you can and take NOTHING for granted. You know your dog best. Have your pets checked as often as can be safely done. I have so many questions but my vet said he was 99.9 percent sure it was cancer and his lungs were almost full. Plus I saw the lung x-ray and he had all the classic symptoms also. Please understand I am not trying to frighten or depress everyone. I just want to stress how important it is that you check your dogs as often as you can, so you and all of us can beat this dreaded disease in our beloved pets.

God Bless us all.

Ann