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Missing my Dog Spanky

by Spanky's Parent

Spanky's last days

Spanky's last days

I just put my Cocker Spaniel down after 9.5 years of a great companion.

My dog had mild seizures several years ago only twice. I did not think anymore about it and the vet said not to worry if they don't come back.

Several years later my dog began shaking a lot. The vet said my dog was having mini seizures. As time passed my dog began to rub his head into the bed, furniture, chairs any object and I thought it was just scratching his head.

After some time had passed, my dog began to run into walls and just stand there lost. After several visits to the vet and believing it was an old age thing, my dog started stumbling, pacing, panting, falling in the pool, trying to walk through items instead of around, fell in his dog bowl and could not get up.

I rushed him to the vet and was told he had a brain tumor. I could have had lots of tests done to find out what the status and growth of it was.

After taking the dog home and watching him slowly lose his mobility, I decided it was not fair to watch him suffer any longer. I wanted him to have his dignity. Unfortunately I had to put my best friend to sleep a couple days ago. I have visited this web site several times thinking there must have been more I could do.

I have been reassured from several people and my vet that it was the best thing as he was suffering.

I miss him so much and hope anyone reading this can learn from the symptoms. We all know our dogs and know when they are not acting the same.

I love you Spanky... Rest well.

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Missing my Dog Spanky

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Nov 15, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Meg - my brave little girl
by: Shari

Meg is 10 years old and is a Mini- Schnauzer. I have four others but she is the queen. About a month ago, I had a toe removed from one of her back feet (She had a toe bed tumor). Then the lymph node on the back of her same leg swelled up. The vet did remove the lymph node and sent it away. The cancer had spread. She was fine ever since, until this morning at 4:15 a.m. She had a seizure which was continuous. He did give her Valium but no result. It is 7:00 p.m. and she is still having seizures (at the vet clinic). The vet does not think she will recover. I am going to send her to the Rainbow Bridge at about 8:30 p.m. Please think of us then.
Nov 15, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		My beautiful Golden Girl Harmony
by: Anonymous

Thank you for this. My beautiful golden girl has just been diagnosed with a brain tumor and I can see all her symptoms in your precious pets. It is so hard to believe, in August she was running on the beach and swimming with her best friend and now she doesn't know anyone, not even him. I won't go into all the details as you have all been there or are there now. As I prepare myself for what is to come, I have your letters to help me go there. I would especially like to thank Tina for her poem as it has let loose the flood of tears that has been building in me since accepting the truth only this past week. I will surly bury her in my heart. Thank you all, and we have all been blessed by the love of our beloved companions.
Nov 14, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Lil Miracles
by: Anonymous

God bless the four legged angels that guard our hearts.
Nov 14, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Buddha The Bulldog
by: Anonymous

I know how this feels....sadly I have been watching my little bully for the last three weeks since he was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. Watching him every day, wondering if this is the last. The sadness is unreal, and my heart is broken. Thanks to all who have shared here, it gives me some comfort to know that I am not crazy over my dog, I love him, just like all of you.
Nov 04, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Our beloved chocolate lab
by: Anonymous

I too am comforted to hear we ended up doing the right thing for our 12yo chocolate lab. A few days ago she had bad seizures. The worst during the night and which she never really seemed to fully recover from. She couldn't get up during that event and her hind legs seemed paralyzed. She obviously didn't have her wits about her or know what was going on. When we took her in the ER vet said very likely brain tumor as all other tests were ok. The vet said we could wait and watch and maybe try some steriods/PB but that's about it and would not stop the inevitable. So, after a few hours of observation with no improvement and with a heavy heart and tears we let her go and had her put to sleep. I still wonder if we should have tried more but the more I read it sounds like at best you may get a few more days/weeks and they would likely be painful and/or distressful to the dog.

We miss her dearly but know that it was her time and we didn't want to prolong her suffering any more than absolutely necessary. God bless.
Nov 01, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		faithful friend
by: Anonymous

I suspect my faithful friend of 11 years has a brain tumour as well. Although she has developed cataracts her behaviour has changed.
Oct 25, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		sorry for your loss
by: Prancers mommy

So sorry for the loss of Spanky. Im going through something similar to you all. I have a 9 yr old Italian Greyhound named Prancer. We rescued her at 3 yrs old and she has been having seizures ever since. Drs say its epilepsy. She is on pheno and bromide 3xs a day. Seizures are still about once a month. This past 2 weeks Prancer has been very restless, falling up and down stairs, falling over, hind weakness, basically acting drunk! I think her eyesight and sense of smell has decreased, also. Dr said blood work is great, not her liver. Going to a neurologist next week. It sounds like brain tumor.

I dont know what I'll do without her. All I can tell you is my family has given sooo much to this precious baby girl. She was sooo badly abused, and is now treated like a princess. I hope the news is not too bad. I'll never let her suffer. So scared...I'll have to wait and see.

Thank you all for your stories. My heart goes out to you. Thank you!

Prancer's mommy.
Oct 20, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Just made the call
by: Pumba's Mom

I just made the call to have our 11 year old Pug put out of his suffering. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in August and we have been monitoring him since. We have him on Prednisone to help alleviate his discomfort of his back legs and help with the "drunken gait" that he has acquired. He has his good days and his bad but he has become bowel incontinent and he can't stand up from lying down without having an accident. We know it is the right thing to do but it is hard when he has grown up with our two teen age children.

Think of us on Friday Oct. 30th.
Oct 17, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Saying goodbye
by: Dee

Hi,

I'm so glad I found this page. It has given me the strength I am going to need very soon. My 14 year old toy poodle, Samson, began to have seizures just a month ago. I took him to the vet and he said he had all the symptoms of a brain tumor. I couldn't afford an MRI to be certain. He put him on anti-seizure, (phenobarbital) and he responded well. I was suggested cortico-steriods to help with any swelling on the brain. He responded well to that also. Through research I found an immune system modulator called NK9 by American BioSciences. All these have been very helpful. He has gained weight back. He is not in any pain right now. I am looking into tumor reducers for canines at this time. I know I am only buying some time. But I am making the time count as best as I can. Our little Sammy has the sweetest disposition and loves everyone and everyone who ever met him loves him. So soon enough I'm certain we will have to say goodbye to our beloved boy.

But what I would truly like to share with all my pet owner friends of canines, felines or others, is this: before our furry little friends get sick, we need to keep their immune systems in good working order. This requires supplementation and diet. Pet foods in cans or even kibble are not healthy for our pets, even the most expensive ones. Dogs were not meant to eat grains. They are carnivores. They need meat. If possible, buy good hamburger or chicken that is free of antibiotics and hormones. The food we feed them out of convenience is truly the cause of most diseases. If you have to give them canned or kibble, check the ingredients label.
Just as you and I need to keep our immune systems in working order, so do our pets. So if you ever intend to get another animal or already have others in your household, learn from our valuable experiences so we don't have to go through this again. If we are going to lose them, may they just go to sleep at a good old age. We need to educate ourselves. I feel for all of you.
Oct 16, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		My dog Precious
by: Danena

I am going through the same thing right now. My Precious has been with us for 13 years. She is a mix of Scottish terrier and corgie. She goes everywhere with me. At first we thought she had an inner ear infection but that was just a symptom. We now know she has a tumor. I just took her to the vet a couple of days ago. He gave her a couple of shots and basically I just put off a few days what I know I am going to have to do. I had to put down a mare that I had for 20 years and that hurt so bad. I guess I just wanted to put off just for a little while the pain of losing my best friend. But that is what good owners and family do they put what's best for the one that has the illness before anything or anyone else. I am so glad I found this site. I feel for all of you. And may your loss less with time and fill your heart with very happy memories.
Oct 09, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		thank you for sharing
by: Tara

My beloved miniature schnauzer Joey is going through the same symptoms many of you have written about...your stories help me to realize I am not alone. Back in February he had his first seizure. I had hoped they would stop but instead he began having them every week and then more often. He has lost bladder control, walks in circles, sometimes stumbles, paces from room to room, yelps for "no reason", other times he yelps if he bumps into a door or a chair, very sensitive to touch, sometimes doesn't recognize me, doesn't want me to touch his head, stares in the corner or tries to get behind things in the corner, i.e. plants, furniture. I've talked to the vet and he said it sounds like a brain tumor. We've run blood tests and all come back normal. My dog also didn't respond to phenobarb or potassium bromide. In fact, instead of it calming him, it made him hyper and extremely manic so I took him off because it was so extreme.

It has been so sad to see Joey not be the same happy playful dog. I've made the very painful and sad decision to put him to rest on Tuesday. I've realized he is not going to get better and I can't let him suffer...he no longer has a good quality of life. When I look at him - when he is not moving around and he is still, he looks like he "should" be "fine"...like the cute precious boy that I brought home 12 years ago. But then as I watch him longer and stay with him, I see that he is fading and suffering and it's not fair to hold on to him...

I love him so much...he has been the light of my life. I remember when I first saw Joey. I got him on Thanksgiving day 1997. He was the PERFECT Thanksgiving present. When I saw him I fell in love with him. I'm so happy that I've had him as long as I have. I am very blessed. It's hard to let go but I know if he could tell me, he wouldn't want to live this way. We've had a wonderful life together and I will miss him. I know that even though he won't be home to greet me each day, he will forever be in my heart. I pray that you rest in peace my sweet Joey. I only hope that I see you again and can love on you. I will treasure this short time that we have left together. You are always in my heart.
Love,
Mom
Oct 07, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks for the answers
by: Anonymous

Thank you everyone for posting this info. I just had to put my beloved dog of 14 years down this morning, they say it was a brain tumor. I thought she was having strokes, but after reading the symptoms, it definitely had to be a tumor. She had an awful seizure last night (and one before in December that left her right side of her face paralyzed) and didn't recover. It's the hardest decision to make, but I couldn't watch her suffer anymore. Reading these posts made me feel comforted and not alone in my grief, so thank you. And to anyone reading this and going through the same thing, it's the right decision to let them go when they're suffering, as wrong as it feels. I know I have a long road ahead, but I know I'm not alone, and neither are you. Hang in there.
Oct 05, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		11.5 year old Weim with brain tumor
by: Anonymous

I am so sorry for your loss. My 11 year old Weimaraner has been diagnosed with a possible brain tumor after a grand mal seizure. Her first one was a month ago and she was put on the phenobarbitol, and has not had another one. Her back legs are weaker, but she is still doing well on stair, jumping on furniture, and seems pretty good other wise. Any ideas how long she may live?
Sep 29, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		You are not alone
by: Pepsi's Mom, Janice

Sept 25th was my miniature schnauzer, Pepsi's last day with us, about 3 weeks before my son first witnessed him having a grand mal seizure, twitching and tremulous.

The next week I was outside and heard him yelping as if he was in pain. I came to see him getting up and shaking himself.

Over the next days he fell over on his side, yelping and tremulous and incontinent. I recorded what I saw. The vet used this information to help diagnose him with a possible brain tumor as his bloodwork was normal and his x-ray showed no evidence of tumors or liver damage. He was put on medication to help him. He continued to get worse, sometimes he would be walking normally and suddenly he would halt, his front legs would spread out and his head would hang, or if you called him he would look blankly forward. I went to pat his head one day and he ducked as if to say don't touch me there. He moaned while sleeping, ate less, and sometimes seemed afraid to go down the stairs.

The last day he was very short of breath and would not get up, moaned constantly, and refused to eat or drink. It was hard to watch so I did what I knew was best for him - to put him to sleep and end his suffering. Mine goes on without him after 10 1/2 years. He was one of my little ones who brought joy in my life. The quietness is deafening, but the memories of him irreplaceable. RIP Pepsi.
Sep 26, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Feel your pain
by: Jake's Mom

Just had to put our 13 year old black lab down this a.m.. He had a seizure two weeks ago today that lasted 1 1/2 hours. We took him to the vet and he put him on phenobarbitol. The past two weeks have been a nightmare of watching him deteriorate. He walked in circles repeatedly, inside the house and out. He was confused, walking into things. The only time he layed down was when he fell down. I called the vet 2 days in a row and they assured me he would be okay once the pills kicked in. I just knew something else was wrong. This just wasn't my dog anymore. We took him to the vet this a.m. and now he is gone. We loved him and are grieving.
Sep 22, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Going thru the same thing
by: Ricky's Mom

Thanks for your story. I have a 12yo greyhound who started having seizures about 2 months ago. He had always been healthy but started having trouble walking and getting up. Then he became more vocal. We thought it was just old age until the seizures began. He had 4 within a few days. He went on phenobarbitol which kept him seizure-free for almost 2 months but this past weekend he had 2 more seizures so his pheno has been increased. I know I will have to put him down soon bc he can barely walk and is started to whine. I don't want him to be in pain. Thanks for your story it is helping me gather the courage to do what I know is the best thing for my boy, Ricky.
Sep 21, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Spanky's mom...You were describing my precious pup -
by: Anonymous

I would like to say that I also just lost my dog 12 days ago, she started having seizures at 9.7 yrs old. We medicated and controlled the seizures for the most part of the 26 months, but her health started in a downhill spiral that was filled with the return of seizures, pacing, circling (running in circles the last 2 days of her life), stumbling, walking into everything... She was blind, but this became not a typical kind of blindness - she was not aware of surroundings, the unsteady gait, loss of smell - she couldn't smell anything in front of her. At the end 2 days the seizures turned hard GMs again, and the pacing and no longer walking, but running...in circles, was just more than any of us could go on with.

It has left me without my precious constant companion, the pain is all but unbearable.

An hour long observation visit to a new vet 5 weeks before my baby died diagnosed most likely a brain tumor causing her terrible symptoms. It was heartbreaking. I'm about afraid to get another dog, this hurts so bad.

I hope this helps someone concerning symptoms their dog is having to rule in or out a brain tumor. Hopefully, it will not be one, it's EXTREMELY HARD to WATCH THIS OVERTAKE YOUR BABY!!!
Sep 08, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		A Poem
by: Tina

A subscriber of the Ontario Argus has written to the editor asking, " Where shall I bury my dog?"
We would say to the Ontario man that there are various places in which a dog may be buried. We are thinking now of a dog , who so far as we are aware, never entertained a mean or unworthy thought. This dog is buried beneath a cherry tree, under four feet of garden loam, and at it's proper season the cherry strews petals on the green lawn of his grave. Beneath a cherry tree, or an apple, or any flowering shrub of the garden, is an excellent place to bury a good dog. Beneath such trees, such shrubs, he slept in the drowsy summer, or gnawed at a flavorous bone, or lifted head to challenge some strange intruder. These are good places, in life or in death. Yet it is a small matter. For if the dog be well remembered, if sometimes he leaps through your dreams actual as in life, eyes kindling, laughing, begging, it matters not at all where the dog sleeps. On a hill where the wind is unrebuked, and the trees are roaring, or beside a stream he knew in puppyhood, or somewhere in the flatness of a pasture land, where most exhilarating cattle graze. It is all one to the dog, and all one to you, and nothing is gained, and nothing lost - if the memory lives. But there is one best place to bury a dog.
If you bury him in this spot, he will come to you when you call - come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well remembered path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel they shall not growl at him, nor resent him coming, for he belongs there. People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper, people who may never really have had a dog. Smile at them, for you shall know something that is hidden from them, and which is well worth the knowing. The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master.
Sep 05, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Spanky
by: Hazel

Hi,

First, I want to say I am so sorry for your loss. Spanky looked so cute and lovely and I am really sad to hear that he had gone through so much.

And secondly, I really want to thank you for taking the time to tell other dog parents the symptoms of canine brain tumors, although I am sure it was hard for you to do so, having lost Spanky recently and still missing him so much.

I want you to know that what you have written down is extremely helpful for other dog parents and I am sure many dog parents appreciate what you did. I have actually put a link on my Canine Brain Tumors page to your Spanky's page so that dog parents looking for information on dog brain tumors can read about your first-hand description of the symptoms.

On behalf of all dog parents, thank you again and I wish you well.

Take care.

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