Tilley's Struggle Against K9 Pancreatic Cancer

by Ron Lane
(York SC USA)

My dog Tilley was my brother's dog. Three years ago my brother died at the young age of 49. So I took over the care for his dog Tilley. I loved her before I took over her care but since I took over her care she has become a beloved family member by everyone in my famiy.

About a month ago she developed pancreatitis and spent two nights in the hospital as she was very dehydrated and needed fluids. After we picked her up, the vet said she was doing better but if she relasped we needed to take her to a specialist to have an ultrasound performed.

About a week later she grew week again and we had to force feed her baby food to get her to eat through a syringe. So we got a second opinion from another vet and he confirmed she needed to have an ultrasound. So we took her to the Pet Hospital in Charlotte about 20 miles from our home and they performed the unltrasound and found a small area on her pancreas that they said may be cancer but they could not be sure, so they wanted to change her medication to see how she does.

Again she got better for about a week and then reverted back to her sickly ways. So they told us to bring her back in for a follow-up ultrasound. They confirmed this time that she has pancreatic cancer which in dogs is generally fatal. They said it might be 30 days to 2 months and we just needed to keep her comfortable. They gave us medications which included pain pills and nausea medicine and when it was time to put her down vet said we would know it.

She is still coherent and can hear you and obeys your commands, but she is pacing around the house some for about 30 minutes at a time. I am assuming this is from stress and pain. I do not want her to suffer much longer so I am probably going to have her euthanized at some point which we all dread. She is like our child and it is so hard.

I was just wondering if anyone knew what the pacing might mean. Can anyone enlighten me?