Last year, my dog Sarge had Osteosarcoma in his leg. He was too old to have any success in amputating his leg – even if he survived the surgery, he wouldn’t have been able to adapt to being a tripod. His quality of life had fallen so quickly, and it was so hard for me – not only to lose a pet, but to have to see the huge growth on his back leg grow so ugly. It was hard to look at, and that fact made me feel worse. We – or should I say, my parents - had to make the hard decision to put him down and end his suffering. I have since gotten through the sadness of that experience, for the most part, but the memory still stings.
Recently, my dog Penny seemed pretty sick. It wasn’t unusual for her to avoid eating all of the food in her dish, but it was unusual for her to avoid it even when it was replaced with yummy wet dog food and pumpkin. In response to her odd behavior, my sister Emma and I took her to The Animal Clinic of Kearney to have her checked out. After an x-ray, we were told that she had a mass in her spleen and that, depending on the results of an ultrasound, they would have to give her surgery to remove it or remove it through a noninvasive procedure.
It turned out to be a hard mass, and so she had to have surgery to remove her spleen. She’s safe and sound at home now, sleeping soundly on the floor next to my bed. I am so grateful that the growth inside of her wasn’t cancerous and was contained – I wasn’t ready to let go of her. She’s only seven years old, and I wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye without some seriously nasty sobbing.
