I had to put my English Pointer to sleep last September. Her name was Belle and she was just 1 week shy of her 13th birthday. Even though I have another Pointer, Abraham, its been very sad and lonely without her. I volunteer at the local animal shelter, and have been watching an Australian shepherd mix for the last few weeks. I finally broke down and brought him home for a weekend sleepover. Of course it only took 24 hours to decide to keep him, so everyone, meet Isaac.....

(The second collage is Belle...still miss my sweet girl)

@, I think you should call yourself "catman"!

I like your idea crittermama and went to change my username but Catman is already taken. Thanks for the thoughts though.

@, I think you should call yourself "catman"!

Sooooo, what do you think of the new name. It's a little off yours but I think it works.

I'm loving it, and it fits! Now, go get yourself a new baby!

@@Countrygrrl Omg! That cat cute!

I love her guts!!! She rides on my shoulder leaping on my like I'm a tree and hisses and scares new people before demanding there affection. [attachment=50646:ImageUploadedByBariatricPal1420530875.014030.jpg]

I have a huge problem with PITA. But just to narrow it down. Any ethical breeder I know who is an advocate for There breed spends most there time helping the rescue. 10 or so years ago PETA decided that we abused dogs by leaving them in crates between classes. So they staged a "demonstration" and released the dogs from there confinement. One dog was hit by a car and killed. I watched an 11 year old girl sobbing while holding her deceased best friend. Totally not the place for this but Zelot's are scary. I would if needed bail if that was my kid or my fur-kid

I have a huge problem with PITA. But just to narrow it down. Any ethical breeder I know who is an advocate for There breed spends most there time helping the rescue. 10 or so years ago PETA decided that we abused dogs by leaving them in crates between classes. So they staged a "demonstration" and released the dogs from there confinement. One dog was hit by a car and killed. I watched an 11 year old girl sobbing while holding her deceased best friend. Totally not the place for this but Zelot's are scary. I would if needed bail if that was my kid or my fur-kid

This is one of the HOT topics that extreme views way in. I don't like it when the innocent are hurt by the actions of someone's careless thoughts. PETA's in you face awareness policy does show though the inhuman way animals are treated throughout many venues. If not for them and other activist, people wouldn't know about the animal factory farming practices for food and apparel, the treatment of show animals, and the depletion of our wildlife, to name a few. For me I can see the good and the bad of what they do.

I 100% agree a hot topic. Thank goodness we don't all have the same views. How boring would that be :0)

I promise not to bring up religion or politics ☺️

@Kindle Those dogs are precious! I had to put my Golden Retriever down this past year, he was 13 too. I have a couple rescue mutts at home and they are rotten.

Dogs are very supportive of WLS. My lab mix Silas sits next to me every morning and encourages me to leave a little of my egg on the plate for him to clean up. They are so thoughtful!

Congratulations on your new family member! Much love to you both!

@Kindle Those dogs are precious! I had to put my Golden Retriever down this past year, he was 13 too. I have a couple rescue mutts at home and they are rotten.

Dogs are very supportive of WLS. My lab mix Silas sits next to me every morning and encourages me to leave a little of my egg on the plate for him to clean up. They are so thoughtful!

Mine were VERY helpful in helping ease the pain of canceling my membership the "Clean Plate Club". They became founding members of the new "Leave 4 bites....1 For Each Dog Club" (that includes my two dogs, plus my roommate's two dogs)

Belle was a beautiful dog! It's hard when they go. Believe me I know! Having a new member of the pack always help! Congrats on your cutie ????

It took two weeks, but Abraham finally gave in and let Isaac up on the couch. My bed is still off limits, but that's OK, Isaac loves his crate.

Yesterday, I played with my friend's two gorgeous, deliriously happy dogs. They run like the wind! They made me so happy.

(My best friend / beautiful dog died suddenly a month and a half ago, and I'm recovering form her passing.) Dogs, even others' dogs, make so much instant joy!

So I took Isaac and Abraham snowshoeing 4 weeks ago. They had a blast leaping through the snow and exploring tree wells for critters. The next morning Abe woke up with severe neck pain. I put him on NSAIDS and tramadol for a couple days with no improvement. Then saw a chiropractor with no improvement. Started on steroids and was almost instantly pain free! After a couple weeks on prednisone and gabapentin he started getting painful again. The vet I work with and I Figured he probably had a herniated disk from something he did in the deep snow, so took him in for an MRI. (A nearby hospital is nice enough to allow us to bring dogs in after hours to use their MRI.). I dropped the CD off at the radiologist's house on my way home. She a friend of mine and volunteered to review the MRI after she put her kids to bed.

The radiologist called me before I even got back home (1 1/2 hour drive from the hospital) to tell me unfortunately it wasn't a disk. She found a mass deep in his neck that has tentacles into his spine where a second small mass is compressing the spinal cord. There are some changes in the vertebrae as well, and she suspects this is hemangiosarcoma metastasis. I consulted with my former boss who is a veterinary oncologist who advised it isn't surgically resectable and too widespread for radiation. And for all practical purposes, lymphoma is the only canine cancer that responds decently to chemotherapy.

So I've got him on steroids and pain meds and he's doing pretty well....eating horse poop, digging for voles and acting pretty normal as long as he doesn't move his head the wrong way. Another friend of mine who is a veterinarian that specializes in alternative medicine (acupuncture, laser therapy, chiropractic and Chinese herbology) happened to be in town when I got the news. She did some work on him and left me with a whole pile of Chinese herbs that are supposed to help shrink tumors and support spinal health.

I was just so shocked to get this news....not what we thought at all. At least a disk would have been fixable. I'm grateful to have the resources and advice of such specialized veterinarians, but sadly there's nothing more we can do. I will keep him comfortable for as long as possible but unfortunately think he will be seeing his sister, Belle, sooner than later. Ironically, I kind of "feel his pain" and my cervical CT Myelogram is scheduled for this Thursday. We are already taking a lot of the same medications!

Thanks for listening...and feel free to send happy, healing thoughts to Abraham.

Edited February 7, 201511 yr by Kindle