cheechweech

I am against cropping and docking. I also don't believe in human circumcision and if I had children and had a son, I would not have it done. I don't believe in cutting off pieces of living things so that they can conform with some arbitrary standard, or so that they "look right".

That is lovely and sad.

I'm very sorry for your loss. :angel:

We went to the internist this morning. He performed a complete blood chemistry on Cheech, and confirmed the high white blood cell counts. He looked at the WBCs under the microscope and saw that they were primarily immature cells. Based upon this, he then made an initial diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He is not an oncologist so referred me to Colorado State University vet college where they have a very good cancer center. I took Cheech to CSU and they finalized the diagnosis of leukemia. The lump on his side is an enlarged spleen and his eyes are a complication of the disease. The oncology vet was most concerned by the fact that his red blood cell count had declined 10% since yesterday. They left it up to me what to do, but she indicated that without any treatment he would likely live only a few days. They told me what they recommended for treatment, and I decided to start him on the 1st round of chemo to see if it would make any difference. I don't feel that I have any more to lose at this point by trying. They use small doses of the chemo, so the dogs typically do not experience many side effects compared to humans. Due to the large amount of abnormal WBCs in his blood, the oncologist was concerned about a event called tumor lysis, which occurs in dogs with a high cancer load after the start of chemo. She recommended that the chemo (vincristine) be administered and that he spend the night in the ICU at the clinic to keep an eye on him so that they could treat him if the tumor lysis occurs. We will get to pick him up and bring him home tomorrow, but the hard fact is that he won't be with us long. Even with the chemo, the prognosis for such aggressive leukemia is poor. They had a grief councellor who met with me today to talk about this. The idea of having him euthanized just makes me sick, but I know that it is part of being a responsible pet owner.:cry: I'm just having so much trouble with this and how quickly it has happened. On Thanksgiving, he appeared to be in ideal health and ate his little bit of turkey, and now 2 weeks later, I'm facing losing him. It really points out that everyone should show their feelings for their loved ones, since you never know what will happen tomorrow. Thanks for all of your well-wishes everyone. It has helped me more than you know. :cry:

I took Cheech to the vet today after his appetite and energy has been low for a couple of days. In addition, yesterday we found a lump on his right side a little bit behind his ribs. The vet found that he has blood inside of his eyes. It's just horrifying to look at when she shined the light in his eyes. The lump is tender when she palpates it, but she was unable to say what it might be. She did a quick blood cell count to see if there was any internal bleeding, and his platelets and red blood cells were within normal limits, so it doesn't appear that there is. His white blood cell count was Extremely high (76,000), however. She said that this was beyond her area of expertise and called the internist, who we are going to see tomorrow. He will perform a complete blood screen, an ultrasound of the lump, and an exam of his eyes. I am just terrified and can't stop crying. He is only 4 and 1/2 years old. I am so scared of what I am going to learn tomorrow. The only speculation that his vet woudl make is lymphoma, which fits with the lump, but not with anything else he has. :cry:

[quote]I know that the MOD does do cruel animal testing[/quote] I just found that out about MOD in the last couple of years or so. I think I had given some money to them several years ago but don't do so anymore. I couldn't stand to support the work that they do. PETA has gotten such a black eye recently with the news that they euthanized a bunch of animals. I can't reconcile being a champion of animal rights with killing them.

[quote]yea, it sounds like a piece of the story is left out......it is weird[/quote] I think the story has been tidied up quite a bit. From what I have read, the woman whose face was bitten partly off was unconscious after a suicide attempt after fighting with her daughter. For whatever reason, the dog took after her then. To add to the weirdness, the woman who was the face donor, died of suicide after handing herself.

[quote]Does anyone remember the "scandal" that one big coat-producing-firm was involved in a few years ago?[/quote] Was that the Burlington Coat Factory? They were caught up in a big scandal and boycott when it was heard that they were selling coats trimmed with dog fur several years back. There used to be a website with some pretty horrible photos that had been taken at the place that supplied Burlington with the fur. Burlington sells shiny-y cheap clothing and I didn't shop there before I found out about this, and certainly never will now. I still ask friends not to shop there and tell them exactly why not to. I don't know if they are still selling the dead-dog-decorated clothing or not, but there isn't any way they can ever atone for doing that. :evil:

That is very cute -- she is a smart girl!!

Adorable!! :angel:

[quote]It is my job and the job of other mods to eliminate the fluff so our members can have an enjoyable experience. [/quote] Thanks mods! I am having a very enjoyable experience here so far! :D

I was reading about this in the Denver Post here. It sounds like a pretty unstable family situation where people were moving in and out of the family home, and the boy's grown sister had moved in just shortly before and brought her dogs, which were in the backyard of the house. Apparently the boy forgot his keys or couldn't get in for some reason so went in the backyard to get in that way, and that was where he was attacked. In the paper yesterday, it sounded as the DA was not planning to press charges against anyone, since there weren't any charges to be pressed that would hold up. The biggest thing I see, is that with a dog that could be territorial like a pit, it doesn't seem like it would be a good idea to move it around from house to house to house. Not that it is necessarily good for ANY dog, but just doesn't seem like a good idea at all here. It sounds more like a clueless owner in this case than anything else.

She is a lovely dog, and I am so glad to hear she made it home safely. That guy who found her really was her angel :angel: by taking such good care of her. I agree, work on your aunt to keep her in the house or garage or somewhere safe during the day!!

28

Happy birthday Cinco! Hope you get lots of yummy snackies! :bday:

[quote]I like being blonde; people don't expect much from you that way. [/quote] Boy, that's the truth! I am always exceeding people's expectations!

I give Cheech Solid Gold MMillenium. I get it at the local dog boutique. The owners are really conscious of canine nutrition and when they first opened they had a program where you could bring in your dog and they would make a food recommendation and then give you a free bag. Cheech has really dry skin and had always had some dandruff ever since he was a baby. They said that the Solid Gold would help with the condition of his skin and coat, and it really did -- no more flakes! I buy it in a big 33 lb. bag a couple of times a year and then store it in an airtight container. Since he's a chihuahua he doesn't go through the chow too fast.

We are gone from Cheech for about 7 hours per day and he does just fine. When I brought him home, I took a week off to spend with him to help acclimate him to his new life. I have a big crate with his bed in that he stays in when we are away. When he was a baby, I put a potty pad in there for him, since he was too young to hold it all day. When it started to be dry every day when I got home, I took it out for good. He likes to chew on things that he shouldn't when he gets bored, so the crate helps to keep him safe from the electrical cords and other things. I really felt guilty about leaving him to go to work when I first got him. But, if I do take a day off and stay home, the little guy just sleeps all day anyways, so I porbably shouldn't feel too bad about missing that.

Thanks to Michele and Lorraine for their tremendous efforts to make sure this doesn't happen to another poor dog! :angel:

[quote]DANGit...I gots me one of them Pit Bulls here an I got me some of them terrier types too....anyone know where I can get rid of these kids at before summink bad happens? [/quote] LOL

I'm sorry for your loss. :(

[quote]We decided this guy was perfect for our family so we adopted him for $125. YAY! His new name is Duke.[/quote] Good for you and good for Duke! You did a wonderful thing. p.s. Welcome!

Lovely dog!!

Congrats on your half-anniversary!

I have never seen that before. It is really beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. :angel: