HOW CAN I EVEN BE SAYING THIS?!
Oreo's illness was so quick lived and we really could not have done any more than we did! So sad to even think about it! And here is his story...
Monday Oreo started to act strange. He didn't eat all his food and was becoming a little bit anti-social, sleeping and hanging out in a different room then the rest of our family. Not normal for him as he would much prefer to be on top of us as we are hanging out at night.
Tuesday I made an appointment for Oreo for Friday. I had off and figured if he was still acting strange it would be important to take him to the vet to figure out what was wrong. Throughout the day Tuesday Oreo continued to be acting strange... still not eating all his food (strange for him).
Wednesday and Thursday Oreo became more distant, we would bring him in to sit with us on the couch and he would go to the living room and go to sleep under the kiddo's desk. I was becoming very worried. He was still eating his treats, just not his food... by Thursday it appeared he was eating very little food from his food bowl, if any. I was trying to do some research... it kind of sounded like Lyme's disease as for Lyme's it stated lethargic, anti-social, depression, loss of appetite, gooey eyes. So... this is what I was going with... although I did feel huge lumps under his throat in his lymph nodes. This also was mentioned as a sign of Lyme's disease... so, I was going with Lyme's disease at that point! I was thinking hopefully on Friday at the vet they would give us medicine and Oreo would start to feel more like himself after we took care of his symptoms!
Friday we started off our day with a haircut for Oreo. He was acting very lethargic and was calm, cool, and collected. He didn't throw-up in the car (TOTALLY not like him!). On the ride to the hairdresser Oreo just laid on Morgan's lap. I was really getting concerned at this point!
After picking Oreo up from the hairdresser the gal who groomed him came out and shared that he was not himself and she was concerned as she felt large lymph nodes. I told her I was also concerned and we were actually headed to the vet in an hour or so. She said she was very glad because she felt worried.
Off to the vet we went. I dropped Morgan and RJ off at Bobby's house (as he offered to have them over). When I made the appointment I didn't have a preference on which doctor because I just wanted to get an appointment! Soon after we got to the vet we were taken in. Oreo barely was awake. He just seemed like he was in such a bad place. He laid on the ground while we waited and let the doctor touch and prod where ever she wanted without fighting her at all. So...this doctor... I am still feeling angry about this, so I apologize if this isn't very nice... This is how it went...
Vet feeling Oreo... wow, all of his lymph nodes are swollen... under his throat, behind his legs, in his stomach. How old is Oreo? (4) Wow... if this was an older dog I would assume he had cancer throughout his body. So... this is what we can do:
We can run the following tests:
In house blood test, which will cost $$$ (whatever amount she said, in the 100's)
Send away blood test to get better results, will cost $$$ (whatever amount she said, in the 100's)
Xray of stomach, will cost $$$$ (whatever amount she said, in the 300's)
Aspiration of lymph nodes, will cost $$$$ (whatever amount she said, in the 100's)
Then she went into what we could do if the results came back as cancer... radiation, chemotherapy, blah blah blah... I was so overwhelmed and upset at that point I wasn't listening as carefully. I felt like this Newbie doctor was just opening her Veterinarian Manual and reading word for word what was being taught to her to say and what she had memorized. She was NOT sympathetic, did not provide any answers and I felt like she wasn't listening to my concerns. I kept saying, "BUT look at Oreo. This is not typical that he is laying here barely awake, his eyes are barely open, so lethargic. WHAT is wrong and WHAT can we do?!"
SO... I decided to do the blood work for in house, blood work for send away, and the aspiration - which the Vet said would come back middle of next week... just a side note here... if a doctor tells you the results will be back middle of next week... the level of urgency doesn't seem to high, right? If results won't be back for 5 days or so, then nothing dramatic should happen between now and then right?! Ok... back to the timeline...
The Vet took Oreo to the back to take his blood then brought back my sleepy, not feeling good baby boy back to me. For over 45 minutes I sat in that little ugly room crying, waiting, crying, waiting... for the results. Oreo could barely stay awake, his breathing sounded heavy, and his eyes were almost rolling into the back of his head, with lots of goey gunk in his eyes that he didn't even care that I kept pulling off/out his eyeballs. That 45 minutes felt like hours, days, years!
When the Vet came back in she shared that the blood work showed no signs of any tick-borne diseases (oh... each of those tests cost extra money), and no sign of infection. (Not a good thing...). What was seen was extremely low platelet counts. The Dr shared that those low numbers would point towards internal bleeding. Ok, so now on top of still not knowing what is wrong with Oreo, besides the fact that it is probably cancer, now he also has internal bleeding. Oh my gosh. Again I asked/stated, look at him. This is not himself and I can't let him suffer. What should I do? The Newbie vet shared that we would start him on steroids and an antibiotic in case there was an infection. I again questioned, will this make him feel better? He is really not feeling well. She offered keeping him and putting IV fluids in him, but when questioned, she didn't say whether they would make him feel better or not... and how could I leave him in a cold cage without his family, especially on Easter weekend, AND without the kiddos saying goodbye... goodness, what if he did pass away and they didn't say their last goodbyes? Oh my gosh... The Newbie vet said I could feed him whatever he wanted to eat, and she said more than once that the steroid would perk him up, he would want to eat and drink more, causing him in turn to pee more. Ok.. so that was the end of my visit, still feeling uneasy about her expertise if I can voice my honest opinion. So I paid my $400+ dollar bill and left the office not in hysterics on the outside, but definitely on the inside!
Got home and fed the medications to Oreo in cream cheese. He gobbled them down and maybe a bit more cream cheese followed the pills... why not? He wasn't eating much, right? The kiddos, Bob, and I loved on him as much as we could Friday night. It was heartbreaking to see Oreo feeling so ill. He still didn't want to be near us, sleeping under the kiddos desk in the living room. His eyes barely open and when they were open they looked so glazed, like he couldn't focus on what he was looking at. It was tear jerking.
I honestly and seriously didn't know if he was going to live through the night. I told the kiddos to say goodnight and goodbyes to Oreo just in case he passed away at night while we were all sleeping. Bob and I could hear Morgan crying herself to sleep. (Literally the first time I have ever heard her do this!)
Saturday morning came and Oreo was still with us! He took his medications with cream cheese along with some treats and some boiled chicken. He definitely was no better, but no worse than the day before. (Not sure how he could get worse... at least at this point I wasn't sure how he could get worse...but I would soon find out.) Throughout the day we all tried to cuddle with Oreo as much as we could amongst the other errands/chores we had to complete and do around the house. I bought him some organic yummy treats that he really enjoyed and gobbled down every time we gave them to him... which might have been pretty regularly throughout the day :)
Another doctor did call me on Saturday to share the blood results that were sent away. She shared the following points, and was blunt, and honest. Even though it was hard to hear, I truly appreciated her honesty!
- Oreo's platelet counts were still low, but not so low to suggest internal bleeding (yay, a positive!)
- No signs of infections came back (boo)
- Oreo's lymphocytes numbers were very high, which was not a good thing. She shared when those numbers came back high from blood work it usually means that there is cancer in the bone marrow and prognosis is not good.
He made it through Saturday without anything too horrible happening... he did throw up one time though.
Sunday, Easter, Oreo woke up with the rest of us! Still alive, praise the Lord! He was still eating his treats and cream cheese, he even tried some whites of a hard boiled egg. He wasn't so sure about it :) We took him with us to Easter at the Rounay's house. Getting through the day was hard! Everyone was asking about him, they could see how sluggish and not himself he was. Some people cried, some just listened to our shock of our story, in disbelief of what was happening. When we got home Sunday night he seemed to perk up a little bit (Even though the newbie vet had said he would drink more, he really wasn't drinking much more, maybe less than normal, which I knew must not be a good sign.) Oreo slowly ate some boiled chicken before bedtime. Saying goodnight maybe for the last time... so many tears have been flowing. Easter was hard to celebrate.
Monday we got up and I had off, but the kiddos had school. I got up and took Oreo out, he seemed ok... then after I got the kiddos up I couldn't find Oreo... he was in the playroom and had thrown up... a lot... all the food he ate from Sunday night... was now on Morgan's chair and the playroom floor :( He wouldn't take his medication, in cream cheese, in peanut butter, in nothing. I was feeling concerned. The kiddos wanted him to go to the bus stop. I knew he wouldn't be able to walk that far, so I had the perfect idea... the little red wagon. Off we all went to the bus stop, Oreo riding like a king!
I was just about out of the organic treats Oreo had been enjoying so after the kiddos went to the bus I raced out and bought some more. When I got home Oreo had thrown up again and was still refusing all types of food. He didn't look well and was so lethargic. I would cuddle with him and as soon as I let go for a second he would leave my side and go into the other room. So many tears were being shed. I was feeling so devastated! Megan came over and visited for a little bit, but I now feel like I should have spent every second I had petting my sweet Oreo instead of some of that time playing with Claire.
In the afternoon I brought Oreo back up to the bus stop in his red chariot. Morgan and RJ were thrilled. Oreo just sat there... didn't try to jump out, didn't bark... just sat there. By this time he had thrown up at least 4 times and refused to eat anything, refused the yummy treats, refused his pills wrapped in goodness. I got him to lick cream cheese off his nose a few times, but other than that and a few sips of water, he really hadn't ate, and I feel like when I made him lick his nose, soon after he threw up.
Monday night Oreo was again so lethargic. Bob and I were extremely sad, as were the kiddos but I don't think they really, fully understood what I knew... Oreo was very close to dying.
Tuesday when I got up for my run Oreo was sitting up in his cage. A good sign! I let him out and he peed... such a sweet good boy. I carried him to his blanket and then went out for my run. Bob texted me when I was running that he couldn't find Oreo... then he found him coming down the stairs. We keep all our doors closed most of the time upstairs... I wonder if he was trying to find a place to die alone. Oh my goodness... that makes me cry, no one should die alone! He again refused to open his mouth for any type of food and didn't even lick his lose when I put cream cheese on it. That was NOT a good sign. By the time I got the kiddos up and had gotten ready for school Oreo looked deflated. He really hadn't moved much, his eyes seemed shut, and he didn't even seem mentally with us. MeMom came over and she said he didn't look good. (Duh, I knew that already!)
MeMom suggested I take my sweet Oreo-Cookie out to the potty one last time before I left for school (I had Grandmom coming over to sit with him throughout the day, but if I took him out she wouldn't have too.) I scooped Oreo up and took him outside into the grass. I sat him down carefully and he literally fell over, like a rag doll and didn't move. Almost in hysterics I picked him up and rocked him and tried one more time to place him down in a sitting position. He again almost immediately fell over like he was made of jello. I decided at the last minute (that minute) to take a sick day from school. I could NOT leave my precious sweet boy alone, not like this! I called Bob and told him to make an appointment at the Vet. This was the time, Oreo needed to go through those pearly gates. His quality of life, the pain he must be in... oh my gosh, I was/am a mess.
I yelled at the kiddos to get off their iPads and to say goodbye to their beloved puppy dog because I wasn't sure he would be here when they got home. As they slammed the door on the way out I could have sworn Oreo lifted his head like he was making sure they were out of the house (but in the old days he would have ran to the door). MeMom took them up to the bus stop, Morgan in tears... but they had to go to school. MeMom came back down and asked if I was ok... I told her to go to her appointment, I would be fine. I was just going to lay with my sweet Oreo-Cookie until Bob got home around 10 and then we would go to the vet together. She left. Almost immediately after she left with me laying on the ground spooning Oreo he started having seizures. His whole little body jerking, his little legs sticking straight up in the air... for 35 minutes this continued, getting worse and worse... until... I watched him take a very deep breath and lay his head down for the last time, as I felt his heart slow and come to a stop. He was gone... laying in my arms, he was gone. It was so hard to believe.
I called Bob in hysterical tears... he couldn't believe it... I just laid on the floor hugging my sweet boy. It just felt impossible. How could this be happening? He was finally turning into an amazing dog. He fit in so perfectly with our family and his bad behaviors were starting to subside and he was so kind-hearted. I am not sure what more to say... I'm speechless.
We took him to Abbey Glen, which is located in Quakertown. This is the first time EVER in my whole life of owning pets that a pet died at home in my arms. I wasn't even sure what to do. It is hard when you have to decide when it is time to put a pet down, but boy, this was pretty hard too. I carried my now stiffening pup to the car and just held him and cried as Bob drove us to the cremation building. It was hard... so hard. They shared we would not only get his remains back, but they would take a paw print for us too. They allowed us to stay as long as we wanted, but I didn't want to stay, it was just too hard and prolonging the inevitable. Wow... this is the worst part ever about having a pet.
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