Friday, January 20, 2012

Our hearts are breaking again--a little update

Update--our vet talked to my oncologist and he said that Kinavet can be used for t-cell lymphoma. We already have 2 bottles of Kinavet so Bitey was started on it yesterday. We don't know how well it will work or if it's too late but we will try.There is no cure...but we can hope to slow it down.

My mom apologizes for so much sad news this early in the year but it seems to be happening all at once.


We lost Beau this past Tuesday. On Wednesday. my mom took his brother, Bitey, to be checked because he had a lump under his front leg. It came back positive for lymphoma, too.  Two brothers, same cancer at exactly the same time??

Bitey and Beau. 


Beau and Bitey were born on Labor day 1999. They plopped right out of Baby into my mom's hands. So they both are very, very special to her.

There is a treatment for lymphoma but it only buys a little time. Six months of chemo and you might get 2 more months after that. The problem with lymphoma is that it never really goes away. The next time the cancer comes back it's more resistant. It's very, very expensive, too.


The simplest treatment is prednisone which is what we are doing. We're feeding Bitey the same diet as me now--special stuff with lots of supplements. We had no warning at all with Beau but maybe it will buy us some extra days with Bitey. At least we know ahead of time which is priceless.

It is sunny today so we are outside. 60 degrees. And Bitey feels good, not a lot of energy for roaching but still able to!




Tuesday, January 17, 2012

RIP Beautiful Beau 1999-2012--updated

We wanted to update this post a little to include the beautiful graphic Alasandra made out of Beau's picture:


And to include a link to a video starring Beau. He is the first and the last doggie roaching in the grass to the Chicken Dance song. It always makes my mom smile: 



This is our Beautiful Beau.  He had to be put to sleep today. 
This year is already starting out bad for us.


 We don't understand what happened.


 He was going to have his teeth cleaned, some removed.


But, instead, we found out he had prostate 
cancer--even though he had been snipped long ago. 
It hit his kidneys in just days.


This is me & Beau snorting around the yard.


  
Beau must have found something good.



He was born in our house on Labor Day 1999. My mom had taken in a pregnant girl who had 5 boys. From that litter my mom kept two--Beau and Mighty Bitey plus the mama she named Baby.

Beau was only 12. We don't understand why this had to happen and it happened so fast. We are sort of stunned right now.

Beau was a quiet boy, always sweet and happy. We are really going to miss you, Beau-Beau.

Run free, sweet doggie boy.


Monday, January 2, 2012

2011--Goodbye!!

2011 was not a good year for us. We lost so many of our old hounds. But we did have a foster failure--new Daisy.

In December, we got a new Daisy.


In October we lost Georgia 1994-2011

  
In July we lost Belle 1992-2011


Also in July my mom lost her main job--the one with insurance. Jobs are extremely scarce for librarians, even ones with computer experience.


In May we lost Bailey 1993-2011


In March we lost Miss Daisy 1990-2011


In February I was diagnosed with a Mast cell tumor--this kind of cancer can appear one time or many times. Our oncologist was not hopeful for a year for me. But it is January 2012 and I am still here!

We are praying that this will be a great year for everyone. I would like to have another Christmas with my Mom, please. Miracles are possible!