Comments on: How Do We Tell If A Loved Dog Is In Pain? http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/ Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM, the dog cancer vet blogs about canine cancer Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:36:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Kevin http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2995 Kevin Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:16:15 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2995 I purchased Dodger for my family on June 7, 2000. Dodger was a beautiful Welsh Pembroke Corgi who was the most caring dog I was ever around. Dodger ran around our back yard and often followed the neighbor's horses even though he couldn't navigate the fence. Dodger was social and loved to greet anyone who rang the door bell. Three weeks ago I took Dodger for his evening walk and noticed that he bumped into the car when we exited garage. The next day I took him to the vet and learned my Dodgi was completely blind. X-rays also showed two growths on his bladder and the Vet also told me that there was blood in his urine sample. The Vet told me to prepare for the worst and said Dodger could survive one day or one month. He prescribed pain medication and I took Dodger home. Dodger appeared fine for the first week. Although blind he ate well but couldn't climb the deck stairs any longer. I couldn't sleep for days and realized the puppy who sat on my lap when I brought him home from the pet store 10 years earlier was saying good by in his own way. Dodger would cuddle near my desk or attempt to follow me throughout the house but on Sunday, June 13, he was in so much pain. My son gave Dodger his medication and a few hours later he needed more just to move inches. That evening my kids who are home from college and my wife said good by to our beloved Dodgi and at 9:20 A.M. on June 14, my Dodgi rested on my lap as the Vet administered a shot. My youngest daughter who is entering her second year of college came with me but my wife and two other children could not. I knew this would be hard but never envisioned not hearing Dodgi bark when I left for my office or turn circles when I came home would leave me with a void that is difficult to explain. Thank you for allowing me to tell you about a my beautiful Corgi who we lovingly called Dodgi. I purchased Dodger for my family on June 7, 2000. Dodger was a beautiful Welsh Pembroke Corgi who was the most caring dog I was ever around. Dodger ran around our back yard and often followed the neighbor’s horses even though he couldn’t navigate the fence. Dodger was social and loved to greet anyone who rang the door bell. Three weeks ago I took Dodger for his evening walk and noticed that he bumped into the car when we exited garage. The next day I took him to the vet and learned my Dodgi was completely blind. X-rays also showed two growths on his bladder and the Vet also told me that there was blood in his urine sample. The Vet told me to prepare for the worst and said Dodger could survive one day or one month. He prescribed pain medication and I took Dodger home. Dodger appeared fine for the first week. Although blind he ate well but couldn’t climb the deck stairs any longer. I couldn’t sleep for days and realized the puppy who sat on my lap when I brought him home from the pet store 10 years earlier was saying good by in his own way. Dodger would cuddle near my desk or attempt to follow me throughout the house but on Sunday, June 13, he was in so much pain. My son gave Dodger his medication and a few hours later he needed more just to move inches. That evening my kids who are home from college and my wife said good by to our beloved Dodgi and at 9:20 A.M. on June 14, my Dodgi rested on my lap as the Vet administered a shot. My youngest daughter who is entering her second year of college came with me but my wife and two other children could not. I knew this would be hard but never envisioned not hearing Dodgi bark when I left for my office or turn circles when I came home would leave me with a void that is difficult to explain. Thank you for allowing me to tell you about a my beautiful Corgi who we lovingly called Dodgi.

]]> By: Anne http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2445 Anne Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:02:57 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2445 I am a young woman who has had both parents leave and the one thing i could not let go were my two dogs. one of them (lucky) has had a tumor that has grown so large we made a brace for it. i am concerned because i just took her to the vet for the first time in a while and they said she can get surgery but will eed xrays first to see if it is even worth it. unfortuantely the surgery is something i am unable to afford so my options are to let her live out a natural death and hope for the best or put her down. I cant imagine doing it and it brings tears to my eyes even thinking about it. I have been trying to look for signs of pain but she eats alot and drinks alot and with her brace on she is able to run a few feet. when the brace is off she licks the tumor alot, she pants quite a bit and is always rubbing herself accross the ground. im basically curious what the best advice would be. i have grown up with her and cant imagine putting her down but i dont know if im being selfish. everyday i would ask myself if i did the right thing and i just dont know when the times is really right. if anyone can help it would be amazing. thanks, anne I am a young woman who has had both parents leave and the one thing i could not let go were my two dogs. one of them (lucky) has had a tumor that has grown so large we made a brace for it. i am concerned because i just took her to the vet for the first time in a while and they said she can get surgery but will eed xrays first to see if it is even worth it. unfortuantely the surgery is something i am unable to afford so my options are to let her live out a natural death and hope for the best or put her down. I cant imagine doing it and it brings tears to my eyes even thinking about it. I have been trying to look for signs of pain but she eats alot and drinks alot and with her brace on she is able to run a few feet. when the brace is off she licks the tumor alot, she pants quite a bit and is always rubbing herself accross the ground.
im basically curious what the best advice would be. i have grown up with her and cant imagine putting her down but i dont know if im being selfish. everyday i would ask myself if i did the right thing and i just dont know when the times is really right. if anyone can help it would be amazing.

thanks, anne

]]> By: Dr. Dressler http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2394 Dr. Dressler Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:34:12 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2394 Dear Jeanine, It sounds like you made a very good, kind and compassionate choice. As hard as it was, you must feel this! Ace's mourning is difficult to predict. These beings are all different, as are we. If it continues for a long time, a new canine family member might help, with your permission, of course, at some point in the future. Best Dr D Dear Jeanine,
It sounds like you made a very good, kind and compassionate choice. As hard as it was, you must feel this!
Ace’s mourning is difficult to predict. These beings are all different, as are we.
If it continues for a long time, a new canine family member might help, with your permission, of course, at some point in the future.
Best
Dr D

]]> By: Jeanine http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2353 Jeanine Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:14:47 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2353 Dear Dr Dressler, Thank you for answering my post and pointing me in the right direction. After reading the "joys of life scale" and some of the blogs related to it, I was able to think more clearly. I called the vet early Monday afternoon and had them come to our home late in the day. Tara was euthanized in our living room, on her own bed, with her family gathered round, at 5:00 pm on Feb 8, 2010. She looked so beautiful and so peaceful, for the first time in weeks and weeks. We were probably a week too late in doing this but at least we didn't take any longer, thanks to you and the people who post on here. My thanks to all of you. She is missed terribly, our house feels empty and very quiet now without her, but I know it was the right thing to do. I have one more question for you; How long will Ace (Tara's son) grieve for her? He is laying curled up right now, on the very spot she was laying in until our vets came to the door on Monday. My heart aches even more when I see him laying there and when he looks back for her every time I send him out to go potty. Seven years old and he never spent a day in his life without her. Jeanine Dear Dr Dressler,

Thank you for answering my post and pointing me in the right direction.

After reading the “joys of life scale” and some of the blogs related to it, I was able to think more clearly. I called the vet early Monday afternoon and had them come to our home late in the day. Tara was euthanized in our living room, on her own bed, with her family gathered round, at 5:00 pm on Feb 8, 2010. She looked so beautiful and so peaceful, for the first time in weeks and weeks.

We were probably a week too late in doing this but at least we didn’t take any longer, thanks to you and the people who post on here. My thanks to all of you.

She is missed terribly, our house feels empty and very quiet now without her, but I know it was the right thing to do.

I have one more question for you; How long will Ace (Tara’s son) grieve for her? He is laying curled up right now, on the very spot she was laying in until our vets came to the door on Monday. My heart aches even more when I see him laying there and when he looks back for her every time I send him out to go potty. Seven years old and he never spent a day in his life without her.

Jeanine

]]> By: Dr. Dressler http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2321 Dr. Dressler Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:22:38 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2321 Dear Janine, I believe you are asking about life quality assessment. Since you know your dog best, I would take some time to sit down for a few minutes without interruption and do a really honest evaluation of life quality. Pain is only one of the various negative life quality elements. I have discussed this area of life quality assessment in detail in <a href="http://www.dogcancersurvival.com" rel="nofollow">The Dog Cancer Survival Guide</a>. You should also read these blog entry to get you started in the right direction: http://www.dogcancerblog.com/pain-in-dog-cancer-and-life-quality-part-2/ http://www.dogcancerblog.com/life-quality-in-dog-cancer-dr-dresslers-joys-of-life-scale/ I hope this helps, Dr D Dear Janine,
I believe you are asking about life quality assessment. Since you know your dog best, I would take some time to sit down for a few minutes without interruption and do a really honest evaluation of life quality. Pain is only one of the various negative life quality elements. I have discussed this area of life quality assessment in detail in The Dog Cancer Survival Guide. You should also read these blog entry to get you started in the right direction:
http://www.dogcancerblog.com/pain-in-dog-cancer-and-life-quality-part-2/
http://www.dogcancerblog.com/life-quality-in-dog-cancer-dr-dresslers-joys-of-life-scale/
I hope this helps,
Dr D

]]> By: Jeanine http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2317 Jeanine Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:44:24 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2317 Hello, I just found this site a few minutes ago. I was looking up how to tell if a dog is in pain because my 9 year old border collie has (probably) lung cancer. She got pneumonia last June 0f 2009 and was on antibiotics and lasix (sp)for about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, we didn't have a follow-up x-ray done afterwards because we were tight on money. Throughout the rest of the summer and into fall, I kept feeling that she wasn't fully recovered. She kept her tail tucked a good deal of time, but no other signs. Then in October our other border collie broke his elbow; a compound fracture that required 2 surgeries. That made things more than just "tight" for us. It took until Christmas for things to get back to normal. That's when I noticed Tara (the female 9 y/o bc) was getting very picky with her food. Then came the dry cough again and her tucking her tail more and more. We finally took her to the vet on January 11th and had a chest x-ray done and blood work. Very high white blood cell count and numerous fibrous looking things in her lungs. She was also lame on her left hind foot and had a fever. The vet said it was either primary lung cancer, or possibly Blastomycosis. We had a urine test done for the blasto and it came back negative. She was put on Baytril and lasix, with a re-visit 2 weeks later. He took another x-ray on January 25th and her lungs were 3-4 times worse! We were told that unless we did a lung biopsy or that bronco-lavage wash to confirm what type of cancer it is, there would be nothing they could do other than continue lasix and keep her comfortable. We didn't do either of those things because just with the few things I stated above, our vet bill is 627.00. The surgeries for Ace's elbow cost us 6700.00!! We'll be paying that one for the next 5 years! But what else could we do? How could we put a 6 year old dog down because of a broken elbow?! Anyway, sorry I got off the subject there. My main concern is that Tara does not suffer. Monday will be another 2 weeks since the 2nd x-ray. Sometimes she seems worse and sometimes she gives us glimmers of hope. Mostly, she is only eating enough to not starve to death. Maybe 3 tablespoons of rice and 4 bites of chicken for breakfast and dinner. She refuses any and all kinds of dog food now. She lays on her side alot, is very quiet, stares at me alot, wants to be petted alot. Her respirations are about 45 per minute, she sounds congested when she breathes sometimes, yet she is not coughing as much anymore. She changes positions several times if she's not laying on her side, and is kind of just laying on her haunches with her head slightly off the floor over her front paws. She's probably lost close to 10 pounds by now. Her collar looks like it was borrowed from a Mastiff! I need some help with deciphering these signs and knowing when enough is enough. I could send you the 2 x-rays if you would like. I just don't want to put her down if it's a fungus and there's still time to save her! Not knowing for certain that it's cancer, is really making this whole thing much more heart breaking. Please help! (Sorry for this being such a long post!) Thank you in advance, Jeanine Collins Hello, I just found this site a few minutes ago. I was looking up how to tell if a dog is in pain because my 9 year old border collie has (probably) lung cancer. She got pneumonia last June 0f 2009 and was on antibiotics and lasix (sp)for about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a follow-up x-ray done afterwards because we were tight on money.

Throughout the rest of the summer and into fall, I kept feeling that she wasn’t fully recovered. She kept her tail tucked a good deal of time, but no other signs. Then in October our other border collie broke his elbow; a compound fracture that required 2 surgeries. That made things more than just “tight” for us.

It took until Christmas for things to get back to normal. That’s when I noticed Tara (the female 9 y/o bc) was getting very picky with her food. Then came the dry cough again and her tucking her tail more and more. We finally took her to the vet on January 11th and had a chest x-ray done and blood work. Very high white blood cell count and numerous fibrous looking things in her lungs. She was also lame on her left hind foot and had a fever.
The vet said it was either primary lung cancer, or possibly Blastomycosis. We had a urine test done for the blasto and it came back negative. She was put on Baytril and lasix, with a re-visit 2 weeks later.

He took another x-ray on January 25th and her lungs were 3-4 times worse! We were told that unless we did a lung biopsy or that bronco-lavage wash to confirm what type of cancer it is, there would be nothing they could do other than continue lasix and keep her comfortable.

We didn’t do either of those things because just with the few things I stated above, our vet bill is 627.00. The surgeries for Ace’s elbow cost us 6700.00!! We’ll be paying that one for the next 5 years! But what else could we do? How could we put a 6 year old dog down because of a broken elbow?!

Anyway, sorry I got off the subject there. My main concern is that Tara does not suffer. Monday will be another 2 weeks since the 2nd x-ray. Sometimes she seems worse and sometimes she gives us glimmers of hope. Mostly, she is only eating enough to not starve to death. Maybe 3 tablespoons of rice and 4 bites of chicken for breakfast and dinner. She refuses any and all kinds of dog food now. She lays on her side alot, is very quiet, stares at me alot, wants to be petted alot. Her respirations are about 45 per minute, she sounds congested when she breathes sometimes, yet she is not coughing as much anymore. She changes positions several times if she’s not laying on her side, and is kind of just laying on her haunches with her head slightly off the floor over her front paws. She’s probably lost close to 10 pounds by now. Her collar looks like it was borrowed from a Mastiff!

I need some help with deciphering these signs and knowing when enough is enough. I could send you the 2 x-rays if you would like. I just don’t want to put her down if it’s a fungus and there’s still time to save her! Not knowing for certain that it’s cancer, is really making this whole thing much more heart breaking.

Please help! (Sorry for this being such a long post!)

Thank you in advance,

Jeanine Collins

]]> By: Dr. Dressler http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2282 Dr. Dressler Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:27:05 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2282 Dear Reader, I am not sure. Perhaps not pain, but I wonder whether there was some discomfort of some kind going on? Perhaps acid stomach, or excess histamine from the mast cells? Both of these could explain a vague discomfort, or perhaps it was due to something else entirely. Certainly famotidine (antacid), misoprostel (helps with the intestine), and benadryl (antihistamine) would be easy enough to try out if they were not part of the protocol. Hope that helps, Dr D Dear Reader,
I am not sure. Perhaps not pain, but I wonder whether there was some discomfort of some kind going on? Perhaps acid stomach, or excess histamine from the mast cells? Both of these could explain a vague discomfort, or perhaps it was due to something else entirely. Certainly famotidine (antacid), misoprostel (helps with the intestine), and benadryl (antihistamine) would be easy enough to try out if they were not part of the protocol.
Hope that helps,
Dr D

]]> By: lovewrinkles http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2258 lovewrinkles Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:51:13 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2258 My dog had cancer(mct), yes. We went twice a week to the vet. Was treated with Masivet (kinavet), lomustine and vinblastine. Even on pain mediation (tramadol) he remained restless and most of the time his eyes open....... There were no signs of pain, but these worried open eyes made us suspect that he maybe was in pain???? My dog had cancer(mct), yes. We went twice a week to the vet. Was treated with Masivet (kinavet), lomustine and vinblastine.

Even on pain mediation (tramadol) he remained restless and most of the time his eyes open…….
There were no signs of pain, but these worried open eyes made us suspect that he maybe was in pain????

]]> By: Dr. Dressler http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2226 Dr. Dressler Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:14:43 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2226 Dear Reader, we need more info here. Does your dog have cancer? Is there swelling of the eyeballs (glaucoma or some other problem causing protrusion)? Have you taken your dog to the vet? If not, get a vet's input as there may be things going on that you are not yet aware of..we need more information for your dog. Best, Dr D Dear Reader,
we need more info here. Does your dog have cancer?
Is there swelling of the eyeballs (glaucoma or some other problem causing protrusion)? Have you taken your dog to the vet?
If not, get a vet’s input as there may be things going on that you are not yet aware of..we need more information for your dog.
Best,
Dr D

]]> By: lovewrinkles http://www.dogcancerblog.com/how-do-we-tell-if-a-loved-dog-is-in-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-2202 lovewrinkles Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:46:56 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=936#comment-2202 My dog wasn't sleeping anymore, most of the time. Laying with his eyes open! However he was still eating, walking outside, making his welkom dance when I came home. But even when he was sleeping (and snoring) mostly his eyes were open. He was also a bit restless, looked worried..... Are these also signs of pain? My dog wasn’t sleeping anymore, most of the time. Laying with his eyes open! However he was still eating, walking outside, making his welkom dance when I came home. But even when he was sleeping (and snoring) mostly his eyes were open.
He was also a bit restless, looked worried…..
Are these also signs of pain?

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