Hello all,
First, my heart goes out to all those dealing with sick pets. I know this has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life (in the grand scheme of things, I suppose that makes me one of the lucky ones, but I don't feel lucky!)
Our little Cricket, half mini dachshund/half ShihTzu, and the light of our lives, began having slow urination at least 1 1/2 years ago. A year ago we started her on Metacam, even though we didn't have a definitive diagnosis. She did well, totally perky and her old self, but slow urination and some accidents in the house. About 3 months ago we had an ultrasound which showed the tumor in the trigone area of the bladder, and inoperable. The vet switched her to peroxicam as he felt it is more specific to this tumor than the metacam.
She did all right until two weeks ago, when she had black stools, vomiting, and obviously felt like crap. She also became incontinent. I almost decided to have her put to sleep as I couldn't abide seeing her miserable. However, we took her home with an antibiotic, Pepsid and something else to coat her stomach, and phenoxybenzamine to help with bladder spasm. She has surprised us by doing quite well. Her appetite has been iffy but she takes her pills with cream cheese. We started with baby diapers with a hole cut out for her tail, but there is this grainy stuff in them which leaks out - messy. We bought Simple Solution dog diaper covers and cut a Serenity adult pad in half to put in it. This works pretty well though the cover often gets wet (I'm going to write a book called "Dog Diapers in the Oven"! (drying them after washing, of course.) I know not everyone can or would do this diaper thing, but with a small dog (11 lbs.) it is actually fairly manageable. She has taken them off a few times but in general seems to accept it.
The vet wanted her to go for a week or two after the gastrointestinal bleeding/ulcers? and wants to put her back on the peroxicam but I think we will put her back on the Metacam. I just want her to be comfortable and not go through what she went through two weeks ago.
It is so hard to balance her quality of life against our quality of life, and having her in our lives has been such a joy. Although my friends tell me "I'll know" when it is time to let her go, I am afraid I will do it too soon....or too late.
It has been helpful to me to read of others' experiences with this disease. Certainly everyone has different philosophies, different medical advice, etc. I am grateful to those who have shared their stories and if mine can be helfpul to anyone, I am glad.
Priscilla