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Benpaws · 04-25-2009, 04:23 PM

Hi Maria,
You are really lucky to have had Rusty for 12 out of 14 years. We lost our Benny at the age of 6 to Mast Cell Tumour Cancer which we discovered in 2006 right before he turned 4. The vet we had ignored the lump and by the time it was removed in November, 2007, it was too late and the pathology report came back as a STAGE 2, margins unclean, tumour. He was in remission from Nov. 2007 until July 2008 when another tumour appeared. There was little hope given to us and instead of invading this little body further with surgery and skin grafts etc., we opted to build up his immune system as best we could and with much help from various sources, including Ted's marvelous book we had Benny 9 months longer than we could have hoped for. On April 2nd, 2009 we had an appointment with our vet in hopes that there was one more OPTION for Benny. The day was sunny and bright and Benny enjoyed cleaning off a marrow bone and hiding it in various places in his yard and digging it up until he was too tired to go further and just lay with his bone.I have a picture of Benny on his last day an hour and a half before he was "put to sleep." He chased a squirrel with difficulty and when he tried to relive himself the ugly tumour expanded and bled and oozed and he sat with his little ears back and looked at us for HELP. We cleaned his beard of mud and hugged him and threw the marrow bone away and took him to the vet with his head out the window and his beard blowing in the wind and the vet agreed that we were giving him the best and most humane gift we could.....he would leave this world with the same DIGNITY with which he entered it. Our hearts were breaking as we kissed his furry little head and told him what a difference he had made in his 6 years with us. We NEEDED him so much, but we KNEW he needed to be released until the terrible pain of the CANCER took his little life. He ate some biscuits the vet gave to him and then it was over and my heart has never been in such pain. We could have kept him with us for our own reasons, because he was the best little dog in the world ( Aren't they ALL!) He would never want us to suffer and we didn't want him to suffer. It was the most DIFFICULT decision we have ever made and my heart breaks every day thinking of all the "What if's." But this was our decision and you are right to GO WITH YOUR HEART and do what you feel is right for your Rusty and for you. There are just no right answers to this terrible disease which robs us of our precious pets. I hope you get the miracle we so wanted and did not get." Please keep us posted on how Rusty is doing. It is evident how very much you love him.

God Bless you as you travel this stressful road called " CANCER" with your pet.

Blessings,
Joanne (Benpaws)

04-25-2009, 04:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
Benpaws Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oakville, ON., CANADA Posts: 1,696	Maria Hi Maria, You are really lucky to have had Rusty for 12 out of 14 years. We lost our Benny at the age of 6 to Mast Cell Tumour Cancer which we discovered in 2006 right before he turned 4. The vet we had ignored the lump and by the time it was removed in November, 2007, it was too late and the pathology report came back as a STAGE 2, *margins unclean,* tumour. He was in remission from Nov. 2007 until July 2008 when another tumour appeared. There was little hope given to us and instead of invading this little body further with surgery and skin grafts etc., we opted to build up his immune system as best we could and with much help from various sources, including Ted's marvelous book we had Benny 9 months longer than we could have hoped for. On April 2nd, 2009 we had an appointment with our vet in hopes that there was one more OPTION for Benny. The day was sunny and bright and Benny enjoyed cleaning off a marrow bone and hiding it in various places in his yard and digging it up until he was *too tired* to go further and just lay with his bone.I have a picture of Benny on his last day an hour and a half before he was "put to sleep." He chased a squirrel with *difficulty* and when he tried to relive himself the ugly tumour expanded and bled and oozed and he sat with his little ears back and looked at us for HELP. We cleaned his beard of mud and hugged him and threw the marrow bone away and took him to the vet with his head out the window and his beard blowing in the wind and the vet agreed that we were giving him the best and most humane gift we could.....he would leave this world with the same DIGNITY with which he entered it. Our hearts were breaking as we kissed his furry little head and told him what a difference he had made in his 6 years with us. We NEEDED him so much, but we KNEW he needed to be released until the terrible pain of the CANCER took his little life. He ate some biscuits the vet gave to him and then it was over and my heart has never been in such pain. We could have kept him with us for our own reasons, because he was the best little dog in the world ( Aren't they ALL!) He would never want us to suffer and we didn't want him to suffer. It was the most DIFFICULT decision we have ever made and my heart breaks every day thinking of all the "What if's." But this was our decision and you are right to GO WITH YOUR HEART and do what you feel is right for your Rusty and for you. There are just *no right answers to this terrible disease which robs us of our precious pets.* I hope you get the *miracle we so wanted and did not get." Please keep us posted on how Rusty is doing. It is evident* how very much you love him. God Bless you as you travel this stressful road called " CANCER" with your pet. Blessings, Joanne (Benpaws)