Ah, Gambit

On the road to the vet. In spite of his weak
rear end, he hopped into the back of the SUV
on his own. I helped him out and helped him
back in again as we left.

Gambit has refused his food for the last three days. One or even two days I wasn't going to panic, but after not eating on the third day I knew we had to go to the vet, particularly since it was Friday.

Although he hasn't been eating, he
located the treat jar right away.

Gambit has had a couple episodes of digestive distress since we got him, but he has never not wanted to eat. He has the unfortunate habit of sometimes chewing and eating his bedding, so I thought that perhaps he was blocked. The vet didn't think it was that in the absence of any vomiting, and he did actually eat some particularly tasty and nasty canned food when we were there. He weighed only 74 pounds today, a drop of 16 pounds over the last couple months. Given his symptoms, his age, and his breed, the likely culprit is cancer. 

The abdominal xray was abnormal, there was no blockage, but organs were pushed around out of normal alignment, again pointing to cancer. I'm taking him back on Monday for an ultra-sound, to try to determine which organs are affected and how bad. The vet did say that the amount of weight loss indicated an aggressive cancer. Given Gambit's age and other disability, I don't plan to do any surgery or other treatment. I don't particularly believe in putting dogs through chemo. If the spleen is involved, we will opt for euthanization sooner rather than later because I don't want it to burst and have him bleed out.

Aside from not eating his general affect is still pretty good. His vital signs were normal as was his bloodwork.  When we got home he ate most of another can of that nasty canned food but didn't touch any of the dry. He is less inclined to climb the stairs any more, but he will do so when I ask him. I've let him hang out downstairs this afternoon.