There's never a good time for bad news

Theo's long awaited appointment with a specialist happened today and it was pretty much the worst possible news. He's limping due to a tumor on his bone, likely osteosarcoma. X-rays taken a month ago were inconclusive, but those taken today showed a rapidly developing tumor. To confirm what I'm sure he suspected, the vet took an x-ray of the lungs as well and it showed that it had already spread there. How much longer? Two weeks maybe, maybe more, depending on how the continued development affects his quality of life. 

Theo's quality of life has already suffered a lot by not being able to play ball, and not running the fence line with the Danes, and not running around with Max. We've been keeping him downstairs during the day to avoid multiple trips up and down the stairs during the day, but he has been coming up to sleep with us all at night. We are upping his pain medication but how long we let it go just depends. I do not believe in waiting until the bitter end and letting them go "naturally." Nature is cruel to the old and ailing and I think we have the responsibility to make it go a smoothly and painlessly as possible. That's never an easy call to make and people may differ on when to make it, but it's our responsibility to make it. 

Theo is nine years old, as of April 5th. That's not bad for a large dog, although we always hope and try for more. This is not a case where learning about this earlier would have made a difference. I would not have opted to have his leg amputated even if there hadn't been any sign that the cancer had spread. Nor would I have pursued any other aggressive course of treatment for cancer in a nine year old dog. This has undoubtedly been developing for some time but it hasn't affected his mobility or quality of life until lately. For that I'm grateful. 

For now, it's all about Theo for the next few weeks. Theo got Satin Balls for dinner, and canned food, and his regular dry. I can't let him run and play ball as he'd like to, but we can and will love him and spoil him as much as we can.

Even at nine years of age and suffering with cancer, 

Theo is a damn handsome beast.

A couple of our nice, big, bolster dog beds are falling apart, but 

this one is now seeing use as a to-go bed in the back of the van.