Kublai’s blood work came back this week, and the results were about what I expected. Everything points to either Cushing’s Disease or a spinal tumor, exacerbated by his spinal arthritis. Either way, the odds that he would be able to stand on his own again were slim, and the best I could expect was maybe a year’s more life. Last night he whimpered and cried all night, today he cried if I left his side for any length of time.
My last dog, Alex, developed a fast-growing, aggressive tumor on his hip when he was 9. I gambled that surgery would be able to remove to tumor, but they had to remove a lot of muscle tissue as well. He was in a lot of pain after the surgery and I had to feed him morphine for two weeks. The tumor came back, faster than before, and spread; and I had to have him euthanized. I wasn’t about to put another dog through that kind of pain and frustration again, not when the odds are that slim.
Kublai was put to sleep this afternoon. Be good, buddy. Your daddy loves you.
