Our beloved Maggie crossed the rainbow bridge a week ago. She was 2 weeks shy of her 10th birthday. I took her to the vet about 3 weeks ago for her annual exam. The vet said she checked out fine, except the need to lose a few pounds. However, her senior blood work raised some red flags. I took her in a few days later for an ultrasound and that is when they discovered her liver was double the size and filled with cancer. The vet was hopeful we could keep her comfortable for about a month. But, it was clear within a day or two that would be unfair to Maggie. Even though she was still eating and giving everyone kisses, she was definitely not feeling well. She had a very hard time getting comfortable and her breathing was becoming more and more labored. We decided to let her go before she suffered anymore. I feel very guilty that I did not have her senior blood work done a year ago. Maybe we would have discovered it earlier and had an opportunity to treat the cancer. My concern now is trying to prevent this from happening to our 3 year old boxer, Frazier. I am worried that the heartworm treatments and flea & tick preventatives somehow contributed to her cancer. My son and I have been doing research and even though both our dogs have been fed a quality dog food, we are supplementing Frazier's diet with fresh fruits, veggies, and coconut oil. Any insight or advice regarding this is welcome.
Liver Cancer
- Thread starter MFlorida
- Start date
brodieboxer
Completely Boxer Crazy
I'm so sorry for your loss. Please don't beat yourself up - you did the best you knew how to do, and Maggie was obviously well-loved. I live in the deep south, and my dogs have always been on flea/tick/heartworm treatment. My last lab lived to the ripe old age of 14 1/2! Sometimes bad things just happen.
whiskers
Boxer Insane
I'm sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, they can't live forever and things happen, even with the best care. It's easy to play the "what if" game and try to find causes, but sometimes there just is no cause or thing to blame. All we can do is equip ourselves to make the best decisions that we can, and love them the best that we can - which you are definitely doing.
