Mira, 7yr old Husky - Cushings ruled out; liver cancer (Mira has passed)

[Franklin'sMum]

Oh, honey

We're here for you, I don't know what to say

[BestBuddy]

I hear you.

I do understand that you are having a really tough time but only you have the power.

I have been where you are and it is not easy but you have to consider Quality of life for Mira. That means eating, drinking, toileting and pain free BUT it also means pleasure. Is she happy and does she respond to patting and loving.

Dogs are in the now and don't think about yesterday and how good it was or even tomorrow it is just now.

You are the only one who can help Mira whatever that turns out to be.

If it is not her time then just love her everyday.

Jenny

[missbeagle]

Janis -

We are all with you in spirit and we know this is such a difficult time for you.

Mira will let you know if/when it is time. She will make her own decision and she will find a way to let you know.

It might be they way she looks at you, or some other way. If she's eating, drinking, and getting around still, then it is not time yet.

Have you given her a peanut butter kong lately? Have you been taking pictures of her, of her with Kira, of you with her, of you and Bud with her? Pictures will help when she is gone.

But are they ever really gone? They linger in our hearts forever because a dog is pure love wrapped in fur.

((((Hugs))))

Gretchen in NC

[labblab]

Dogs are in the now and don't think about yesterday and how good it was or even tomorrow it is just now.

You are the only one who can help Mira whatever that turns out to be.

Jenny

I think our Jenny is very, very wise . And Janis, I think what she has written speaks to the heart of your greatest burden as well as your greatest gift.

Mira does not know she is only seven, and deserves so many more days of sunshine and long walks and love. And she does not know of the tumors inside her body that will surely end her life here on this earth. That knowledge is your terrible burden, not hers. And so she does not feel regret, or fear of the future. Again, those burdens are yours.

But because of your burden of knowledge, you also have the power to spare her the pain that the tumors will bring. It is hard to think of that as a gift. It is surely not a gift to you. But sparing Mira pain is a gift for her. The tumors are a certainty, and they are what are killing her. So if and when you decide to take her in, you will be releasing her from the power of the tumors and the pain that they carry.

I think Mira has reached a point where nobody would question your decision to release her. Not us, not the doctors, not Bud. And so I think you are left with the questions that are an absolute torture when we are faced with this burden and this gift. Is today the day when I release Mira and my heart explodes? As hard as it is to let her go, will I feel even worse if her liver ruptures and she ends up suffering terribly when I could have prevented it?

Today may not yet be the day when you have those answers. And if not, then I know you will continue to surround Mira with love. Just as you have every day of her seven years in your care. At this point, I feel certain that there is nothing left unsaid. You've told her what a good girl she is, and how much you love her. You've told her that she is your pretty, pretty Mira. And so I do believe that Mira herself is ready for her release, either when God takes her or when the morning comes when your gift is to be given.

And we will stay here with you, Janis.

Marianne

[StarDeb55]

Janis, I have not posted to you before, but have been closely following Kira's story. First of all, let me say how truly sorry I am about what is happening with Mira. I want to relate what happened to me a little over a month ago.

I had a little 15 1/2 year old Shih Tzu, Harley. Granted Harley was a little old man, he did have Cushing's, but was in pretty good health. He had had periodic eye infections due to his Cushing's. I knew his left eye was bothering him, so I finally got him into to the eye vet at the end of August. Yes, he had a bad left eye infection. I took him in for a recheck in early October. The vet is checking him, proceeds to ask me if I had seen "this". She lifts his lip on the upper left side of his jaw where I see a huge tumor on his upper jaw. I was absolutely speechless. I immediately made an appointment for his regular vet on Monday as I thought it was probably a very bad dental abscess. This was all on Thursday morning. I got up the next morning, found blood spray all over the side of bed where Harley sleeps. This is when I freaked out. I rushed him into his regular vet that afternoon, to make a long story short, that mass was some type of malignant tumor that had already spread to his lungs. The mass was not there when he first saw the eye vet 5 weeks earlier. This little boy had had a couple of periods of kind of "wheezy" breathing over that month & that was his only symptom. He was eating well for him, ( the world's pickiest eater), & just being normal. After I was called with the chest x-ray report that the malignancy was in his lungs, I was absolutely heartbroken & stricken with grief. I knew there was no other choice, so I released Harley to cross the bridge 4 days later. I'm glad I did what I had to do, because I find out later that Harley's situation was much worse than any of the vets or I were aware of. I'm not telling you what you should do. I think it's truly heartbreaking that Mira's life is being cut short, but as Jenny said, our pups live in the now. Mira is happy that you are here Mom, now. She doesn't know that she won't live out her expected lifespan. She doesn't think about what will happen tomorrow or a few days from now, that is the awful burden for our pup's humans to bear.

I hope you are able to find the strength & peace you need over the coming days.

Debbie

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Janis,

It has occurred to me that there is something I haven't shared with you and since I am currently experiencing this phenomenon myself, I thought you might be interested.

It's called "twitching" and it happens like this - we see something odd/different in our babies and immediately our minds start firing -


"What was THAT?!"
stare at dog....

"What does that MEAN?!"
stare at dog...

"It could mean A, or B, or OMG! even Z!!"
stare at dog...

"What do I DO?!"
stare at dog...

"omg omg omg!!!!!!!"


Not everyone is subject to this condition and some will experience a milder form. Then there are those who will start twitching at the least little provocation and rapidly twitch themselves into a frenzied state. For the uninitiated, this can be a disconcerting and frightening state to observe. Many people cannot handle a twitcher during a full blown episode, falling back in dismay, fearing what they do not comprehend, or being overcome with such a feeling of helplessness they simply watch and listen.

There are no known cures for this condition tho some "experts" hypothesize that receiving answers to the questions racing through the minds of the afflicted and/or accumulating knowledge and experience can treat the symptoms when they arise.

As one who suffers with this condition, all I can say to that is -

ppfffttttttttttttttttttttt

[Altira]

I hear you.

I do understand that you are having a really tough time but only you have the power.

I have been where you are and it is not easy but you have to consider Quality of life for Mira. That means eating, drinking, toileting and pain free BUT it also means pleasure. Is she happy and does she respond to patting and loving.

Eating she will eat about 2 to 4 cups a day still. She drinks lots of water and chicken broth sometimes. She only peed in the house the one time weeks ago. She wants out pretty often. She always askes. Her poop is pretty much liquid at times but i'm feeding her stuff that would easly do that to her. I've been giving her pepto now and then. Pain free? I didn't even know this dog had stage 4 cancer. I didn't have a clue. Pain? I have no idea!!! She gets lathargic and wobbly at times but that could be the Tramadol. Any odd thing she does can be explained as something else. I suspect pain is not real bad. Is she happy? Like she used to be? Not even close. But Mira has always had a sad look about her. Sometimes she growls when i touch her. Sometimes she moves away. (sob) Some times she lets me pet her. She still is following me everywhere. She always keeps herself in my line of view. Always. But just weeks ago I could rub the top of her head and her eyes would drift closed in contentment. Just weeks ago I could open my arms to her and she would come to me slightly waging with her head lowered and press her head against me and just stand there letting me rub her. THAT is gone! (sob)

What would you call her current state of mind???

Dogs are in the now and don't think about yesterday and how good it was or even tomorrow it is just now.

You are the only one who can help Mira whatever that turns out to be.

If it is not her time then just love her everyday.

Jenny

See bold text above...

[Altira]

Janis -

We are all with you in spirit and we know this is such a difficult time for you.

Mira will let you know if/when it is time. She will make her own decision and she will find a way to let you know.

It might be they way she looks at you, or some other way. If she's eating, drinking, and getting around still, then it is not time yet.

Have you given her a peanut butter kong lately? Have you been taking pictures of her, of her with Kira, of you with her, of you and Bud with her? Pictures will help when she is gone.

But are they ever really gone? They linger in our hearts forever because a dog is pure love wrapped in fur.

((((Hugs))))

Gretchen in NC

Peanut butter yes! Every day. Far too much. But it's her favorite thing. She almost comes running for it. We are on our second jar. I think it's my guide. Last night she only ate half of it. But she had eaten chicken before that.

Pictures? My gosh I have thousands I think. I'm currently taking probably 30 a day. I wish I could put them in my posts so you could see her current condition each day. She will have her own album when she's gone, just like all the rest that have passed. God showed me the Siberain Husky one day, I'll never forget it and I've wanted nothing else since.

[Altira]

I know it won't be long. She just lead me to the back door so she could go out. When she squates she is holding her left leg out father then the right. She just pooped pancakes. Her walk is abit wobbly, her hind end is getting bony. Much of that could be from the numerous differnt kinds of treats and foods. They said to feed her anything she wants... The tramadol makes her wobblie. But how much longer can I bare to see her this way. It's so damn sad. It seems worse late at night. She kept wanting to stay out side in the frezzing cold. Then this morning I snuck out to go get Kira's bp meds. When I got back Mira was at the back door waiting for me. Her bright eyes greeting me. I was so suprized. She lead me through the bedroom but turned to make a trip up to the head of the bed to say hello to her daddy. Her daddy said hello back. This was a first really in a way. Then we went into the kitchen and ate a little. I don't know.

[Altira]

Ok Can someone tell me how to copy/paste something I typed up in Word and have the formating stay intact?

I'm trying to expand on Kira's last test results for the records. But it keeps messing up the formating. You can see what I mean a few pages back.

Janis