Merlin as a puppy, taking a break from chewing on everything in the house.I lost my best friend today. I am devastated by the senseless loss. He was only 2½ years old and I loved him as if he were my own child. His name was Merlin, which was partially derived from his blue merile coloring. Like the rest of the animals in our home, he was rescued and from the information we have he was an Australian Shepard and black Lab mix. Exactly one month ago today, we took him to the vet when he suddenly developed problems eating and closing his mouth all the way. I thought he might have a tooth problem as one of his canines was discolored. They did some blood work as a precursor to anesthesia for an oral exam. The vet came back and said the blood analyzer must be broken because his white blood count was off the chart. They said they would check it manually under microscope and sent us home with some antibiotics for a possible infection. A couple hours later, they called and said they think he has leukemia, but they would have to send his blood to a lab for confirmation, which would take a few days.
What I now know about leukemia in dogs has me furious with the inaction shown by our vet. As it turns out, the average life expectancy of untreated leukemia is about 30 days. I found this out from a dog cancer book that I received in the mail 4 days ago. The first week was wasted while they waited for “confirmation” by shipping the blood to an outside lab. Then, the next 3 weeks were wasted while they “tried” a high dose prednisone treatment. I asked about chemotherapy when that was started and was told that it would “make him sick” and that prednisone was the best choice. If it didn’t work, they would look at doing something else. Well, as I have now discovered, there was no room for any “trials” and the standard of care for this illness is immediate chemotherapy. With that, there is an 80-90% remission rate after only a couple treatments with a prognosis of about one year. With proper diet and strengthening of the immune system, these dogs can stay in remission for years. But I found this stuff out too late to act.
Yesterday I looked up the phone numbers of two veterinary oncologists and had planned on calling them Monday morning for a consultation about Merlin. His condition was steadily worsening over the last week and he was again having problems eating. I had that slip of paper sitting right in front of me when I got the phone call from home that Merlin had died a few minutes earlier. I am over a thousand miles from home right now, so the last time I saw him was two days ago when I left to go to the airport. He had been very lethargic that day and raised his head only slightly and gave me that sad look as I walked out the door. He always hated it when I left. I always hated having to leave him.
In the end, it appears that he died peacefully in his sleep. He was found lying on his favorite bed with our two cats lying beside him, as if they were watching over their favorite buddy. After all, the three of them grew up together as a mismatched team of two kittens and a puppy. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him. A man couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful dog. A piece of me has gone with him.
What I now know about leukemia in dogs has me furious with the inaction shown by our vet. As it turns out, the average life expectancy of untreated leukemia is about 30 days. I found this out from a dog cancer book that I received in the mail 4 days ago. The first week was wasted while they waited for “confirmation” by shipping the blood to an outside lab. Then, the next 3 weeks were wasted while they “tried” a high dose prednisone treatment. I asked about chemotherapy when that was started and was told that it would “make him sick” and that prednisone was the best choice. If it didn’t work, they would look at doing something else. Well, as I have now discovered, there was no room for any “trials” and the standard of care for this illness is immediate chemotherapy. With that, there is an 80-90% remission rate after only a couple treatments with a prognosis of about one year. With proper diet and strengthening of the immune system, these dogs can stay in remission for years. But I found this stuff out too late to act.
Yesterday I looked up the phone numbers of two veterinary oncologists and had planned on calling them Monday morning for a consultation about Merlin. His condition was steadily worsening over the last week and he was again having problems eating. I had that slip of paper sitting right in front of me when I got the phone call from home that Merlin had died a few minutes earlier. I am over a thousand miles from home right now, so the last time I saw him was two days ago when I left to go to the airport. He had been very lethargic that day and raised his head only slightly and gave me that sad look as I walked out the door. He always hated it when I left. I always hated having to leave him.In the end, it appears that he died peacefully in his sleep. He was found lying on his favorite bed with our two cats lying beside him, as if they were watching over their favorite buddy. After all, the three of them grew up together as a mismatched team of two kittens and a puppy. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him. A man couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful dog. A piece of me has gone with him.
Merlin, a few months ago, with his new friend, Bella.
