Hi,
Posting here mostly for support, I guess. I adopted my Maybelline as a tiny baby to save her from a home that just kept breeding bunnies with no responsibility. I am a teacher and the babies came in as show n tell. I’ve loved her for 13 years. I never knew that they get uterine cancer if you don’t spray them, and now feel horrible that I didn’t do what was right for her. The vet—best specialty vet in my area—told me that he gave her a few weeks at best. He said the mammary tumors and spaying would be a tough recovery and probably would not help, as he was pretty sure it had spread. We decided to bring her home and Love on her until the end.
That was over a year and a half ago! Had I known, I would have opted for surgery. About a month ago, she got a poo bum—ball of hard poop that was covering her exit chamber. She’s always hated being held—loves being pet, but extreme stress if you picked her up (trauma from the life before I got her??). Anyway, that’s why we didn’t discover the poop ball right away. She hid it well. We thought it was an isolated event. We did our best to remove it and then took her in to be sedated and have it really cleaned right.
Since that event, she have noticed a bad back leg and it keeps getting worse. It’s like it is broken, but it isn’t. We had a series of xrays when we took her in to check on the cancer. At first I thought we hurt it—that she squirmed while we were working and she hurt her spinal cord. But it seems to be worsening. Vet thinks it is probably the tumors causing nerve/spinal issues. Neither of which are ideal. We also think that is why the poop ball formed. She wasn’t moving around enough. She REALLY isn’t moving around now unless she has to.
Here’s the problem. She shows no signs of pain except for holding the leg in the funny position or holding it up when she hops. No breathing issues. No pain wincing eyes. Still eating like a trooper, although hay and pellets are not being eaten as much and she has just gradually not been drinking much water (decreased over a long period of time)—we have a crock and bottle for her. I don’t want her to suffer, but I also don’t want to end her life too prematurely.
Anyone dealt with uterine/mammary cancer? The tumors are quite big now. I just don’t know what to look for when she isn’t exhibiting the signs the vet said would happen at the end, and he doesn’t have any suggestions on the leg besides an MRI which seems unnecessary, as surgery really won’t be an option at this time.
Thanks for any help or info. Feeling pretty sad over my sweet girl.
Posting here mostly for support, I guess. I adopted my Maybelline as a tiny baby to save her from a home that just kept breeding bunnies with no responsibility. I am a teacher and the babies came in as show n tell. I’ve loved her for 13 years. I never knew that they get uterine cancer if you don’t spray them, and now feel horrible that I didn’t do what was right for her. The vet—best specialty vet in my area—told me that he gave her a few weeks at best. He said the mammary tumors and spaying would be a tough recovery and probably would not help, as he was pretty sure it had spread. We decided to bring her home and Love on her until the end.
That was over a year and a half ago! Had I known, I would have opted for surgery. About a month ago, she got a poo bum—ball of hard poop that was covering her exit chamber. She’s always hated being held—loves being pet, but extreme stress if you picked her up (trauma from the life before I got her??). Anyway, that’s why we didn’t discover the poop ball right away. She hid it well. We thought it was an isolated event. We did our best to remove it and then took her in to be sedated and have it really cleaned right.
Since that event, she have noticed a bad back leg and it keeps getting worse. It’s like it is broken, but it isn’t. We had a series of xrays when we took her in to check on the cancer. At first I thought we hurt it—that she squirmed while we were working and she hurt her spinal cord. But it seems to be worsening. Vet thinks it is probably the tumors causing nerve/spinal issues. Neither of which are ideal. We also think that is why the poop ball formed. She wasn’t moving around enough. She REALLY isn’t moving around now unless she has to.
Here’s the problem. She shows no signs of pain except for holding the leg in the funny position or holding it up when she hops. No breathing issues. No pain wincing eyes. Still eating like a trooper, although hay and pellets are not being eaten as much and she has just gradually not been drinking much water (decreased over a long period of time)—we have a crock and bottle for her. I don’t want her to suffer, but I also don’t want to end her life too prematurely.
Anyone dealt with uterine/mammary cancer? The tumors are quite big now. I just don’t know what to look for when she isn’t exhibiting the signs the vet said would happen at the end, and he doesn’t have any suggestions on the leg besides an MRI which seems unnecessary, as surgery really won’t be an option at this time.
Thanks for any help or info. Feeling pretty sad over my sweet girl.
