Quasar and Canine Osteosarcoma (Dog Bone Cancer)

Hello all. It's been quite a long time since I've posted. I've missed you and hope you all are doing well (though I see that it's been a long time, too, since you've blogged). Nonetheless....

I'm writing about our good boy Quasar, 14 years and 9 months old as of July 4.

Quasar was diagnosed March 15 with osteosarcoma in his right distal radius (right foreleg). We had noticed him limping when he ran out to greet my husband at the car when he came home from work. We gave him some leftover Rimadyl for a week, but it didn't stop the limping so we took him to our longtime vet. She thought it best to x-ray his leg given his age and that he's a long-legged dog. The X-ray showed osteosarcoma. Me being me, I asked for a consult with a specialist just to be sure. She suggested a specialist practice that is locally owned and I made an appointment there and we saw an oncologist who confirmed the diagnosis.

Interestingly, the oncologist is one of several vets in the U.S. who practices both conventional and traditional Chinese veterinary medicine. Again, given his age, we decided on palliative care. Radiation therapy is supposed to work great for pain, but it can deteriorate the bone so we decided against that. Instead, we decided to treat Quasar's pain with daily doses of Rimadyl (carprofen) and Gabapentin, and a powdered mix of Chinese plants and herbs. To treat both his pain and to strengthen the bone, he is getting injections of Zoledronate every 3 to 4 weeks. (Zoledronate is akin to "Boniva" treatments for people with osteoporosis.) To treat the tumor, he is also getting a powdered Chinese mix of plants/herbs; this is expected to shrink the vessels that feed the tumor and slow its growth, and we have no expectation that it is curative. We brought up the subject of CBD oil with our vet and she perked right up! Veterinarians are not allowed to prescribe CBD (here in the U.S.), but since we asked she told us which one to get (actually a concentrated hemp CBD for oral use) and where to get it. Again, this CBD is strictly for palliative purpose. 

Quasar sees the oncologist every 3 or 4 weeks, and saw her a couple of days ago. His liver enzymes were a bit higher than his last visit, so we decided to put him on daily doses of "Hepato Support" (main ingredient is milk thistle).

Quasar is doing Greyt! His vet said most dogs with osteosarcoma at 3 months have difficulty walking if they are able to walk. We are so happy that Quasar still has a Greyt quality of life (except for when we don't give him as many treats as he wants!). We hope he sees his his 15th birthday in October. 

I would love to hear from others that are using "alternative" treatments.

I've attached a couple photos of his leg and video of him from earlier this month. (Excuse our yard.)

Foster Dog Sam

This is a photo of our foster dog Sam.

We've had Sam for about a month. He is so gentle and quiet and sweet, and rambunctious when it comes to seeing a leash or "Mom" or "Dad" coming home. He's big, too! 80 pounds! Interested in adopting? He is a foster dog with ReGAP here in southeast Michigan.

Last week Sam bit Quasar, kind of shredding his ear. They were doing that dog dance where they both get worked up over a passing dog, then spin in circles and growl and snap at each other. Sam's snap connected with Quasar's ear. However, I think this was provoked by Mr. Q.

Quasar's ear wouldn't stop bleeding after an hour (ear is filled with veins!) so we took him down the street to the emergency vet. WHOA! The vet wanted $622.00 for Plan A. umm, show me Plan B. That was just under $400. So I said, I'll pay the office visit and the antibiotic -- $150 and twice what our vet would charge. Luckily I had some Tramadol (pain med) left over from Star's illness.

So we returned home and spent hours trying to stop the bleeding and finally got Quasar's ear bandaged and gave him the antibiotic. The next morning we were able to remove the bandage and flush it out with water, hydrogen peroxide, then a final flush with the antiseptic Chlorhexiderm. Then bandaged again. It's been almost a week, and we've done a lot of cleaning, bandaging, giving Tramadol and antibiotic. Mr. Q is recovering, but he still yelps if we touch his ears.

So there went our long weekend away.... We didn't want to bloody up where we'd be staying.

Sam really is a sweetheart.

Dog Friendly In Southwest Michigan - Photos

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This week we went our favorite dog-friendly place, Sweethaven Resort in Union Pier, Michigan. While there, we went to our favorite dog-friendly beach, at Warren Dunes State Park (2 miles of dog-friendly beach!)

Dog-Friendly in Southwest Michigan

AR and Quasar and I took a quick 2-day vacation (came home last night). It's sometimes tough trying to find dog-friendly places to vacation, so I just had to tell you about this.

We drove from Detroit to Union Pier, in southwest Michigan. It's a very small town atmosphere, but very relaxing -- wooded and right on Lake Michigan (my favorite Great Lake!). We stayed at Sweethaven Resort, which is less than a mile off I-94, and less than an hour-and-a-half from Chicago. Sweethaven is dog-friendly, and has 5 cottages for rent that sit on 9-acres of wooded land. Your dog is welcome to be on the grounds leash-free. Plus, there's great stuff for people: bicycles and beach furniture, fire pit, plus our cottage had a hot tub!

Equally as great is the very nearby Warren Dunes State Park, which just this year began allowing dogs to run free on the dunes and in one small part of beach. Quasar had a blast, and proved to us that we have all bonded very well (he enjoyed running free, but came when called).

Woods, beach and dunes, bicycling, hot tub ---- and your dog! Who could ask for more? (Well, there's a great Mexican restaurant nearby with excellent margaritas!)

Introducing TigerLily

A day or two before New Year's I received an email from ReGAP, asking if AR and I could take in a foster dog. I responded that I thought we couldn't unless it was a real emergency, and then it would have to be a female (still a few dominance issues with Quasar). Well, ReGAP responded that it was indeed an emergency.

This past Sunday, there was a kennel closure at the Dairyland Racetrack in Wisconsin. About 16 dogs were transported from the track to the Michigan Welcome Center at the Indiana state line, and the dogs were distributed to several rescue groups. ReGAP took 5 of the dogs and their great volunteers drove (about a 6-hour round trip, and in an ice storm!) that day to pick them up and bring them back here, where they were treated to baths and grooming by Dapper Dog Wash.

AR instantly fell for a sweet brindle girl, one of two females. She came home with us. Her track name is RJ's Stormy Dana, but the workers on the track called her Shana (and it was inscribed on her muzzle). So for a few days we called her Shana or Dana.

She's a sweetheart, with thick fur (really unusual) that is gold with tiger-stripes. So on Wednesday, AR says "We should call her TigerLily." O.K. Then yesterday, the dear hubby says "We could call her Lily." O.K.

See where this is going?

This is a photo of TigerLily & Quasar yesterday in the snow. That's me in the background, dressed to slum (or for the cold).
AR was holding the camera and called them.

Here are Quasar and TigerLily with their Wiggly-Giggly ball.

Here's Quasar reasserting his maleness, in a playful way.
Lucky that TigerLily is mellow, and is being vetted next week.

TigerLily is a sweetie. She's taken a few days to figure out what toys are for and what a treat is. She's very affectionate. And she has thick fur and feels very soft. Perhaps we should call her "Fluffy." She's taught herself how to climb up and down stairs, and knows how to jump into a car (we still have to lift Quasar). She loves her crate.

Dana/Shana/TigerLily is a good girl, and will make some family a loving pet - though it will be a couple of weeks before she's fully "assessed" and put up on the ReGAP site.

In the meantime, she's one of our family.

How To Deconstruct A Screaming Monkey

Quasar celebrated the holidays with his favorite Christmas gift, the notorious Screaming Monkey, a gift from one of AR's best friends. This particular Monkey has a recording device inside which, when squeezed properly, emits the sounds of what one hopes is in fact not a screaming monkey but rather a lunatic that makes a good living in strange ways. The screaming sends Quasar into a scary frenzy. Really. He gets this look in his eye that is both intimidating and focused. He tore the monkey apart at the seams within 20 minutes, so AR took the monkey and duct taped it together, and put it in hiding for a couple of weeks until poor Quasar calmed down.



Since Quasar has been a Good Boy as of late (really, all the time), we decided this afternoon to give him the Screaming Monkey as a treat.



Quasar immediately went into another frenzy, showing the Monkey who is boss and that he will not be intimated by either screaming...



...or duct tape.


One damn happy dog.

I don't know how much this toy costs, but it is worth every penny regardless of its longevity. Just have your camera ready.

The good news is that we retrieved the recording device, which still works and which we will use whenever we need to get Quasar's serious attention.

Quasar Sleeping

So I woke up about 3 a.m. the other night and had time to go downstairs and get my camera and come back upstairs and take a picture of the still sleeping Quasar! I suspect he must be getting comfy in his new home.

Quasar!

It's A Boy!

We didn't know we were expecting, so imagine our surprise when we fell in love with "Quasar."

He's now the brightness at the center of our galaxy!

Quasar is keeping his racing name; he knows it, answers to it, and it suits his quirkiness. He's nothing like our dear departed Bastet --in looks or temperament; we didn't think we could ever find another girl like her and, indeed, we did not. He is all boy. He's 66.7 lbs. of love, and dressed in a tux! He loves to fart and burp (it's a love fest with Dad), he barks (unusual for a greyhound), loves to "roughhouse," plays fetch with his squeaky hedgehog, chases squirrels, loves to be outside, and is quite the extrovert. At 4 years of age, he's still his puppy-self, but very well-mannered -- especially with "sit, stay" (treats help).

This past summer, we thought about the possibilities of adopting, but still weren't sure. In August, we received an email from Michigan ReGAP asking for additional foster families for some greyhounds coming out of the Second Chance At Life Greyhound & Inmate Prison Partnership Program. AR & I decided that we would foster as a way to figure out if we were ready for a dog. We completed our foster paperwork, and the next day I showed up at Dapper Dog Wash to pick up a dog. Quasar was assigned to me, and off we went.

I'll have to post more photos soon, and there is lots more to tell (his father was an Australian champion, he's an IVF baby, and he has over 5,400 siblings), but in the meantime, here is the letter Quasar will be mailing to his former handlers at the prison in Coldwater:


Hi,

I am writing to tell you that I have just been adopted! It is a case of "foster failure"; that is, after all these weeks my foster parents decided that I must be their forever dog. They tell me that is so because I am such a good-looking and well-behaved dog and there is probably not another one like me out there and they feel so lucky that they just can't believe it! (And did I mention because I'm good-looking?)

So let me tell you about my new digs and my new family.

I am just crazy about my new Dad; he is my best buddy. We go for 2-mile walks almost every day, and he is a firm believer that life is not worth living without peanut butter treats. I like to race up and down the driveway when he gets home from work. I love to play with Mom, and if I bark at her, she will roughhouse with me. Mom and Dad do not have kids, so I am an only child. They are creative types, though, and come and go throughout the day, so there is almost always someone home with me.

There are lots of beds here! I have one in the basement so I can be with Dad while he practices guitar, and a bed on the first floor so I can just hang out (usually looking out the front door at the neighborhood), and another really comfy bed upstairs. At night I like to sleep on my back with my legs up in the air. We go on day trips, and I've already been to the cider mill and to State Parks. I've come to love car rides, and yesterday Dad took me around the block just for fun. It was a blast!

We have a small but nice home, and the yard is fenced so I can run free to chase the squirrels. I have a favorite tree which I will stand under for long periods of time just waiting to see those squirrels come out of their nest. We have discovered that I am quite the watchdog -- a real surprise to all of us. I patrol the house and windows, and I bark at squirrels, people, and strange sounds at night.

When I first came to live here, I really missed you guys, so much that I didn't eat for a few days and really worried everyone. But they got the idea to mix some canned food with my dry food, and now I eat two big meals a day.

Mom and Dad want me to give you a special "Thank You" for having spent your time and energy training me and letting me know what love is all about. It's a big exciting world out here, and I really appreciate your having prepared me, and I will remember you always for it. I hope there are other lucky dogs out there that will get to know you, too.

Best wishes forever,

Quasar