Quite interesting that they call them your best friend. You never really think about that until they aren't there any more or when they go through absolute hell being sick.
This is exactly what Im sitting here thinking at the moment.
We got Basil as a very small puppy at 6 weeks in August 2009. I had been working for myself at the time and we thought it would be the perfect time to get a dog. Stay at home dad of sorts. I loved this. I spent the first 6 months of this oke's life with him at home. We used to sit on the steps outside and have a good bitch and moan session about work. Basil just looked at me all funny. We would go back inside and get back to work. Basil on my lap. Thank goodness this guy was 6 weeks old and very light still. We spoiled him like no child could ever be spoiled.
Over the last 2 years Basil lead a very spoiled life. Premium food, soft couches and beds to sleep on and the most expensive chew toys (leather shoes, DVD box sets, phones etc) to chew on. We even adopted another basset to keep him company during the day when we went to work.
During December 2011 we noticed that Basil lost a bit of weight. Nothing major we thought since he was far from being under weight and we wrote it off against a diet change, the heat and the adoption of Leica who kept him busy 24 hours a day.
Towards the middle of Jan he had lost some more weight. Still well within acceptable weight range but now we started to worry a little. Our beautiful boy was melting away before our eyes. Keep in mind this oke at his peak was about 28 to 30kg. He is a really big Basset.
Towards the end of Jan we noticed that he started panting a little bit too much so we went off to the vet for a check-up. He confirmed that the chest sounded a bit cloudy and he couldn't quite get a heartbeat. Booked him in for x-rays and blood tests the following day since the local tests showed no signs of infection, worms etc etc etc.
The next morning he was looking really bad. His breathing was very shallow and his eyes just begged us to help him. No words can explain the feeling of complete and utter helplessness that fills your heart and soul when you look into those sad eyes... Off to the vet. Blood tests and x-rays confirmed that the chest was filled with lymphatic fluid but luckily this was not cancer related. Rather a duct in the chest cavity responsible for flowing lymph to the heart was seeping into the chest cavity. The proposed solution was to keep him on some strong anti-inflammatory and diuretic medication to see if we could clear up the chest a bit.
Success! or so we thought
On Sunday night Basil got worse. Much worse. He could hardly breathe. Phoned the vet who instructed us to keep him calm and relaxed as possible and to bring him in in the morning. Slept very little that night.
Monday morning and off to the vet again. Some more fluid is drained from the chest but not enough to help. Referral to Bryanston Veterinary Clinic to see Dr Remo Lobetti on Tuesday morning. A specialist in this.
Yesterday we dropped Basil off for more tests. The Dr recons that it could be heart disease and the cancer possibility is not off the table quite yet. More tests. More tests. Phoned the vet at 16:00 yesterday. Basil is staying over to be observed while they wait for the final test results.
8:00 this morning the Dr phones me. Good news is Basil is clear of cancer and heart disease. Bad news is they confirmed the lymph duct problem and they need to operate. As part of the procedure they will remove part of the heart sack to make more space in the chest. Surgery was scheduled for this morning.
Now we wait...
This is exactly what Im sitting here thinking at the moment.
We got Basil as a very small puppy at 6 weeks in August 2009. I had been working for myself at the time and we thought it would be the perfect time to get a dog. Stay at home dad of sorts. I loved this. I spent the first 6 months of this oke's life with him at home. We used to sit on the steps outside and have a good bitch and moan session about work. Basil just looked at me all funny. We would go back inside and get back to work. Basil on my lap. Thank goodness this guy was 6 weeks old and very light still. We spoiled him like no child could ever be spoiled.
Over the last 2 years Basil lead a very spoiled life. Premium food, soft couches and beds to sleep on and the most expensive chew toys (leather shoes, DVD box sets, phones etc) to chew on. We even adopted another basset to keep him company during the day when we went to work.
During December 2011 we noticed that Basil lost a bit of weight. Nothing major we thought since he was far from being under weight and we wrote it off against a diet change, the heat and the adoption of Leica who kept him busy 24 hours a day.
Towards the middle of Jan he had lost some more weight. Still well within acceptable weight range but now we started to worry a little. Our beautiful boy was melting away before our eyes. Keep in mind this oke at his peak was about 28 to 30kg. He is a really big Basset.
Towards the end of Jan we noticed that he started panting a little bit too much so we went off to the vet for a check-up. He confirmed that the chest sounded a bit cloudy and he couldn't quite get a heartbeat. Booked him in for x-rays and blood tests the following day since the local tests showed no signs of infection, worms etc etc etc.
The next morning he was looking really bad. His breathing was very shallow and his eyes just begged us to help him. No words can explain the feeling of complete and utter helplessness that fills your heart and soul when you look into those sad eyes... Off to the vet. Blood tests and x-rays confirmed that the chest was filled with lymphatic fluid but luckily this was not cancer related. Rather a duct in the chest cavity responsible for flowing lymph to the heart was seeping into the chest cavity. The proposed solution was to keep him on some strong anti-inflammatory and diuretic medication to see if we could clear up the chest a bit.
Success! or so we thought
On Sunday night Basil got worse. Much worse. He could hardly breathe. Phoned the vet who instructed us to keep him calm and relaxed as possible and to bring him in in the morning. Slept very little that night.
Monday morning and off to the vet again. Some more fluid is drained from the chest but not enough to help. Referral to Bryanston Veterinary Clinic to see Dr Remo Lobetti on Tuesday morning. A specialist in this.
Yesterday we dropped Basil off for more tests. The Dr recons that it could be heart disease and the cancer possibility is not off the table quite yet. More tests. More tests. Phoned the vet at 16:00 yesterday. Basil is staying over to be observed while they wait for the final test results.
8:00 this morning the Dr phones me. Good news is Basil is clear of cancer and heart disease. Bad news is they confirmed the lymph duct problem and they need to operate. As part of the procedure they will remove part of the heart sack to make more space in the chest. Surgery was scheduled for this morning.
Now we wait...
