Perhaps this should be in the Rainbow Bridge section, but just wanted to pay tribute to my sweet Joe-Joe, who I lost suddenly this week. Joe had started having problems walking early in January, which at first the vet and I thought might be a slipped or ruptured disk in his back. However, after several weeks of metacam and indoors rest, he failed to improve and started acting dazed, disoriented and walking in circles. He began urinating and defecating in the house. A few nights ago he started howling in the middle of the night as in his confusion he had trapped himself in a corner of the dining room behind a chair and between a cabinet and the wall. My vet referred us to a top neurologist, and an MRI scan revealed a large tumour in his brain. The neurologist recommended not letting Joe wake up from anaesthaesia as the tumour was large and inoperable. He estimated Joe only had days or weeks left at most, so I agreed to let him go. It was a huge shock, as I had been expecting to take him home again after the scans, perhaps with something more manageable like encephalitis. He had only just turned 5.
Apparently brain tumours are more common in canines than in people, and often occur at relatively young ages. I didn't know it at the time, but apparently the University of Minnesota vet school is looking for live dogs with brain tumours for clinical trials involving gene and vaccine therapy. When I asked the neurologist about the clinical trials after Joe was gone, he said Joe would not have been a good candidate. I don't know if I would have sent him all the way to Minnesota from the UK for clinical trials, but I still wonder if let him go too soon without doing any research. In any case, should any other dog on this forum develop a brain tumour, heaven forbid, below is the link about the trials.
http://www.cvm.umn.edu/cic/current/brai ... /home.htmlI didn't have Joe long, but he was just a very sweet dog who loved life, being with my girls, and chasing squirrels in the park. Below are some photos of my sweet Joe, hopefully chasing squirrels now at the Rainbow Bridge.
Moderator, pls move this to Rainbow Bridge section after a few days.
Run free at the bridge Joe.
