Update on Casey

There is no other way to say than to just come out and say it:  Casey took a turn for the worse on Saturday.  Last weekend we were out with him twice he was his normal excited fun loving self on Saturday when Lisa and I ran cougar mountain and he was all over the place on Sunday when we went hiking.  On about Thursday he started messing a lot with his paws:  We thought maybe he stepped on something and was nursing it?  But he did it to all 4; so much if fact that he licked a few of the pads raw.  Saturday afternoon I was giving him a belly rub and noticed some lesions on his under belly/groin.  We were warned to look for this.  The rest of the night didn’t go well.  Evan had to carry him up and down the stairs.  He panted an breathed heavily most of the night.  This morning he went to the vet who confirmed what we thought:  It is full on cancer and he now has carcinoma which means it’s spreading.  Until now: he had non cancerous tumors on this lymph nodes that when turned into cancer would spread rapidly.  He was due back for blood work after the first of March.  We planned to call tomorrow to get him checked before we leave for vacation in 2 weeks.  So it is now cancer and it is spreading quickly.  Once it hits his lungs; it’s a matter of days.  The vet doesn’t think it’s full into his lungs yet as he has clear lungs but he pants and breaths heavily and it makes me nervous.  And Sad.  So he’s back on his meds, prednisone and something else to see if we can keep it out of his lungs for a while longer but he’s so much a different dog now that it kills us to see him like this.  He can’t do stairs well if at all, and he isn’t playful or excited like he normally is.  Today when we went to the Vet he actually sat quietly in the back of the car.  He has NEVER done that in his 5 years of life.  After about 6 steps he has to lay down; we don’t know if it’s the pain due to his lesions or if he’s out of breath or if his body is tired.  The vet said that the licking of the pads is usually due to displaced pain:  It’s an easily reachable part of the body and therefore dogs tend to try to “fix” their pain by licking their paws. 

We had our first good moment today when I was cooking dinner and dropped a pepper on the ground and he rushed over to eat it up. THAT’S the dog I know and love! 

We are all sad, and heart broken: We aren’t sure how to tell Walter or what to tell him.  I wanted to get him a fish to take his mind off of Casey but Evan thinks it’s a bad idea.  I don’t necessarily think the fish will live forever, I just wanted to give him something else to be excited to come home to; another pet to love.  Something to fill the void.  Problem is:  Now he keeps talking about going to pick out  a fish.  Some we might take him to the pet store and have him name one, and pick it out; but leave it there.