Just to be clear... he is not about to die. The title sounds rather dramatic. Still, we did receive some terrible news. Shrek was just diagnosed with Cushing's Disease, an illness that is sadly common in older dogs and not curable. He has a tumor pushing on his pituitary gland in his brain that is causing his body to release too much cortisol, or stress hormone. This means our poor doggie is super-stressed out ALL the time, as if a toddler messing with him and a move was not stressful enough on him. The vet described it as that feeling you have the next day after you pull an all-nighter, and poor Shrek always feels like that.
We have him on chemotherapy in pill form, which he will remain on the rest of his life. This type of doggie chemo does not have the same side effects human chemo has, but the vet said it might change his temperment once it starts working. As long as he is alive and happy I would do anything for him! Shrek is approximately 10 years old and still quite able to get around so we hope he still has many years left in him. Plus, he is Leila's doggie "best friend" and quite an important part of our family.
Awww, poor little Shrek! His face snoozing away in the grass is so sweet. I hope he plays and loves on his best friend Leila for many more years :)
ReplyDeleteAwww! I saw your blog on Cassie's and I had to come check it out. Poor guy :(
ReplyDeleteSo, what were some of his symptoms?