This past week has been a doozey..
John Wayne our wonderful Rottweiler
fell ill..
It started with a decrease in appetite, and
followed with not being able to keep what
little food he was eating as long with water
down. I knew it was serious when he was
unable to keep the water down..
Trip to vet, blood work revealed nothing, yet
vet agreed he was very sick.. Two stomach
x-rays revealed no obstrucions and yet their
was something that seemed to alarm the Dr.
X-rays sent to another Dr to read, nothing abnormal.
So everything seemed normal and yet he was still sick.
Dr, now believes it is Pancreatitis..Only way to actually telll
is to have an Ultra sound performed. Now that gets very
spendy and then if a biopsy or 2 is needed, that adds to
the cost. Then the anesthelogist says with John Wayne
being 10 years old, he would not subject him to the
surgery.
So now we have decided to do our best to make him as
comfortable as we can. He did go 2 days in a row for fluids
and nausea injections.
Progress eport is today, he is eating some, drinking more and
keeping it all down without any nausea meds..
He even was able to give me the best kisses I have had in awhile
yesterday and today..
I can't tell you how happy I was to see him drink water and eat a little
and keep it all down.
We had thought his time was about up. He may not be out of the woods
totally, yet he is better than a few days ago.
I now have to keep up my end of the bargain I made with him.
I told him, you get better and I will take you for a ride everyday in the
truck without it being to the vets... kim

I sure know how you feel. Ive lost so many good dogs down thru the years I dont even count them any more,.Its hard to decide when to say goodbye. I guess, once its obvious that their quality of life will never be anything better than feeling bad & just barely getting around, its time to spend some time with them in your lap & hug on them & pet them & cry,,& then take that trip to the vets..I know I have,

Any chance he got into something he shouldn't?
A friend of mine posted the following on facebook today. Don't know if this is true or not, but.......

Pet owners READ This....
Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don't have a pet, please pass this to those who do.
Over the weekend, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. The dogs loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog (Calypso) decided the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Halfway through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's web site,
...
This product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that "It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it."

Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other garden supply stores contains a lethal ingredient called 'Theobromine'. It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks.

Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.

jw didn't get into anti freeze did he? it strips the lining off there stomachs. and is very bad. best wishes :'(

Thanks everyone for your advice and
well wishes.
John Wayne is about 100% better than
last week.
He is even doing his happy dance and
eating his dog bones.
Still not 100% sure what it was that
made him so sick. We do know it
wasn't chocolate nor anti freeze.
His appetite is much better yet I am
still careful on what I feed as well as
how much.
Today I even took him and Oscar for
a ride in the truck.
I think he was surprised when it wasn't
a trip to the vet and no shots were given.
I do know with him being 10 years old that
his body will start to eventually slow down.
For now, he is living comfortably inside and
enjoying his retirement.
Thanks again for eveyones advice and well wishes.. kim

Very good to hear.  Our 4 legged kids are just as important as the other kids.

I've even been trying to figure out a way to make a carrier to mount on the tank to take my little 4 legged kid with me on some rides.  I mean she's only 6lbs and that's because she's fat