Pooch, my 10.5-year-old Terrier Mix (otherwise known as Pitbull) has been a healthy energetic dog since he was born. He has always hung out with me doing outdoor chores and is my exercise partner.
We began 2018 with our normal activities. Pooch is energized with the cold. On my days off we would take 2 to 3-hour walks in the morning, checking out his favorite sniffing spots and following interesting scents, I let him follow his nose.
Our walks could cover 7 miles and when we returned he was ready to play. I would throw a Jr. Football and he would retrieve it quickly. Then we would his favorite game – Tug of War; he usually wins. I would tire before he does.
In the summer our outings tend to shorten because of the heat, we go out early and I carry water for him. By the end of the summer, he was not covering as much territory and I put this down to his age. 10 for him is about 2/3 of his life span making us about the same age.
He seemed pretty normal except on occasion in tight spaces he seemed to have a little problem turning, sometimes a little stumble. His paw would not always flip out before he settled on it. I was told it was probably just a dog’s anatomy.
In the fall he was still active but he did not pick up as much as I would have expected when the weather cooled. He developed an occasional limp. At first, I could not tell which leg was bothering him. Then it got worse.
His breed can ignore pain to accomplish his goals. And a long walk to check his sniffing spots is the best thing ever to him. One day we left he had a small limp and it got worse as we went. The next day I made an appointment with the Vet. He already had a swollen gland under his throat for the last 3 years which was a suspected cancer. An aspiration over a year ago showed normal cells. I couldn’t afford a biopsy at that time.
The vet pointed out a lump on the dog’s leg and suggested a biopsy. Now out of debt, I could pay for a biopsy. The biopsy report came back with a low-grade lymphoma from the gland and a grade 3 spindle cell sarcoma in his leg.
The bump on his leg was growing into his elbow joint. Over the next couple of months, it became quite large.
