need someone with vetrinary knowledge urgently?

Question

my friend needs some serious advice.

her dog is a German/Lab Mix, 13 and a half years old.shes had her all her life and shes encountering very SERIOUS problems.Shes very old and shes prolbably not got a lot of time left in her.. but just recently shes been having blood in her stool. The vet had no idea what could be causing it.

Tonight, I took her out maybe 10 minutes ago, and her stool was about 50% pure blood clot.

This has to cause her discomfort.. right? Really I guess what I'm asking is.. is this too much for her? I mean I can imagine experiencingI mean I can imagine experiencing what shes going through.

Shes riddled with old age tumors, and I'm positive they have spread to her organs..


We had just seen a vet the 13th. He had no clue, and tried to give her a deworming medication that would not have shown up on the tests he did.

Evidently it didnt work.

It's been happening slowly for a couple months, but this past week it's been like adam broke, more of its comming and at a faster pace. Shes been kinda dainty about what she eats for a while now, sometimes she'll skip meals. She drinks Tons of water, and within the past two weeks, going out side seems to
be very tiring for her.

i am passing on all answers as i get them to her.......she is heartbroken and just wants someone to advise her i suppose.

my friend just mailed me with a message for everyone who has replied.......

if you can write them on that post and thank them all, let them know I will be taking her to the vet for the last time monday morning.i dont have the money to do surgry, or exploritory anything, shes dying of old age, and god knows whatelse..she wouldnt survive surgry anyway,really i just needed to know if the unthinkable was best

thankyou so much chetco.i sent her the poem and though it has us both in tears she said it makes things clearer for her.thankyou so much.

Answer 1

PLEASE! Find another vet. She IS suffering and it's evident that something is SERIOUSLY wrong. It sounds like she is dying...from what? I don't know. If your friend doesn't have the financial resources to have all the testing done to find out why this is happening to her, then please, have her euthanized. She's done enough suffering. I am so very sorry!

Answer 2

I'm very sorry to hear about her dog. Blood in the stool means that whatever the problem is, is in the last parts of the bowel, as compared w black stool meaning digested blood so the problem would be in her stomach or small intestine.

Sounds like is very likely she has cancer. A vet may want to take chest x-rays, since one of the organs that cancer likes to spread first is the lungs. Actually, that is one of the first things to do when cancer is suspected, along w bloodwork. Another thing to do would be to take an ultrasound (aka sonogram) of her abdomen and see what is up there causing the bleeding. She may also be bleeding internally somewhere else, and the loss of blood is causing her to tire so easily.

Believe it or not, some cancers are completelly painless despite all the blood or involvement that some of them show, although sounds like she is not feeling well due to the lack of appetite and the drinking.

Sounds like she may not have long time left, your friend needs to spoil her and love her a lot now. Good luck

Answer 3

I'm sorry to hear about her dog. There are several different symptoms going on here. That much blood in her stool suggests either cancer or that she's eaten something that hurt her, which is unlikely due to her age and lack of eating. Excessive thirst is a sign of kidney failure or diabetes. You said she also has tumors, are they cancerous or just fatty tumors? Whatever the situation, it seems as though it is time to consider what her quality of life is right now. Does she appear to be in pain and unhappy or does she seems to be getting along despite all her health problems? Unfortunately, it sounds like it may be time to consider putting her to sleep. Only your friend can determine what is the right thing to do. If she is in obvious pain right now, take her to an emergency vet. If not, monitor her situation and speak to the vet about different options and what's best for the dog. Sometimes the kindest decisions are the hardest ones to make.

Answer 4

It sounds like you need to see another vet, to get another opinion.It also sounds like the dog's quality of life just isn't there any more. Thirteen and a half years is very old for a large mix breed, and it may be time to do the humane thing and put the animal to sleep. This must be your decision, however, and I'm sure your vet can give you the dog's prognosis, to help your friend and her family make the right decision. It's a very sad situation, maybe saying goodbye to an old friend, but often it's the kindest thing to do.

Answer 5

My cat died of Intestinal Cancer and these were the symptoms the night that we put him down. He was severely anemic, had quit responding to chemo, and was in severe pain.

He had severely bloody poop that entire day and I was hoping he could hold out for the vet the next morning (he'd had poop issues since a kitten). Instead, that night he peed in the Kitchen, pooped blood, and started yowling. He couldn't walk, he couldn't hold himself up, and he just screamed in pain. We brought him in and there was nothing more they could really do for him, so we made the heart wrenching decision to euthanize him.

Please cherish what time you have left. I'm so sorry for what you are going through and my thoughts will be with you.

Answer 6

That's exactly what happened to my dog, but he was only 5. He finally stopped eating and would not come downstairs. I brought him to my friend (she runs a vet hospital in NY). They did a sonogram and his body was full of tumors. We immediatley put him to sleep.

Unfortunately, dogs do not show pain easily because in nature, they would be targeted by other predators.

Answer 7

We would love for our precious dogs to be with us just a bit longer. It is so hard to let go of such a vital part of our lives..But, remembering, dogs don't measure life by quantity, but by quality. I hope this helps your friend as she makes the decision for her beloved.
May I go now
Don't you think the time is right?
May I say good-bye to pain-filled days
and endless lonely nights?
I've lived my life and done my best,
an example tried to be,
So can I take that step beyond
and set my spirit free?
I didn't want to go at first.
I fought with all my might!
But something seems to draw me now
to a warm and loving light.
I want to go! I really do!
It's difficult to stay.
But I will try as best I can
to live just one more day .
To give you time to care for me
and share your love and fears.
I know you're sad and are afraid
because I see your tears.
I'll not be far, I promise that,
and hope you'll always know
that my spirit will be close to you
wherever you may go.
Thank you so for loving me.
You know I loved you too.
That's why it's hard to say good-bye
and end this life with you.
So hold me now, just one more time,
and let me hear you say,
because you care so much for me,
you'll let me go today.


Copyright © Susan A. Jackson
Written for a beloved pet and friend.

Answer 8

Is she on any pain meds? if so could be the cause.

A bloodtest may be able to tell you if cancer is present or if an organ is failing, so as to help with a decision if it time to send to the bridge

Answer 9

please tell me ur kidding! ur vet gave dewormer to a 13 yr old dog...not knowing if it had worms? even before that it sounds like your dog's body is giving in to age... drinking lots of water is a sign of kindey problems....blood in the stool can be a number of things. Ya know i would see a differ vet......i'm sorry hope ur ol' girl is ok....but....

Answer 10

I had a dog when I was young that had the same problem it turned out he had eaten chicken bones and one got stuck across his rectum. The vet removed the bone and we feed him bran muffins for a few days he ended up fine.Good luck