Courtney
... and the Dynamic Duo!
After an ongoing yo-yoing battle with an oral infection, Chance crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 12:35pm this afternoon.
When I first noticed the growth in his jaw, I took him to the vet who ran some tests and prescribed some antibiotics to take the swelling down. It worked like a charm and within a few days, his face was normal. For the entire 2-week round of medication, Chance looked great.
About 3 days after coming off the round of antibiotics, his face blew up again and I took him to a different vet (his primary). He ran a few tests, x-rayed the area, and took tissue for a biopsy that was sent to Guelph (which came back non-cancer). He pulled a bunch of teeth in the area and then drained and scraped the area and packed it with medicine. Chance went back on a round of medication for two weeks.
About a week into the medication, his face swelled up again, but nothing too extreme. I took him back to the vet, who drained a great deal of pus from the area. He scraped right down to the jaw bone again and aside from a bit of bruising, one couldn't even tell Chance had an illness.
For a few weeks, Chance was great. No swelling, he was eating... everything was great. He was on long term medication to see if the infection would stay away, and it did. I thought we were out of the woods and I was safe to leave the country for a week while Chance was in the care of his vet.
On Friday, Chance began going downhill very rapidly. He stopped eating and drinking, and the vet was force feeding both food and water. His medication was changed to Baytril, but it did not seem to help. I picked him up from the vet yesterday and spent all night and this morning cuddling him. I tried feeding him myself, but he could not hold the liquid down.
This morning, he lost control of his hind legs. He took to dragging himself around and insisted on crawling onto my chest to lay his head over my heart. He was so tired. I called his vet this morning to see if he felt anything else could be done, and unfortunately, he felt that Chance was beyond help. Without taking half of his jaw, he couldn't be sure if there was an underlying tumor beneath the infection.. but he had his suspicions.
I had been waffling back and forth all morning, but hearing that made my decision for me. Chance was suffering, his quality of life was bad and I couldn't be so cruel as to keep him with me. I love him dearly, and I wanted to do what was best for him.
Chance came to me as a rescue - his previous home thought it was entertaining to hotbox his area and get him high on weed... and then laugh as he teetered around and fell off objects (like tables). He was picked up by a wonderful girl who is a dear friend of mine and transported to Edmonton where he could be placed under my care. He has been with me since June 2009 and adjusted very quickly from a timid creature into a playful, affectionate one. He wasn't scared of anything, and one of his favorite hobbies was to try and suicide jump out of his cage, hands, whatever happened to be containing him... in an effort to get to the floor and explore.
He will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, my brave little Chance.
When I first noticed the growth in his jaw, I took him to the vet who ran some tests and prescribed some antibiotics to take the swelling down. It worked like a charm and within a few days, his face was normal. For the entire 2-week round of medication, Chance looked great.
About 3 days after coming off the round of antibiotics, his face blew up again and I took him to a different vet (his primary). He ran a few tests, x-rayed the area, and took tissue for a biopsy that was sent to Guelph (which came back non-cancer). He pulled a bunch of teeth in the area and then drained and scraped the area and packed it with medicine. Chance went back on a round of medication for two weeks.
About a week into the medication, his face swelled up again, but nothing too extreme. I took him back to the vet, who drained a great deal of pus from the area. He scraped right down to the jaw bone again and aside from a bit of bruising, one couldn't even tell Chance had an illness.
For a few weeks, Chance was great. No swelling, he was eating... everything was great. He was on long term medication to see if the infection would stay away, and it did. I thought we were out of the woods and I was safe to leave the country for a week while Chance was in the care of his vet.
On Friday, Chance began going downhill very rapidly. He stopped eating and drinking, and the vet was force feeding both food and water. His medication was changed to Baytril, but it did not seem to help. I picked him up from the vet yesterday and spent all night and this morning cuddling him. I tried feeding him myself, but he could not hold the liquid down.
This morning, he lost control of his hind legs. He took to dragging himself around and insisted on crawling onto my chest to lay his head over my heart. He was so tired. I called his vet this morning to see if he felt anything else could be done, and unfortunately, he felt that Chance was beyond help. Without taking half of his jaw, he couldn't be sure if there was an underlying tumor beneath the infection.. but he had his suspicions.
I had been waffling back and forth all morning, but hearing that made my decision for me. Chance was suffering, his quality of life was bad and I couldn't be so cruel as to keep him with me. I love him dearly, and I wanted to do what was best for him.
Chance came to me as a rescue - his previous home thought it was entertaining to hotbox his area and get him high on weed... and then laugh as he teetered around and fell off objects (like tables). He was picked up by a wonderful girl who is a dear friend of mine and transported to Edmonton where he could be placed under my care. He has been with me since June 2009 and adjusted very quickly from a timid creature into a playful, affectionate one. He wasn't scared of anything, and one of his favorite hobbies was to try and suicide jump out of his cage, hands, whatever happened to be containing him... in an effort to get to the floor and explore.
He will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, my brave little Chance.
