Tonight was a good reminder why you always want your vet to perform a complete exam even if you are just presenting your pet for an ear infection. ( believe it or not sometimes people get mad when we try to examine the whole instead of just the thing they were brought in for) I examined a pet tonight for a recheck and relapse of an ear infection treated last month at one of the local specialty hospitals on emergency. After examining the ear and confirming an infection, I proceeded to examine the whole dog. When I felt the tummy, I discovered a golf ball sized mass in the spleen. We did an immediate ultrasound ( after hours) and discovered that there was cancer in the spleen and the liver. In addition, we discovered that the ear infection was in fact also caused by a cancer in the middle ear and not a run of the mill infection. Metastatic cancer was the diagnosis. If we had just sent home medicine for the ear or refilled the meds, this pet would have lived in pain and discomfort for the remaining few weeks of his life. Thankfully Dad brought him in to be examined. We were all very sad to have to say goodbye to this beloved pet of 17 years, but we were grateful that he didnt have to suffer in the end. Dad was grateful for a peaceful closure rather than continued suffering or a traumatic agonal end of life event at home. The family came to say goodbye and he passed peacefully on his journey to the Rainbow Bridge. Rest in Peace. They dont always have happy endings - our profession is not always happy days- and people ask all the time how we handle having to put pets to sleep- doesnt it make is sad? Yes it makes us sad but it is also a feeling of gratefulness that we are able to help alleviate suffering and let pets pass when it is their time rather than forcing them to live out the lives in pain or face a tragic demise. We need to be thinking about quality of life not quantity of life.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 07:46:11 +0000
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