oscarsjourney1

Hello fellow fur parents; here we are in a situation no one thinks they will ever be in.  First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your positive and encouraging posts; especially atlasmom with your statement:  “absolutely no regrets”.   The compassion and support of this site is amazing!   So Oscar and I are going to tell our story in diary form as so many of you do and I hope we also are able to help people who find themselves in this awful place.  Here’s our story………

Oscar is an english mastiff; he came home with me when he was 10 weeks old; he was a little older because people had put money down on “the biggest puppy in the litter” but they never came back to get him.  I wasn’t planning on getting another dog, already had a couple:  Ben was an 8 year old chocolate lab and Gus was an english mastiff-about 7 or 8 months old.  As Gus got bigger, he became too much for my lab so I decided another dog as big as Gus was called for.  Called the ad in the paper and as it turned out, it was the same breeder that Gus came from–didn’t recognize the area code.  So Gus and Oscar are truly brothers–10 months apart.

We went along for the next 6 years;  Oscar was very healthy; only issue I had with him was he growled at his brother.  Usually it was some kind of dominance thing.

He has always slept  “frog legged”, never grew out of it.  I became concerned this past winter when his back legs were still wacky and backward.  Was finally able to get them x-rayed in April and he was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia and significant arthritis in both hips.  He was put on Rimadyl 2x per day, Dasuquin (a supplement-glucosamine type) and Welactin (a concentrated fish oil).  On the advice of a friend, I also started going to a woman who prescribes herb and supplements and provides accupressure.  He was given Dr. Harvy’s comfort flex as well as some dandolion and milk thistle.  She did one short session of accupressure and said his spine felt tight.  THEN THE EVENING OF MONDAY June 24;   HE STARTED LIMPING AND HOLDING HIS RIGHT FRONT LEG UP A LITTLE.

To be continued…

Author: oscarsmom1

I'm a retired nurse; plan on going back to work--need more money. Have many hobbies and interests: knitting, needlepoint, sewing, gardening, refinish wood, cross stitch. Addicted to Pinterest. Also part of an animal rescue group-animals that are in shelters where they are euthanized are transported here to Wisconsin or Minnesota. Have 2 english mastiff's. Oscar just turned 6 in march; already has hip dysplasia and arthritis and just started limping a couple of weeks ago. He has osteosarcoma in his right front leg. I was totally against amputation, thought it was cruel etc but it looks like it's the only way to take away his pain. The vet told me about this site and I need to decide tonight what to do. View all posts by oscarsmom1