My darling boy

This is probably the hardest post to make. I’ve been absent for a long time on the site, but I have been enjoying life with my boy. People on this site were so very supportive of us when Gandalf lost his leg, and I truly appreciate each and every person who made the effort to give me advice and assistance. But now I have to write…

Gandalf the Brave passed away on 31/12/13, New Years Eve. He was with me, his dad John, and his best friend Winnie, as well as the most caring vet and nurse.

Last year, in late November, I almost ran over a dog. She happily came with me, this unmarked, no-microchip pup. Noone claimed her. Gandalf loved her, played with her. So she stayed. Winifred Lilliput Ratabago Castleton (aka Winnie, long name for a little lost dog) gave Gandalf a boost in attitude and company.

However. For the past while, I have noticed that Gandalf was walking slightly differently, but he was not showing signs of pain, and was enjoying swimming as usual. It was just a feeling.

On Sunday (29th Dec), he went swimming and had a lovely time. He came home and threw up his breakfast. He wasn’t unhappy, but just in case I gave him some pain relief, thinking perhaps he was in pain. He refused dinner. We were away from home, and we decided to go home–about a 2 day trip. He didn’t want his breakfast in the morning, so we went to the local vet, who thought he was ok. He was drinking water.

I thought he was going down. Very flat. He was ok in the car (he loves the car), but didn’t want to walk about much. Still drinking water.

Tuesday morning (31st) we stopped and went to a local vet who gave him pain relief. I had spoken to my vet, who thought it sounded like a pancreatitis.

My wonderful vets stayed open for me, and by the time we got there, there was obvious fluid in Gandalf’s abdomen. We did an ultrasound of his abdomen and found he had tumours on his spleen and something else lower down. The vet took a sample of the fluid, and found that it contained mainly cancer cells. I was with him the whole time.

I then had to make a choice. The advice was that the presence of the cells suggested a tumour in the intestines. Major surgery would be required, he would have to have his spleen removed, and the outcomes for removing parts of intestines is not good.

It was suggested that exploratory surgery could be tried, and if what was found was bad, then we could let him go while he was under anaesthetic.

The positive could have been that he could have surgery and survive. However, given the presence of the cells, the vet said that he was 95% certain that the outcome would not be good. In his experience, just focussing on the spleen tumours, 4/5 are malignant.

In any event,even in the very best case scenario, Gandalf would have to recover from major surgery, and probably not a very long time. I couldn’t do that to Gandalf. His front paws have been sore, and I know he has been getting slower.

I decided to let him go. He looked up at me, and I reassured him.

I love my boy more than I can express. He has been the most loyal and wonderful companion. I have been so lucky and priviledged to have been able to look after him. There is nothing I would not have done for him.