Timber's Page

Weight: 72
Breed: Labrador Retriever
Age when diagnosed: 3

Tumors:

At the beginning of February, 2007, Timber started limping a bit. She isn't the most coordinated dog, so we assumed it was a sprain from her jumping from the car or off of something.

After 3 or 4 days, she was still limping and the joint above her paw was starting to swell, so we made her an appointment with the vet. He suspected a puncture wound that had become infected. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory and a antibiotic.

The swelling started to go down and she started bearing weight on her paw again. But as soon as she was off the meds, the swelling came right back. Since she was due for her yearly shots, we pushed that appoinment up and had him recheck her. He kept her overnight for some xrays and a strong course of antibiotics.

The next morning came the call from the vet that turned our world upside down. He was right to the point--he told me, "I hate to have to tell you this, but Timber has cancer." I was in shock. My baby--only three years old couldn't possibly have cancer. She was too young--that only happened to older dogs.

He gave us our options, and suggested that amputation was the best option to give her a chance. After talking to two other vets here, we decided to go ahead with the surgery.

Timber had her leg amputation on February 21st, and so far is doing great. She is back to having a ton of energy and finally has an appetite back. We do know the reality of osteosarcoma, and we know that there is a chance it could appear elsewhere in her body. We will continue to take her in for regular checks to get xrays and bloodwork, but for now we will just love her and enjoy her.

After her surgery in February, Timber adjusted very well to having only three legs. She got her energy back and was back to the playful girl we used to have. We got to go to the beach and hang out with some of her Lab friends, and she would run and play with hardly any effort. It amazed people how well she had adapted, and you couldnt tell she had only three legs until she stopped running.

Our family went out of state for 4 days at the end of May, and we boarded Timber at our vet's office. When we picked her up, he mentioned that she hadnt wanted to eat much, and she was running a fever off and on the night before. She was due for a chest xray soon anyway, so I asked if he would go ahead and do one. The films showed us what we both knew already, the cancer had metastisized into her lungs and liver. The vet gave us a couple options we could pursue to make her comfortable, but we knew that her time was very limited.

We took Timber home and for a couple of weeks, she did well on a combination of an anti-inflamatory and antibiotic. Around the first week of June, Timber started running a fever, and when I got her into the vet, it had went up to 105.3. The vet gave her an injection and it brought the fever right down. He gave me three additional injections to take home and told me to give her Tylenol daily to keep the fever down, but if that didnt work, to give her an injection. That seemed to work and things were ok for a few days, until the morning of June 10th. While getting ready for church that morning, Timber started to cough. This wasnt all that alarming yet, as we knew it was part of the cancer spreading to her lungs. But this time there was blood.

The vet got her in ASAP, and by the time I got her there the blood had stopped. He let me know that anything we did from that point on would be to make US feel better. I talked with my husband, and we all sat and talked to Timber. She let us know it was ok to let her go, and n the afternoon of June the 13th, my husband and I brought her to her last visit to the vet. We cried and held each other and held her as we helped her to the bridge. She was our girl, and we will never forget what she brought to our lives.

Pictures