Dash BTW is doing well. For pain management he is on Gabapentin three times a day and Carprofen twice a day. Plus I have him on some homepathic stuff. His limp is gone even during times when the pain meds wear off and I was able to take him to the hunting lease with me for few days. He can jump up on things again, but we do our best not to let him. He is eating well and gained his weight back. Note he tricked me more than once by holding his pill in his mouth walking off and spitting it out in another room or outside. I could tell because he will not eat if he is off his meds. After finding the pills, I am more careful to make sure he swallowed them now. There was one bad night a few days ago where he woke me up distressed. He sleeps with his head next to mine or with a paw planted on the middle of my chest. I think he likes to feel my heartbeat. He woke me up panting hard, faster than normal heart rate, and I found his temp over 105, close to 106. I stayed up with him all night, wiped him down with a wet rag to cool him down, wet his feet and ears, cool water to drink, and extra meds and aspirin, plus overnighted a new thermometer to make sure mine was right. It was. I thought it was the beginning of the end, but his temp was back to nomal by late morning and has not spiked again since, so that was an odd one time night and not sure what was going on with him. If he is laying on the floor on his side, you can now see and feel the tumor. It is growing and getting harder. Otherwise on pain management he presents pretty much like any other 10 year old dog, with me most of 24/7, and being spoiled rotten. We do know this good time is short and his tumor will catch up to him soon. I do feel blessed to have this time.

It’s tough when you know they are living on borrowed time.

Have you tried Dermaxx instead of gabepentin?? Worked well on my lab for years and not as hard on the liver and kidneys....Just a thought...

No and no reason to. He has no joint issues or arthritis. The Gabapentin is for neuropathic cancer pain. The med combination he is on is for end of the road pain management to keep him comfortable and to keep him eating. Tumor is probably larger than a grapefruit, has displaced organs, and believed to be metastasized to his liver already. No more blood work will be done. Best guess prediction was two weeks to two months, but it is looking like he will beat that timeline. He probably has days to weeks before we let him go. Definitely not years. Duramax and Carprofen(aka Rimadyl) are both NSAIDs. The Gabapentin/Carprofen combination is working great, working a miracle really, and I have room to raise the carprofen dose if I think he needs it, so there is no benefit to change the NSAID to anything else. But I do appreciate the suggestion.

I'm sorry about Dash. We lost our old Brittany, Dixie, a few weeks ago. Like you, we knew it was coming and I prefer it that way. Gave us plenty of time to spoil her (even more). I plan on spreading her ashes in the exact spot where she pointed her last covey several years ago.

You know Dash has had one heck of a life! I know it doesn't make it any better at the time, but does get you to eventually look back at all the good times with a smile.

Sorry for your loss Larry.