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To raise money to fund critical research into the genetic, communicable and acquired diseases that plague our beloved breed, the Rottweiler. |
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To raise money to fund critical research into the genetic, communicable and acquired diseases that plague our beloved breed, the Rottweiler. |
Our
Rottweiler Batista - Dealing with Lymphoma
submitted by Cherry Ludwig on February 16, 2011
I was looking for answers that I already knew about my Rottweiler, Batista, when I found your website.
Batista was a little over a year old when my husband and I and our then 3-year old son stopped in at a local animal shelter when we found him. My husband was the one that saw him first. We had the attendant get him out of his cage to interact with him and he was hilarious! He was so excited that he drug all of us around the yard.
So we took him home. He fit right in. He is the kind of dog that you never had to watch closely. We always took him walking, and never needed a leash. He loved to go on the boat and we took him often. Even though he didn't like to swim much he spend many many summer days at the lake with us.
On February 14, 2011, I sat in my usual place on the couch and Batista, whom is about 5 years old now, came to sit between my feet for his nightly loving. He was an amazing dog. He would roll his eyes up in his head and roll his head back and forth as you petted him. My husband and I used to joke about how we had to pet 'the kitty.' I swear he thought he was a house cat. It was that night that I found the huge bulging knots under his neck. I had noticed that he was not eating as much as usual and two days prior to that I was outside cleaning up the yard and noticed an odd looking bowel movement. It looked like small piles of tar. I did not think much of it, thinking maybe he had an upset belly and that it would pass.
The next day my husband took him to the vet because he just didn't act like himself. I sat at work wondering how things were going when the phone rang. It was my husband with the worst news i could have imagined. Even without having to do blood work, they diagnosed out baby with stage III lymphoma cancer. All of his lymph nodes were severely swollen, he had lost about 12 pounds, and is eyes were bloodshot.
The vet said we could do pricey chemo treatments and if they were successful, it would buy him about another year. We then had to make a tough decision. We are on day two of his prednisone treatment, and I fear dreadfully that he isn't going to make it about two weeks. His breathing is very labored and he doesn't even want to be loved on.
I now have the vet on standby. I will not allow him to suffer. We are losing the best dog we have ever had. He is our friend, our dog, our cat, our child, and our buddy. It's just not fair that he is such and active part of our home and family and that we aren't finished making memories with him, yet we have to say goodbye so soon.
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