Rottweiler Health Foundation

Rottweiler Health Foundation Mission Statement

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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Winter 2008

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SHARED REAL STORIES

My Rottweiler 'Harley'
Dealing with Cancer (Nephroblastoma)

Submitted by Hhthecaterers@aol.com

Harley is a 11-month old Rottweiler pup. We got Harley from the S.P.C.A. -- when he was 5- months old, someone had left in the woods. He actually adopted me first. I was sitting in the chair and all 70 pounds of him jumped into my lap.

He had colitis and was put on EN. He was great everyday until about 6 weeks ago. He started limping a little bit. I took him to the vet and they thought he had a torn cartilage in his knee. Our vet sent us to another vet that had a surgeon there. They gave him medicine and told us to come back in two weeks. Apparently, they thought it was his hips because he was walking on his back knuckles. We called before the two weeks were up because Harley could barley stand, let alone walk. He had started dragging his back legs.

When we got there she gave us a referral to go to the University of Penn and we took him that night. The doctor said it could be from trauma, stroke, infection, cancer, or a couple of other things. They admitted him to the hospital. Two days later they did an MRI and found a mass on his spine. They following day they performed surgery to find the tumor in the core of the spine. They could not get much of it. When they sent it out they verified it was Cancer (Nephroblastoma) and he would probably need radiation. He spent one week in the hospital and is now home.

He has less use of his legs now then before but he is fighting to walk again. We have an appointment in Gaithersburg, MD, a consult about the radiation and to find out if they will take payment plans. I feel so bad for my baby but he still has good spirits and I will try everything I can do to help him.

He is so young I can't stop trying and at this point he shows no signs of pain. We are going to get him a cart for his rear limbs and a wagon for me to transport him to his doctors and take it one day at a time. The hardest part is this is a rare cancer and the Vets I have talked to don't know much about it. Hopefully he will be able to walk again and we will can have him around a few more years.




Do you have a REAL STORY to share about your Rottweiler? Please email your story, along with photos to the RHF Webmaster Your story may help others going through similar circumstances.