Riko

We found out the results from the vet concerning my mom's 7 year old Rottweiler, Riko. They did a biopsy last week to find out for sure what kind of cancer he has and how aggressive it is. We had been praying that it wasn't the worst case scenario, but unfortunately that's not how things have turned out. It is, in fact, osteosarcoma which is the worst and most aggressive form of bone cancer in dogs.

Really, there are no options at this point. They can do chemo, which my mom cannot afford and even if she could, there's still no likelihood of it doing much to help. It will only delay the inevitable and with as fast as this cancer takes over, the financial cost wouldn't be worth it as it can give him anywhere from a month up to a year. They cannot even guess if it would help at all. The other idea was amputation which is slightly less expensive than chemo, but essentially would yield the same results. It would extend his life anywhere from a month to maybe 6-9 months tops at best. His bones will become too brittle and break and he'd be practically immobile. For a dog his size, he needs his limbs to offset his weight and he'd be in a great deal of pain if he ended up with broken limbs or even just the stress of his extra weight on only three legs. Even without doing anything to treat it, they find it highly unlikely he'd last more than a month. They think that he's had it since around Thanksgiving, so this has all developed really quickly.

So my mom, after talking with family, friends, and the vet, has come to the consensus that the best thing for both of them is to put him to sleep (physically for Riko and financially for my mom). It's a very hard decision for the family, mostly for my mom, because in my family we think of our pets as family and as anyone should know well... it's not easy to say goodbye to a loved one whether on two legs or four. It's been hard for me to grasp the thought of euthanizing. I understand that it's the most humane thing to do for Riko's sake knowing that he's in a great deal of pain and his quality of life has declined so much, but this isn't a thought that you routinely come across with a human. If a human has cancer, you can amputate and you can do chemo, but you can't just euthanize. You can't just kill a person...it's illegal. So for me, there's a sense of wrong that goes with this decision even though I know it's what's best. Ideally, we'd let the cancer take it's course, but no one wants to see him in any more pain, my mom cannot handle the emotional aspects, and she cannot care for him during the day because she works. There is no doggie hospice...no guarantee that he would have anyone with him or any comfort from his "family" in his final moments. At least this way we can be with him to say goodbye and he will have some comfort from having us there.

Please pray for my mom, and even for me, for strength and healing. We don't know yet when it will happen although it could be as early as tomorrow evening. My mom, aunt, and I will all be with Riko when it happens. He will be in the comfort of my mom's home and the procedure itself (we've been told) isn't painful. He'll just feel at peace and "go to sleep". I hope that I have enough clarity and focus to be able to grieve appropriately and comfort my mother. I'm scared for her... I don't know how much more death and grief she can handle from watching those she cares for and loves pass away.

Thank you...