Meet Vinny

On March 30th '09 our 21 month old Puggle, whom we call Vinny, was diagnosed with cancer. I've started this blog to document his fight with this disease. I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but I feel this terrible ordeal needs to be documented and shared. Hopefully some good can come of it.
The picture on the left was taken right after we adopted him.

The Story So Far
My name is Dan. My wife, Paige, and I adopted Vinny from a family on Craigslist in July of '08. He's was almost exactly 1 year old at the time. We quickly fell in love him. This was our first dog so Vinny was, and still is, spoiled, adored and loved. We quickly learned that Vinny is kind, loyal, and wants nothing more than to be around us, go on walks, and play at the dog park.

After a few months of adopting him, we notice a small bump on hind ankle. It turned out to be a benign histiocytoma , but we found out how even a small surgery can very expensive. We bought pet insurance right after that. We can't say enough how important it is to get insurance for your pet. It's very affordable and well worth it. We use VPI and so far have no complaints.

The Cancer
Sometime around March 18th '09, We started to notice Vinny's lack of energy on our walks, and at the dog park. We didn't think much of it and figured maybe he was getting bored of the park and getting a little older. Other puggle owners have told us about how they can get very lazy at around 2-3 years, so we assumed it was starting to kick in with Vinny.

By the 22nd, when knew something was wrong. His appetite has cut in half and he started to look sick. He's wasn't vomiting or anything but just looked tired and acted very lethargic. We also noticed his gums were bleeding and his breath was awful. The next day we took him into our vet. The initial diagnosis was he had gotten an infection in his mouth that had moved to his throat. The vet did not rule 0ut lymphoma, but said it was it very unusual for a dog as young as him to get it. We were sent home with antibiotics and small syringe to help wash out his mouth.

After 4-5 days, he hadn't gotten any better. We returned to the vet and found that he had a fever and we sent some blood out for testing. The following day, his blood work returned with some bad news. His white blood cell count was through the roof. We returned to the vet and was prescribed another antibiotic called Baytrill. That night Vinny started to have breathing problems. He sounded like he was snoring even while awake and his cheeks would puff in and out when he breathed.

At this point, it's probably a good idea to mention that in a few days Paige and I were leaving for Europe to visit family. We had hoped Vinny would be better by the time we left, but it wasn't looking good. On Monday March 30th we called our vet in the morning to ask about Vinny's breathing problem and she told us Vinny probably has cancer. It was most likely lymphoma or leukemia. We were devastated. The past week has been very difficult.

We canceled our trip and scheduled an appointment with an oncologist named Dr. Phillips who we were referred to by our vet. The appointment went well. It was very informative and sobering. We learned that Vinny most likely has lymphoma, which is very treatable and if successful could add another year or two to Vinny's life. Most importantly he would be healthy during remission. There is a chance he could have Leukemia, in which case he would probably only have a few weeks left. We find out which type of cancer it is next week.

Chemotherapy and testing started that day. We picked him up around 6pm and were sent home with 4 types of drugs, a high protein food, Gerber baby meat sticks(more on those later), an IV type bag for hydrating, and large plastic syringes for feeding Vinny if he isn't eating on his own. Just that day cost us almost $2000 which had to put on a credit card. With our pet insurance, you have to pay upfront and they reimburse you. Our oncologist was also nice enough to help us fill out our travel insurance form so we can hopefully get that money back.

Since the chemo, Vinny has improved a little bit. He more interested in food, but we've had to force feed him with the big syringe two nights in a row. His energy level is little better and the breathing problem is still there, but way better than before. The night after the chemo, his breathing started to sound really bad. It was very hard to sleep that night. Paige described it as a death rattle.

That's pretty much it so far. Vinny is improving, but very slowly. He's lost about 4 pounds and isn't looking all that great, but we can tell he is fighting. We will try to keep this updated as things happen. Please think positive thoughts for Vinny. If there is one thing for certain it's that Vinny does not deserve this fate. My only hope is that he can feel better once again. Play at the park at least more time. Fall asleep on the couch with me. Stick his head out the window when we take a drive. Enjoy a healthy long walk with us. Just one more time. He deserves that.