My Olden Retriever

NC_Egghead

He is doing well.

He turned 13 at the end of July. Anyone who has ever had a Golden knows - they are just the best, most special animals. Duke has had a bit of a rough time this year. Around late March he started having days where he obviously didn't feel well at all; he was very lethargic and was just not himself. Multiple trips to the vet and he would seem to get better for a while. We spend a lot of time at our beach place during the Summer and he started having issues with his left eye. It was kinda gooky, for lack of a better, more technical explanation. We thought it was beach allergies and the vet gave us some drops which seemed to clear it up but then, a couple weeks later, the cycle would start again. He would occasionally have a day where it was obvious he wasn't feeling well but he seemed to be doing pretty well for an old man. Over the course of the summer he started to not eat. We didn't know if he was playing us or if he didn't like his food but it just wasn't like him. Over the Labor Day holiday, we were at the beach again and noticed his eye was not looking good. The drops were being administered but to no avail. Then, last Saturday he had another one of his bad days, it really worried me so I got him an appt with our vet again. He was back feeling better on Sunday but we were still off to the vet on Monday. Our vet took one look at him and recommended us to a veterinary opthamologist. I thought he was kidding; didn't know such a vet existed. Evidently they are not very common but lucky for us, he was about 2 minutes from our house. We scheduled an appt for Tuesday, the next day. The diagnosis was that Duke had glaucoma in this eye. My understanding is that it is from a tumor that forms in the eye and is extremely painful. Sort of like having a migraine headache all the time. His pressure in that eye was 60 where the other eye was around 12. So today he had his left eye removed. He was blind in it by now so it isn't going to affect his sight. We are having a biopsy on the eye to make sure the cancer was only in the eye. His prognosis is good. It all started to make sense to us about him not wanting to eat. It had to be very painful for him. He also slept a lot which is what I would do if my head was splitting open. It's incredible how these creatures communicate to us. They give us signs; we just have to be observant enough to understand them. Much like life in general! Here he is with his cone on, which he needs to wear for the next ten days so he doesn't tear out his sutures. He looks like he's been in a bar fight!

In honor of his bravely enduring his surgery, I toast him with this tonight.


Goldens are the best!

JohnnyTarheel

Hope this brings him some relief now..

NC_Egghead

Thanks Johnny. The vet said he would be a completely different dog in about 24 hours. He's already acting better. 

Lit

Happy ending. Good to hear. 

Hub

Outstanding in all respects! Dachshunds are actually the best dogs ever, but your guy is officially awarded a VERY close second!  I would fight to the death for my dog.  I'm betting you would do the same.

WeberWho

It sounds like he has some awesome owners!

bucky925

When we take them into our family they are just that....FAMILY.  Some people don't understand that, but our dogs have been better than most people anyway. 

NC_Egghead

Lit said:

Happy ending. Good to hear. 

Thanks!

NC_Egghead

Hub said:

Outstanding in all respects! Dachshunds are actually the best dogs ever, but your guy is officially awarded a VERY close second!  I would fight to the death for my dog.  I'm betting you would do the same.

You are correct sir!

NC_Egghead

WeberWho said:

It sounds like he has some awesome owners!

We try our best! Thanks!

NC_Egghead

bucky925 said:

When we take them into our family they are just that....FAMILY.  Some people don't understand that, but our dogs have been better than most people anyway. 

It's amazing how they work their way into our hearts; no matter how much they might misbehave at times!

Jeremiah

Dude I was nearly in tears reading this. So glad y'all are on the backside of this. We're definitely pulling for him!

lousubcap

Unconditional love from your dog.  Thanks for sharing.  You will come out of this better than him.  He knows no one else.  Thank you for sharing and I know he will receive the best care.  

NC_Egghead

Jeremiah said:

Dude I was nearly in tears reading this. So glad y'all are on the backside of this. We're definitely pulling for him!

Thanks @Jeremiah! We're glad his surgery is behind him and he's on the way to recovery. 

NC_Egghead

lousubcap said:

Unconditional love from your dog.  Thanks for sharing.  You will come out of this better than him.  He knows no one else.  Thank you for sharing and I know he will receive the best care.  

Thanks Lou! We all do what we can for our furry best friends. He is spoiled Rotten! Probably just like all the other dogs on this forum. 

Wolfpack

Best wishes for him- glad he's on the mend

bigirish

Glad to hear he's doing alright! We love our Golden too. They are the best! I hope the recovery continues to go well. 

NPHuskerFL

Made me smile. Glad Duke is recovering.

Wolfie51sb

Hoping all those rough days are behind him. Great looking dog!

Eggcelsior

Goldens are indeed the best. At least you know what to make him for Halloween. My golden died at 13, so hopefully you'll get a few great years!

EggInSTL

This guy turned 11 last week. He was our first kid and my 4 year old calls him his brother. I worry as he gets older. He is not a pet but a member of our family. Glad to here yours is doing better!

Botch

Here's a thread I almost didn't click on, just promised bad news.
Happily, it wasn't, entirely.  Here's to more happy years with your Best Buddy!  

NC_Egghead

Wolfpack said:

Best wishes for him- glad he's on the mend

Thanks @Wolfpack!

NC_Egghead

bigirish said:

Glad to hear he's doing alright! We love our Golden too. They are the best! I hope the recovery continues to go well. 

Thanks for the well wishes!

NC_Egghead

NPHuskerFL said:

Made me smile. Glad Duke is recovering.

Thanks @NPHuskerFL! He's doing well!

NC_Egghead

Wolfie51sb said:

Hoping all those rough days are behind him. Great looking dog!

Thanks! We are hoping the same. We're looking forward to him getting back to his "old" self..

Gulfcoastguy

Another one that almost didn't click on her. My first boxer, Trudy, had a brain tumor we believe. I has already had a few "warts" and a breast mass removed with a diagnosis of nonmalignant. Then the seizures hit. I had to give her phenobarbital to control the seizures which left her constantly stoned. One day after she had a 20 minutes seizure at my parents I told them to tell her bye. I couldn't go to work and leave her having seizures like that. She was tired and at 10 1/2 had reached the typical lifespan of her breed. After a year I added Waldo the male boxer to the household. He's in the kitchen barking at his pan because it only contains dog food. Life goes on.

NC_Egghead

Eggcelsior said:

Goldens are indeed the best. At least you know what to make him for Halloween. My golden died at 13, so hopefully you'll get a few great years!

I think he wants to be a pirate! You had many good years with your dog. At 13, we know we're pushing his upper limits but we certainly didn't want him to be in pain. Our breeder has a reputation for longevity with her dogs but with that, it brings on other issues like arthritis (which he's also suffering from). 

NC_Egghead

EggInSTL said:

This guy turned 11 last week. He was our first kid and my 4 year old calls him his brother. I worry as he gets older. He is not a pet but a member of our family. Glad to here yours is doing better!

Good looking Golden! Ours loves ice cubes. He used to come running and sliding to a halt on the hardwoods in the kitchen when he heard the ice machine dispensing. He can't hear anymore but when he sees us getting ice, he's there. We call our son his brother too! Enjoy him!

NC_Egghead

Botch said:

Here's a thread I almost didn't click on, just promised bad news.
Happily, it wasn't, entirely.  Here's to more happy years with your Best Buddy!  

I'm glad you checked it out too!

NC_Egghead

Gulfcoastguy said:

Another one that almost didn't click on her. My first boxer, Trudy, had a brain tumor we believe. I has already had a few "warts" and a breast mass removed with a diagnosis of nonmalignant. Then the seizures hit. I had to give her phenobarbital to control the seizures which left her constantly stoned. One day after she had a 20 minutes seizure at my parents I told them to tell her bye. I couldn't go to work and leave her having seizures like that. She was tired and at 10 1/2 had reached the typical lifespan of her breed. After a year I added Waldo the male boxer to the household. He's in the kitchen barking at his pan because it only contains dog food. Life goes on.

We have friends and family that have had multiple boxers and they love them. They are also great dogs but they seem to have longevity issues (at least our friends and family 4 dogs). If yours made it to 10 1/2, that's outstanding! Sounds like Waldo has you wrapped!