

Thankfully they quickly rectified the situation so I didn't need to take any action:


Thanks so much everyone for your positive thoughts and messages. The good news is we still have some time with her yet I hope, just not sure for how long. It’s sad that as Lab owners we see so much cancer in our beloved breed, as many of you know first-hand (esp Jane at present). We have been dealing with this problem since May so we were always aware that our time may have been somewhat limited, but it was still a shock a fortnight ago when we took her to our Vet and we talked about things and the fact that it had gotten so much bigger despite the ancillary therapy we were trying. Then a week ago she started tramadol pain killers which was another shock as we were not expecting it so soon.
I wanted to write a quick update on Bindi for a number of reasons. Partly because we do lots to celebrate the great times but people need to know that running and rescue and adopting a rescue isn't always roses. Most of you probably know much of Lizzies story from the forum but just a quick recap if you aren't familiar. Lizzie approached me about adopting a dog after losing her much loved labbie Chloe to Lymphoma. Lizzie was honest with me - they weren't broke but they weren't made of money and they still had some work to do paying for Chloes expensive treatment. I understood what she was telling me and all of you who know me would know that we don't knowingly rehome dogs with problems - health or bahvaioural - anything we are aware of or concerned about is disclosed to adoptive families. All of the labbies have some quirks, some of them I just worry about their hip or shoulder or something else but we alway discuss this with people and recommend an independant vet assessment. Bindi was surrendered by caring people but sadly she was grossly overweight. About two months or so into her new life Bindi developed a mass on the inside of her knee. Before going to Lizzie, Bindi had also had a heamatoma of unknown origin - either from playing rough with one of the others or the vet suggested it would be rare but they may have hit a blood vessel when she was vaccinated. The immediate thought was that this was another heamatoma and the vet suggestion was that she had rat bait poisoning and needed coag studies and the like. There was no possible way Bindi got bait here and Lizzie assured me there was no way she had gotten it at her place. That would mean she was ATLEAST 8 weeks or more from getting to the bait. I told Lizzie I wanted David to see her given we thought it was probably linked to the original haematoma. No such luck, there was nothing in the new mass so surgery revealed a huge lipoma that had infiltrated her muscles. The lump was sent off to pathology, Bindi returned home and Lizzie had to deal with some complications from the surgery. I offered to take Bindi back into care but in line with the kind of people Lizzie and Ben are and the fact that they had fallen in love with her they were keen to keep her - fat leg and all. I shrugged it off a bit - sure Bindi would have a fat leg but she was such a fantastic dog and a Lipoma was nothing to worry about - they are slow growing and as is often the case we are all just trying to do our best to make up for the crappy care Bindi has had for the early part of her life. Well all fool me - we are six or so months on, Bindis tumour has grown 30-40% and Lizzie and Ben could be looking at saying goodbye to another sensational dog within six months or so! All avenues have been exhausted - the tumour has gone too far to amputate her leg and Lizzie and Ben are at the mercy of the tumour and how much pain Bindi is in. When her pain can no longer be managed and/or her quality of life is severely impaired the only thing left to do is to humanely euthanase Bindi. Bindi is at a fantastic weight and Lizzie is seeing a herbal vet as well as the conventional kind. Just when Bindi is getting the care she needs and living the life she deserves it is all about to be taken from her.
Really though the purpose of this post was to mention a fantastic couple we have come across in our search to find a solution for Bindi. I contacted George and Sue from K9 Health Support. They have been truly wonderful to us and provided a significant discount on some amazing products which we hope will help Bindi. George and Sue are in WA and their experience is based on their own dogs struggle with cancer. Given labs are so prone to cancers I thought it would be a great resource to share. The research is sound, the people are genuine and we are hopeful that toegther this will help Bindi live the long and happy life she deserves. For anyone keen to visit their site you can find them here. They were originally recommended by Bindis Herbal Vet. I am sure for anyone interested Lizzie will be able to tell you a little more about what Bindi is on and why but for now perhaps you can all do for Bindi what you did for Max - send lots of positive/healing vibes her way!
Miss Kula on a bed and doing a spot of product testing for the Pet expo - I think she approves of her Rogz rubber bone even if she does look a little goofy!



The delightful Ruby - her eye looks fantastic thanks to Simon and Kirsten!


Pork chop Maya and Ruby had a chuckle about something!

Maya in full flight - fitter, leaner and healthier than ever before!


Butter would not melt in this boys mouth! How cute is he?


The





I plonked her on the driveway and she failed to move - not a muscle. I struggled to get her back in the car and we headed to the vet. At this point I thought she had something broken from her time in the drain and couldn't move. The vet couldn't find anyhting physically wrong with her and she was given some valium. We headed home and about my only option was to put her in the yard and hope fo the best! Best thing I ever did - Lily was up and moving when she saw Princess Georgia and Maxwell James. I still couldn't get near her but at least she was moving of her on accord.


A few weeks later she was showing more interest in interacting with me but was still a long way off being a "normal" lab. Max was always a master at fetch and here was the three of them one sunny morning.



Back at home she was still glued to the black dog.....

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Two years with us and her confidence was building.....


She still did nutty things - I would get home and find her fast asleep in the rain rather than on a bed or under cover!

Whether she is at the river or the beach there is no long line in sight any more!



The big white mutt - a little chunkier these days, a little more relaxed but still as silly as ever!
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Forget the wet grass the lounge works just fine these days!
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To view entries from before December 2010 please click here.




