# Got bad news this weekend...



## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

My dad took Oreo (my parents' dog) to the vet on Friday for an annual shot. For some reason it was not with or regualar vet. My dad mentioned that Oreo had been couching and hacking so much lately that she makes herself through up. Oreo will be 14 in January and has done the hacking and coughing for an long as I can remember. She does it maybe once every month or two. The through up is not as common but has happened in the past. We always thought this was because she ate some grass when she was outside. The vet said that hacking, coughing and throughing up are signs of a heart murmur and that the hacking and coughing are probably due to difficulty breathing. 

The vet also found a large lump on her side that he said was a tumor. He was suprised that we had not noticed it. He also said Oreo has lost 15 pounds since May. I had noticed she looked a little skinnier but I only see her once a month or so. I thought that I was wrong. Oh, and she also needs her teeth cleaned because she has a lot of tartar build up.

My mom is not sure what they are going to do. Oreo is so old that she might not survive the surgery or even the teeth cleaning. I told her to call Oreo's regular vet and ask to meet with her to discuss the options. 

Oreo also has arthitus. She loosing her sight or hearing.


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## Maxismom (Mar 24, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 8 2004, 04:11 PM
> *My dad took Oreo (my parents' dog) to the vet on Friday for an annual shot.  For some reason it was not with or regualar vet.  My dad mentioned that Oreo had been couching and hacking so much lately that she makes herself through up.  Oreo will be 14 in January and has done the hacking and coughing for an long as I can remember.  She does it maybe once every month or two.  The through up is not as common but has happened in the past.  We always thought this was because she ate some grass when she was outside.  The vet said that hacking, coughing and throughing up are signs of a heart murmur and that the hacking and coughing are probably due to difficulty breathing.
> 
> The vet also found a large lump on her side that he said was a tumor.  He was suprised that we had not noticed it.  He also said Oreo has lost 15 pounds since May.  I had noticed she looked a little skinnier but I only see her once a month or so.  I thought that I was wrong.  Oh, and she also needs her teeth cleaned because she has a lot of tartar build up.
> ...


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how sad i would speak to her regular vet before any decisons r made
what breed is oreo


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Here are some pictures of Oreo:
Oreo's Dogster Page

I have more in my online photo album (see link in my signature).


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Maxismom_@Nov 8 2004, 03:17 PM
> *how sad i would speak to her regular vet before any decisons r made
> what breed is oreo
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=15438*


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Oreo is a black lab mix. We got her at the pound. Not sure what else is in the mix. Her mom looked like Spud McKenzy (sp?) and her sister was just plain white.


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## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 8 2004, 04:11 PM
> *My dad took Oreo (my parents' dog) to the vet on Friday for an annual shot.  For some reason it was not with or regualar vet.  My dad mentioned that Oreo had been couching and hacking so much lately that she makes herself through up.  Oreo will be 14 in January and has done the hacking and coughing for an long as I can remember.  She does it maybe once every month or two.  The through up is not as common but has happened in the past.  We always thought this was because she ate some grass when she was outside.  The vet said that hacking, coughing and throughing up are signs of a heart murmur and that the hacking and coughing are probably due to difficulty breathing.
> 
> The vet also found a large lump on her side that he said was a tumor.  He was suprised that we had not noticed it.  He also said Oreo has lost 15 pounds since May.  I had noticed she looked a little skinnier but I only see her once a month or so.  I thought that I was wrong.  Oh, and she also needs her teeth cleaned because she has a lot of tartar build up.
> ...


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I know they must feel awful! When my Sandi cat got so sick, I knew she was losing some weight, but I felt awful when the vet told me how much she had lost!  I felt like such a bad mommy...but my other cats were so big and fat, and she was a smaller, more dainty cat anyway-that I didn't realize how bad she had gotten weight wise. That is an awful feeling. 

We are thinking about you all and sending you lots of Brinkley love...








Let us know how it goes!


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## ButterCloudandNoriko (Aug 26, 2004)

Awwww. I'm so sorry to hear. Much love for you guys!


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Thanks, guys. 

Oreo is getting older so I knew that eventually we might have to make some hard decisions but we were just shocked to find out about the heart murmur and the tumor. The vet showed my dad and then my dad showed my mom. She said it is pretty big.

I forgot to mention that my mom said Oreo has not been eating much for the past 5 days. The only thing she will eat consitently is treats.







I told my mom to try some boiled chicken or anything with gravy. She had some leftover beefstew and was going to heated that up and mixed in some of the dry dog food. Oreo licked up the gravy but didn't touch the meet, doog food or vegatables.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Thanks, Nichole. I just emailed your reply to my mom. Hopefully she will be able to talk to the vet about it. 

Oreo has already been through so much. About 6 or 7 years ago she got really sick. She stopped eating for 2-3 weeks. There were 5 people in the house and no one was really assigned the job of feeding the dog. When ever the dish was low we would fill it up. So it took us a little while to figure out she wasn't eating. The vet we were going to would only let us feed her boiled hamburger and boiled rice. Problem was she wouldn't eat it. After another week of being in and out of the vets office and on and off IVs the vet said that we had 2 options. We could either but Oreo to sleep or they could do exploritory surgery. We asked them if they knew what they would be looking for and they said no. We decided to go for a 2nd opinion and the vet told us she was really hurt. Excuse me, YOU WANT TO PUT MY DOG TO SLEEP!!!









It was a Friday when we did this and our current vet worked us in. Right away she thought Oreo had Addison's disease. Problem was the test results would not be in until Mon/Tues and by then Oreo would probably be dead. So she started Oreo on the meds anyway because it wouldn't hurt her if she didn't have Addison's. The vet told us to get food into Oreo. It didn't matter what it was as long as she would eat it. PB, cheese, beef, chicken, bread, etc. Anything. She also gave us some liquid stuff that we had to had to "shoot" into Oreo's mouth using a large syringe. She also called us Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. Turned out Oreo did not have Addison's but for some reason the meds worked though. She started to eat and within a couple of weeks she was back to normal. The vet or someone from her office called my mom every week for a month to make sure Oreo was doing ok.


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## mylittlebella (Aug 20, 2004)

I'm so sorry to hear about Oreo. Please keep us posted and I'll be thinking of you!


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

this sounds tooooooooooo familar...







I went through a similar situation in Feb of this year. Our older dog Scooter had a tumor too.. his was in his nose... so when it got even larger it became a big lump over his eye... it was so upsetting to see. Scooter's symptoms of his tumor was sneezing A LOT, with snot flying out of his nose and sometimes with blood in it. We took him to the doctor when the blood would come out and the vet said its allegeries... (this was before the tumor enlarged big enough to be seen).. The tumor was tested and it was cancerous... Is Oreo's cancerous? Scooter also lost weight... and he kept losing it.. Oreo and your family will be in Kodie and my thoughts... We both still miss Scooter so much







Its really hard...


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

Awww, it must be so sad for you guys seeing Oreo go through everything.








Our thoughts are with you guys and oreo.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Kodie_@Nov 8 2004, 07:40 PM
> *Is Oreo's cancerous?  Scooter also lost weight... and he kept losing it..  Oreo and your family will be in Kodie and my thoughts...  We both still miss Scooter so much
> 
> 
> ...


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Right now we don't know if it is cancer or not. They said that they could do a biopsy or there is some geriatric blood test they can do. My mom is thinking of the having them do the blood test but it is pretty expenisive. She left a message at the vet's yesterday for the vet to call her back and let her know what she recommends.

My mom said that Oreo has started to eat again.


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 9 2004, 08:19 AM
> *My mom said that Oreo has started to eat again.
> 
> 
> ...


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GREAT!!


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 9 2004, 09:19 AM
> *Right now we don't know if it is cancer or not.  They said that they could do a biopsy or there is some geriatric blood test they can do.  My mom is thinking of the having them do the blood test but it is pretty expenisive.  She left a message at the vet's yesterday for the vet to call her back and let her know what she recommends.
> 
> My mom said that Oreo has started to eat again.
> ...


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They only did a biopsy on Scooter's tumor while they seduated him. If you said Oreo wont make surgery then the blood test is the only way. Let me know how everything goes! My heart goes out to you. I know this is not conforting in the least bit but you said Oreo is 14yrs old? Scooter didnt even make it that far... he was only 10







I dunno if your willing to do any operations but since the tumor is on his side... maybe they could remove it! They couldnt remove Scooters... it was too far up in his nose cavity. Kodie and I send our love!


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

This is going to sound bad but my parents are worried about spending $1000 on surgery only to have Oreo not make it or only give her a few extra weeks. Right now she isn't in pain but she has a hard time going up and down the stairs because of her arthitus. She is also having a hard time seeing. I think she can only see a few feet in front of her. When I was leaving last weekend I tried to call her over to me and she couldn't hear me or see me. I was less then 10 feet away! I had to go over to her. When I got close enough to her that she could see me she got excited.

Another concern my parents are having is that they don't really have the money to spend on a lot of test and treatments. My brother is getting married in 8 months, so we have a lot of expenses coming up.


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## nataliecmu (Aug 12, 2004)

Oh, so sorry to hear about that. I hope everything works out. Keep us posted.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## ButterCloudandNoriko (Aug 26, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 9 2004, 08:51 AM
> *This is going to sound bad but my parents are worried about spending $1000 on surgery only to have Oreo not make it or only give her a few extra weeks.  Right now she isn't in pain but she has a hard time going up and down the stairs because of her arthitus.  She is also having a hard time seeing.  I think she can only see a few feet in front of her.  When I was leaving last weekend I tried to call her over to me and she couldn't hear me or see me.  I was less then 10 feet away!  I had to go over to her.  When I got close enough to her that she could see me she got excited.
> 
> Another concern my parents are having is that they don't really have the money to spend on a lot of test and treatments.  My brother is getting married in 8 months, so we have a lot of expenses coming up.
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=15537*


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I'm sure the vet will give you the best advice as possible to help figure out what they should do. Take care. MANY




























and XOXOXOXO's to Oreo.


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## mylittlebella (Aug 20, 2004)

I totally understand about the money thing. It's just so expensive and some times it's not even worth it. So sorry to hear this but we're all with you and your family.


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## pico's parent (Apr 5, 2004)

Lexi's Mom, I am so sorry to hear about Oreo. But you must consider that he is well into his 80's in human years (I have a chart in the other room but Pico is weighing me down right now) We faced a similar situation with our lab mix, Gertie. It is the most difficult dilemma to face with a beloved friend.

We had to weigh Gertie's quality of life against our own heart's selfish desire to have her with us as long as possible. She was senile (she'd step her front paws into her sleeping basket and just stop, facing the wall until we noticed and helped her finish what she was doing and lay down), she had arthritis which made it difficult to get up and move around. Sometimes she would just fall down and we'd have to pick her up to get her into bed. The tears are starting as I write this, I miss her so much still She was the sweetest dog.

There was just nothing medically we could do for her but love her until things got so bad for her that we couldn't put it off any longer. My husband saw his friends dog die in a pretty awful way because the owner felt he should "die naturally" and not be put to sleep. The dog pooped where he lay and just had a miserable existence. We each have to make that decision in our own way according to our own situation.

I wish you all well in whatever you decide must be done.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

One of my favorite vets gave me wonderful advice about "final expenses". He said that so many people spend thousands of dollars towards the end of their pet's life and not really change the outcome. He said the best thing to do was to look at your family finances and only spend what you can comfortably afford. 

I'm sure Oreo isn't the best candidate for surgery anyway as the risk from anesthesia is much greater with an older animal.

I completely understand your mother's thinking.


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## nataliecmu (Aug 12, 2004)

It is very understandable. My family had to make the decision to put down Muffin 2 years ago, and it was just heart breaking. She was scheduled for Monday, but ended up dying at my parents house the Friday night before. What she might want to consider is having Oreo creamated... that way if they move they don't have to feel like they are abandoning the dog (this was my mom's reasoning).


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

I just found out that Oreo is going in tomorrow for a biopsy. They will not have to put her out for it. I'll let you know what we find out.


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 10 2004, 03:16 PM
> *I just found out that Oreo is going in tomorrow for a biopsy.  They will not have to put her out for it.  I'll let you know what we find out.
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=15837*


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aww, okay thanks for the update


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

My mom just emailed be back and said they are going to use a local anesthesia, so she will be awake while they do the biopsy. This way it is not as hard on her. 

The whole thing will cost less than $100, so my mom decided after talking to the vet to find out if it is cancer or not.


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

Let us know how it goes!


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## snoopychan (Nov 9, 2004)

Lexis Mom~
I'm sorry to hear about Oreo







I hope everything works out for the best!! You guys have my support & are in my thoughts! I know the best thing for her will be done!!


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 10 2004, 03:38 PM
> *My mom just emailed be back and said they are going to use a local anesthesia, so she will be awake while they do the biopsy.  This way it is not as hard on her.
> 
> The whole thing will cost less than $100, so my mom decided after talking to the vet to find out if it is cancer or not.
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=15845*


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Oh good that will be a lot easier on her.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

My mom just called me. She is on her way to pick up Oreo. They discover that she had 2 lumps but when the vet cut into them he said they looked like fatty tissue. The results won't be in until Monday though.

They told my mom we will have to confine Oreo to a room with a tile or linoleum floor because she will have reddish colored drainage from the incisions. The drainage will stain carpet. So Oreo is going to be confined to the kitchen. She also has to wear a cone thing for 10 days. Poor baby!


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## Snertsmom (Jul 18, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 11 2004, 11:17 AM
> *when the vet cut into them he said they looked like fatty tissue.  The results won't be in until Monday though.
> 
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=15993*


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Lexi's Mom
That is good news !







Vet's usually have seen enough cancer's and fatty tumors to know the difference and they can usually judge what it is by the look of it. 

Please keep us posted.


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 11 2004, 11:17 AM
> *My mom just called me.  She is on her way to pick up Oreo.  They discover that she had 2 lumps but when the vet cut into them he said they looked like fatty tissue.  The results won't be in until Monday though.
> 
> They told my mom we will have to confine Oreo to a room with a tile or linoleum floor because she will have reddish colored drainage from the incisions.  The drainage will stain carpet.  So Oreo is going to be confined to the kitchen.  She also has to wear a cone thing for 10 days.  Poor baby!
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=15993*


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Lexi's Mom, Have your Mom see if the vet has a Bite Not collar. It is much better than the cone. Much more comofortable for the dog. Catcher used it after neutering and he almost seemed to actually look forward to my putting it on him!!

I don't know where Oreo's incision is but the Bite Not works for stuff on the back part of a dog... 

http://www.bitenot.com/


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## mylittlebella (Aug 20, 2004)

glad to hear that everything looks good for Oreo. Keep us posted!!!!!


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## 2happymalts (May 19, 2004)

Any news on the test results?


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

I haven't heard anything. I'm trying to get ahold of my parents to see if they've heard anything. Neither of them are answering the phone though.


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## 2happymalts (May 19, 2004)

ughhh don't you hate that....keep us posted.


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

any news yet???????


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Bad news...Oreo has cancer. Good news is that is a type that usually doesn't spread to other areas of the body. It will get bigger and turn into a puss pocket though so they recommend doing surgery to remove it. They said that if we don't that in 3-4 months the **** pockets will open up and start oozzing. They said that we will wish we would have done the surgery. My mom asked if they could give us a life expectancy if your do the surgery and if we don't do the surgery. The vet (still not our regualar vet) said he couldn't give us one. Another good thing is that the quote they gave my mom is only $530 or so. This includes the surgery, meds, teeth cleaning, X-ray of heart (check out the heart murmur), and anything else that she will need. My dad told my mom to go ahead and schedule the surgery.


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## nataliecmu (Aug 12, 2004)

I hope everything works out...


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## 2happymalts (May 19, 2004)

How sad for Oreo and your parents, but it is some good news, it is treatable and not a fortune to treat..let us know when Oreo has the procedures so we can keep him in our prayers.....


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

I emailed my mom asking her if possible to put the surgery off until after Thanksgiving weekend. I will be going hom that weekend and would like to see Oreo before the surgery just in case something happened and she didn't make it. Also my mom is having Thanksgiving at her house so we will have a lot of people there over the weekend. Oreo likes to greet everyone. Also my a lot of my younger cousins (ages range from 11 months to 16 years old) will be there through the weekend. I think it would be easier on Oreo if we wanted until after Thanksgiving. That way she has a couple of weeks to recover before she get a lot of visitors at the house.

Plus Lexi drives her nuts. She is always jumping on her and nipping at her, trying to get Oreo to play.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

My mom is thinking of having the surgery done tomorrow. I guess Oreo has REALLY bad breath. The vet seems to think there is no real risk. I asked her to take some pictures tonight of Oreo. Just in case.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Ok, now my mom decided to wait until after Thanksgiving so that I could see Oreo.


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## snoopychan (Nov 9, 2004)

Aww, poor Oreo! At least it turned out to be non speading and treatable! She'll do fine with her surgery! Give her a nice hug from me when you see her!


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

Awww poor Oreo. Thankfully it hasnt spread!. That is a great price from the vet


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

I'm glad to hear that at least you have an option in this situation... Our dog didnt have an option.







I'm prayin for Oreo and your family







I know how painful it can be. It was really hard to say goodbye to Scooter.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

My mom scheduled Oreo's surgery for Tuesday, Dec. 7. She has to drop Oreo off by 8AM.


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## mylittlebella (Aug 20, 2004)

Any news on Oreo? Let us know how the surgery went or is going.


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## ButterCloudandNoriko (Aug 26, 2004)

I hope Oreo is doing well







. A trillion XOXO's for Oreo, from Cloud and Noriko.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Thanks for asking!

My parents are coming to visit me this weekend so my mom rescheduled the surgery for next Tuesday. My lease is up in a couple months and this coming weekend was one of the only available weekend until the end of Jan. So we decided to reschedule the surgery to next week. That will still give her a week to recover before Lexi visits.


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## len (Nov 12, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom_@Nov 8 2004, 04:11 PM
> *My dad took Oreo (my parents' dog) to the vet on Friday for an annual shot.  For some reason it was not with or regualar vet.  My dad mentioned that Oreo had been couching and hacking so much lately that she makes herself through up.  Oreo will be 14 in January and has done the hacking and coughing for an long as I can remember.  She does it maybe once every month or two.  The through up is not as common but has happened in the past.  We always thought this was because she ate some grass when she was outside.  The vet said that hacking, coughing and throughing up are signs of a heart murmur and that the hacking and coughing are probably due to difficulty breathing.
> 
> The vet also found a large lump on her side that he said was a tumor.  He was suprised that we had not noticed it.  He also said Oreo has lost 15 pounds since May.  I had noticed she looked a little skinnier but I only see her once a month or so.  I thought that I was wrong.  Oh, and she also needs her teeth cleaned because she has a lot of tartar build up.
> ...


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So sad for your parents and for you. The hardest thing is letting go of our pets. I am sure with prayer and discussion they will come to the best humane decicision regarding Oreo. :excl: Len


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