Jim
Jim
Jim is 16 years old and came to retire with me on August 3rd 2003. I receive hundreds of e-mails a day about dogs in shelters, desperate for homes - for some reason the one about Jim stood out. I followed the link to Petfinder and instantly fell in love with the black lab mix in front of me. I e-mailed the shelter in New Jersey where he was, submitted an application and was honoured to be selected as his forever home.
The day after he came home he went for a vet check which was when the bombshell struck - he had a mass in his neck. By the end of the week we had seen an oncologist and had some diagnostics run. It turns out he has a sarcoma in his neck that involves the carotid arteries and is thus inoperable. Chemotherapy was discussed but the response rate for this type of cancer is only 30% and even if he did respond his life expectancy would only be around 1 - 3 months. So, after consultation with friends, the oncologist and my vet we decided on palliative care for the one to three months he is expected to live.
September 7th 2003
It's now a month since Jim came home and he's doing really well. He has "issues" about being handled but I'm woking on them. He's hilarious on grass, lifting his feet high and jumping in an attempt to have as little contact as possible! As for the tumour, it's definitely increasing in size (as can be seen in the above photograph) and if he barks his tongue turns grey but apart from that he acts as if there's nothing wrong with him.
Summer 2004
Suddenly things have started to change for Jim. The mass in his neck is now 20cm x 14cm. It doesn't appear to cause him pain, but his behaviour is starting to change - he's becoming more unpredictable, both with Bonnie, Shep and Bram and I.
October 2004
The time I was dreading finally arrived. Jim suddenly became aggressive, biting me so hard he broke my finger. After being quarantined I had him evaluated by a vet who believed that the tumour, now 20cm x 20cm was causing him pain and had possibly spread to his brain. I took him home for a few days and spoilt him rotten before helping him to the bridge on October 21st 2004. While my time with Jim was brief (although he far oulived the oncologists prediction)I miss him intensely and will always hold a special place in my heart for him.
Each year millions of unwanted pets are destroyed. Please help reduce this number by spaying / neutering - all my dogs are .
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