Losing My Baby, Afraid My dog Murphy is dying Options

[jim]

First off, thanks for listening. I am so glad I found this forum.

My baby, Murphy, is a 9 year old German Shepard/Rottweiller mix. My wife and I cannot have children and he is our baby. We have had him since he was 7 weeks old. In January he lost a toe on his front foot to a tumor, it wasn't cancer, but still had to be removed. He also developed a lump on his right rear haunch. It was the size of a baseball when he had the toe removed and is now the size of a softball. The doctor did a tissue and fluid sample and says it isn't cancer, but we need to keep and eye on it. She also said it is too deep in the tissue to remove, if it does develop into cancer there's nothing she can do. He has also lost some muscle in his face in the last few months, she said this is due to his age, muscle attrophy. I cannot shake the feeling that he is slipping away from us. I have had several dogs in my life, but none like my Murphy. He is truly my baby.

I am scared to death that I am losing him. I really don't know what I will do when I lose him.

thanks for letting me vent.

[jim]

thank you all so much for your replies. Miss Molly - thank you so much for your thoughts on this. I live about 3 hours from Ohio State University and I know they have an excellent vet school. I worked for a time as a vet tech and was planning on going there for my vet training, but as life does, I got into another field.

I am planning on taking him up to OSU later this week and see if I can find out anything for him. I don't want to make his life longer just for me, only if it will ensure he still has a good quality of life. Its so hard to watch him go through this. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and is still active (well, mostly) but I know that can change quickly. I was lucky enough to have had the training I did as a tech and was able to diagnose his tumor on the toe quickly enough so that it wasn't a problem. I only hope I can do the same for this lump.

Its funny, I have had 6 dogs in my life, but none of them has effected me like Murphy. From day one he was attached to my hip. Still is. I know that when the time comes to say goodbye to him, part of me is going to die with him. I have already decided to have him cremated and that when I go, his ashes are going to be buried with me.

thank you all for the thoughts and prayers.

I will keep you informed.