I am just devastated and have been crying since I got the terrible news yesterday morning. My 'God-dog', Dakota ( a 9 year old, brilliant and beautiful, yellow lab), has been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma...a very aggressive cancer with a very poor prognosis....and it is no different than if I had gotten the diagnosis for one of my own. Dakota was showing some signs the past week or so of tiring more quickly than normal, and started to act like he had something bothering him in his throat, so he was off to the vet. Dakota belongs to my husband's best buddy (since childhood) Jason, and after being with my husband for 15 years, Jason is like a brother to me. Jason loves Dakota like a child, and I hate to think he is going to have to go through the same horrible process of pain and grief that I went through....that I am still going through. His love for Dakota is just like that of mine with Sasha. As a matter of fact, their relationship is probably the only one I can truly compare in depth to that of mine with Sasha. Dakota is what I believe to be Jason's *special boy*.....that one of a kind furkid that no other will ever hold a candle to. He had a yellow lab that preceeded Dakota, named Bear, that he loved deeply. It tore him up to have to have him euthanized at 14 (?) or so years of age due to crippling arthrits, but I don't think that even that will come close to the devastation he will feel when he loses his Dakota. Jason owns his own business, and Dakota goes to work with him every day....heck, Dakota goes everywhere with him every day...they are seldom apart from one another. Dakota has had the best life that any dog could ever ask for. He is a brilliant retriever, the most intelligent dog I have ever met, and just an all around great dog. I am crying as I type this....I love him dearly....the thought of him being gone is tearing me apart. He seems fine today, and that is what we must focus on, but the thought of what the near future will hold is torture. They did immediate surgery on him yesterday to remove the tumors that they found (which were in his throat), but the chances of it having already spread into his system are very high. Even if they got it all from the local area that they removed the tumors, it only buys more time, it isn't a cure.
If anyone has any direct experience with this type of cancer, please share any thoughts you have on it. Otherwise, please just pray for both Jason and Dakota that whatever happens, it is as easy as possible on both of them. Maybe if there are any words that you could share with him I could e-mail him the link to this thread....