Dakota needs my help and I need yours

[Dakotasman]

Dakota has had one problem after another for three months now. He is a Shepard mix, seven-years-old, and it started with infections on his feet and droopy eyes. He then in a matter of a weekend lost most of his ability to see. He has been to the vet over this period of time and his latest prognosis is now possible Lymphoma and mild glaucoma, and he has been refereed out to an oncologist and ophthalmologist.

His eyes seem worse each day when I get home for work they just gave me Atropine Ophthaimc to reduce the pressure in his eyes, but when I give him the medication it seems to hurt his eyes. I just want to do something for and do no harm.  

I am a recent college grad and I have a wife and child with very limited funds so i need to know how to focus my resources. I want him to live as long as possible and I also want him to live as well as possible with his time left. I want to save what little eye sight he may still have, but the cancer could make that null and void.

I need to know:
Is there any conceivable way that his eye sight will ever improve or should I just focus on other factors?
Any good options for financing for the vet?
Some encouragement.

Thanks Dog Fans! :(     (:

[Caryopteris]

I am sorry you are going through this.  I went through something similar with a Siberian husky.  She was 6. She was acting odd and had a puffy face around her eyes and was lethargic in the evening.  She seemed okay during the day.  I took her to vets and we kept trying to figure it out.  I was afraid it was a brain tumor, but the vet said I should be seeing seizures.  It turned out it was a brain tumor.  I hope your Dakota doesn't have that, but my Misha had foot problems before the eye problem, so that's what made me think of her.  

What I wish I'd done, in retrospect, was give her pain medication and prednisone much sooner.  Narcropsy revealed the tumor was much too deep to have ever been removed surgically, so at most I might have given her radiation and comfort measures.  I really loved that dog and it was awful to lose her so young, but sometimes there is nothing you can do.  

[TwoBitsMom]

I am so sorry to hear of Dakota's illness. It does sound like Ghilly has given you some wonderful options and advice.
May I ask if your dog was checked for dry eye....?  My dog had dry eye.  Keratoconjuctivitis sicca.....it is a simple test, done at the vets office. It is called a Schrimer tear test, and only requires a paper test strip.
Some of the symptoms are frequent infections, squinting, rubbing of the eyes, eyes may become cloudy or discolored, eye ulcers, and discharge from the eyes......it can also lead to blindness.
When you do get him back to the vet, ask to have this simple test done.
Again, I am sorry to hear about his current diagnosis....please let us know how things are going.  
Connie

[Ghilly]

Wow, I am SO sorry that you and Dakota are going through this!    

You don't say where you live, but if I were you I would look into any veterinary colleges in your state.  They have state of the art equipment when it comes to diagnostics and even though veterinary students work on the animals, they are just inches away from graduating and they work under the close supervision of their professors, who are veterinary professors and doctors themselves.  

As far as payment goes, look into Care Credit.  Just about every veterinary hospital offers it and you can apply right then and there in their office.  They can give you an answer pretty much immediately as to whether or not you are accepted.  

You can also try this web address:   http://www.animalcompassionnetwork.org/resources/1
It has many links to different sites that all offer some form of assistance for paying veterinary bills, hopefully one of them will be something you can use.  Please let us know how Dakota is.

Ghilly