Survivors and Celebrations

Cocoa's Story

Today,Tuesday May 18,2010,is two weeks that we lost our beautiful family member Cocoa . He had turned four in February. I have owned dogs,specifically dachshunds my whole life and never expected the horrible news of cancer. I have three long haired "doxies" and Cocoa was always the one who seemed to have, minor allergies, needed his anal glands squeezed, teeth cleaned more, and a few other minor issues. I had noticed his breath was bad and he had very small swollen glands, so thinking I was doing a good thing I had his teeth cleaned in mid February. Well, $300 later and a few weeks later is when his glands(lymph nodes)under his chin blew up to the size of a lemon on both sides of his little face. I took him back to the Vet. thinking he had a small infection from his teeth cleaning and she would give him some antibiotics and we would be on our way. She took a sample and told me it was probably lymphoma...stage 5 because it had went to his eyes. I was devastated.She said he would only live 30 days without Chemo and maybe 3 to 6 months with Chemo. She told me about a Holistic Vet in the area. I stayed up that whole night on the internet not knowing what to do. I took him to the Holistic Vet. who was also a regular Vet. as well. She also agreed on the diagnosis, but we took a natural approach to his care. Although he did not live for much longer his last month and a half, he did not suffer and ended up passing very quickly.I am honestly still in shock. He looked totally normal when he passed(except for his large glands.)It is the hardest thing to lose a young pet. My other pets have missed him as well and our slowly adjusting to not having him around. He will always be in our hearts. Rest in peace my little angel. 2/7/06 - 5/4/10