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I've been there.Bubba, lost to lymphosarcoma at 3.5 years of age and my bitch Grace to lymphoma 10 months later. Bubba had diarrehea for about 3 months.In Sept.of 2001 we moved from Florida back to central PA.In Feb. 2002,I noticed his stools were runny but not really bad,gave some Immodium,seemed to help.March, he wasn't bad but as of that time I didn't even have a new Vet yet, so I found a Vet updated his vaccines,told her about the problem,she didn't seem concerned. April we had several dog shows to attend and I even asked some of the dog people about the diarrehea problem but no one had any ideas. April 17th was his 3rd birthday. By the beggining of May I was really worried because he was starting to drop weight ,(normally 70lbs)thirsty all the time,problem was we were going on a cruise May 2nd so I made an appointment at the Vets for when we got back. It was for May 15th a Wed.I will never forget that day.The Vet palpated his belly and said that if she didn't know he was a male she would swear he was pregnant,not a good thing. 
She wanted to do x-rays etc,but nothing was conclusive so we had exploritory surgery done May 17th,one month after he turned 3. The diagnoses was lymphosarcoma , in his intestines and liver. I was floored! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought Cancer. If we did nothing he had anywhere from 2 weeks to maybe 3weeks with treatment he may have 2-4 months. Chemo was so expensive and it wouldn't cure him.So we went with medication,which is the kind they use in chemo anyway. That was the end of his promissing show career,but he did really well on the drugs and I had him on extra vitamins as well.One of the drugs is prednisone,which made him gain weight ,to the tune of 20lbs,now I had an 90lb basset.But he was happy and funny.It was hard to believe he was sick, but I knew every day we had together brought me one day closer to losing him. Many nights I stayed up with him because I knew our time was short.He had to have blood work done every 2 months.When I took him in for the bloodwork in Aug. the Vet said she didn't think he would go past September and to prepare myself.(yeah!right.)I took him back in October for bloodwork and she was very surprised he was still doing ok. December came and somewhere around Christmas I seemed to notice Bubba just not quite his happy self.On Dec.30th I came home from the store,Bubba didn't get up to greet us ,he wagged his tail but just didn't feel like getting up.I knew then he was telling me, it was time. That night my husband came in and sat on the floor and Bubba went over to him ,placed his huge paws on my husbands shoulders and kissed his face,then layed his head on his lap. I stayed up that night with him. December 31st we went to the Vets and she shaved his front leg,and he didn't move,(which was another sign to me he was ready,because he would go bulistic when he heard the dremel to do his nails and this sounded just like it)Bubba layed his head in my hands as she gave the injection. I cried months before and I cried months after.I could not believe how deep the pain was and still is. I believe the cause of his cancer and Grace's was having our yard treated in Florida by Chemlawn. For about 2-3 months before we moved our yard was treated and even though I kept the dogs off the grass and even talked at lenghth to one of the employees, because Grace was to be bred, who convinced me Chemlawn was safe. When we moved up to PA and I had Grace boarded at a local kennel the owner told me he had a study done at Cornell Uni.on the chemicals used to treat lawns by the lawn companies(young dogs were coming in to board that were diagnosed with cancer and the thing in common was owners having the lawns treated)the study confirmed these chemicals to cause lymphoma,lymphasarcoma in dogs. I suspected this before talking to the kennel owner,he just confirmed it for me. Sorry this is so long I'll post about Grace another time.
She wanted to do x-rays etc,but nothing was conclusive so we had exploritory surgery done May 17th,one month after he turned 3. The diagnoses was lymphosarcoma , in his intestines and liver. I was floored! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought Cancer. If we did nothing he had anywhere from 2 weeks to maybe 3weeks with treatment he may have 2-4 months. Chemo was so expensive and it wouldn't cure him.So we went with medication,which is the kind they use in chemo anyway. That was the end of his promissing show career,but he did really well on the drugs and I had him on extra vitamins as well.One of the drugs is prednisone,which made him gain weight ,to the tune of 20lbs,now I had an 90lb basset.But he was happy and funny.It was hard to believe he was sick, but I knew every day we had together brought me one day closer to losing him. Many nights I stayed up with him because I knew our time was short.He had to have blood work done every 2 months.When I took him in for the bloodwork in Aug. the Vet said she didn't think he would go past September and to prepare myself.(yeah!right.)I took him back in October for bloodwork and she was very surprised he was still doing ok. December came and somewhere around Christmas I seemed to notice Bubba just not quite his happy self.On Dec.30th I came home from the store,Bubba didn't get up to greet us ,he wagged his tail but just didn't feel like getting up.I knew then he was telling me, it was time. That night my husband came in and sat on the floor and Bubba went over to him ,placed his huge paws on my husbands shoulders and kissed his face,then layed his head on his lap. I stayed up that night with him. December 31st we went to the Vets and she shaved his front leg,and he didn't move,(which was another sign to me he was ready,because he would go bulistic when he heard the dremel to do his nails and this sounded just like it)Bubba layed his head in my hands as she gave the injection. I cried months before and I cried months after.I could not believe how deep the pain was and still is. I believe the cause of his cancer and Grace's was having our yard treated in Florida by Chemlawn. For about 2-3 months before we moved our yard was treated and even though I kept the dogs off the grass and even talked at lenghth to one of the employees, because Grace was to be bred, who convinced me Chemlawn was safe. When we moved up to PA and I had Grace boarded at a local kennel the owner told me he had a study done at Cornell Uni.on the chemicals used to treat lawns by the lawn companies(young dogs were coming in to board that were diagnosed with cancer and the thing in common was owners having the lawns treated)the study confirmed these chemicals to cause lymphoma,lymphasarcoma in dogs. I suspected this before talking to the kennel owner,he just confirmed it for me. Sorry this is so long I'll post about Grace another time.
