[shodanusmc]

Was not a good day today. Yesterday he showed some signs of just not being himself. He did not keep up on his daily walk, and did not eat at all, not even a treat. This morning, his head seemed warm, and again, he did not eat, and did not even come when I rattled his leash. Well, I knew something was wrong as he has always been healthy as a horse, and this had to be something. So, off to our Vet who is terrific. I expained the situation. She asked how old his sibblings lived to be. Well Carlo, is over 10, and that is about the average. She suggested we X-Ray his stomach and do a new blood panel. The X-Rays showed a large mass in his lower intestine. She then called the best Surgical Animal Hospital in the area, and they said to bring him in. I rushed him over there. They had to knock him out to do a Ultra Sound, and a different blood panel. The scan showed the mass, pretty big, and the recommendation was to have it immediately removed along with the 15" of lower intestine. They will do along incision so they can really check out his insides, and they are not sure if it spread. They believe it to be cancerous, but not sure what type. They want to remove the diseased tissue and then see where we go from there. The price for his surgery and treatment for the next few days will be between $3200 and 4600, so they asked for $3900 which is the average and I gladly paid. I am amazed at how fast it happened, as he never showed a sign, and he had an X-Ray and blood panel 6 months ago. I remember the man I got him from told me they are tough, take pain well, but when they go, they go fast. He has been my best friend. I am hoping that all goes well, and that we can have more time. I will post more tomorrow when I find out what they tell me as I will be there early. I did spend time with him after he recovered from the Anesthetic. He looked old all of a sudden, but his eyes still had a sparkle.