Cebar is our big boy - 11 year old Cocker Spaniel X, who is the most beautiful soul and such a well behaved dog. I “rescued” him at 14 months old, but in truth he really “rescued” me in my grief for my two black solid cockers, Jock and Skye, who had gone to Rainbow Bridge together about 6 months beforehand. I hadn’t been looking for a dog at that point, although I knew I would eventually, and the timing wasn’t great as I was in the middle of selling up, moving house and had a big overseas trip planned. But the Universe conspired and sent me Cebar (named after a Honda CBR 1000 motorbike I was told) and it was as it was meant to be!
He was diagnosed with thyroid problems when we just couldn’t seem to shift the excess weight off him when he was about 5 years old and he takes medication for that each day. As he has aged he is also on medication for arthritis.
At 9 years old he had a severe attack of Pancreatitis and we were told he may not make it through the night. Luckily he did and although it mean huge lifestyle changes for him in terms of diet, he has managed well with it. This was also the time we decided we wanted to increase our fur family - and eventually along came his little brother, Whisky, a male French Bulldog (who was supposed to be a female cocker spaniel go figure!) So luckily Rainbow Bridge was postponed.
At 10 years old he was rushed to the emergency vet with a suspected torsion of the bowel, and again we left him in the care of the vet with the warning that he may not make it, but like a cat with nine lives, he avoided Rainbow Bridge with just a $1200 fart!
Being an elderly Cocker he dribbles a lot and this was causing some dermatitis issues, as well as turning he fur green - yes green like the Grinch! I tried using bibs but they moved around too much, so I research and came across the “Wipe It”. This has made life a lot drier for him!
Now 11 years old, I noticed him having difficulty urinating and when the initial diagnosis of a UTI proved not responsive to treatment, we had an ultrasound, and further surgical tests to eventually confirm he has an advanced, inoperable Transient Cell Carcinoma of the bladder - terminal. I was devastated and suspected that the time for my heart dog to go to Rainbow Bridge was near and it would be palliative care from here until that time.
Thankfully, Cebar is not in any pain or suffering and the Vet explained that he is an unusual case. Normally the dog would be unable to pass any Urine before this advanced stage was reached and have to be euthanised. But in Cebar’s case the mass was mostly in the bladder itself with only part of it in the neck of the bladder, which means he can still pass urine sufficiently. Given this unique situation the Vet was not recommending euthanasia as I had feared, but a course of the drug “Feline” to see if they could reduce the mass. We did this for a month, and thankfully the ultrasound showed a 30% reduction! Not enough for us to start Chemotherapy drugs yet, but a very good sign indeed. We are currently continuing the Feldine for a further 2 months and we will have another ultrasound to see the progress and hopefully it will be small enough to start the Chemotherapy.
The prognosis without treatment is a few months but with treatment that responds he could have several years more! So fingers and paws crossed for our gorgeous boy Cebar!