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This is Gleann (black Aussie mix) and Grainne (Greyhound). We're their people, Aaron and Saigh Kym. Aaron is a per diem EMT, working varying hours, and Saigh Kym is not working regularly due to health reasons as well as trying to get our homestead more productive and with current issues with our dogs has now put other business plans on hold due to time and money it would take to get it going.

In February we all lost our 15 year-old BC mix Sachairi and we're still recovering. Then a few weeks ago we took both Gleann and Grainne for their yearly checkups. Gleann is 12 now so the vet wanted to do a "wellness check" blood panel and, as Grainne has had some symptoms that seemed to be pointing to something autoimmune (as well as having epilepsy), she asked to do one on her too.  And so we found out that there is a possibility they BOTH have cancer!

This hit us like a load of bricks!  We just lost Sach, we know that Gleann would only have a few years; we didn't expect to learn that both are in such danger!

6 year-old Grainne's blood work apparently indicates chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)! This doesn't actually seem to match the symptoms we were asking about, but then CLL apparently does not show symptoms.  Prognosis is grim, it is 100% terminal in dogs, chemotherapy can add weeks, maybe months, but can be brutal on them.  But the truth is the indicators in the blood work are not conclusive, that would require a bone marrow biopsy. There does seem to be a smaller chance that it is something else that is treatable.  But in order to know how to proceed, treatment for something else or spoiling her like mad if it is CLL, we need to get her to an oncologist and have a biopsy to find out.

Gleann's blood work showed that he has hypercalemia (high blood level of calcium), which is a surprise as he has shown no real symptoms (although judging his eating habits is difficult, as he's never been a big eater and has always gone through periods of not eating much at all). A second test shows he still has it so it was not something he got into.  There are many possible causes, but the vet suspects a tumor in his kidneys or liver and wants imaging to look for them.  We want to get this done, as well as get him a consultation with a specialist so we can know how to proceed. If it is not this there are other things that need to be checked, this is, apparently, the most likely cause. Even if he does not have a condition that would cause death in itself, like malignant tumors, the high calcium itself can cause kidney failure. Therefore, we need to find the cause and get his levels normalized in whatever method is needed.

We have had Gleann since he was a puppy, we know that he's a senior but do hope that we can keep him happy and healthy for at least a couple more years. He is our heart and soul.  Grainne is still relatively young, we adopted her knowing she had epilepsy, which is well managed (she has had only one seizure since we adopted her and her meds were adjusted after that). And all this follows a huge horse vet bill (and the horses need their spring/summer shots, so that's hanging over us too).

We've already maxed out our CareCard on Sach and then with what we've already done with these two.  We desperately want to get them both tested as soon as we can, so that any treatment can be started before either get worse and/or we can do whatever we can for them.

EDIT: I realize I should post that our regular vet is Bethel Animal Hospital http://www.bethelanimalhospital.com/ and we have been referred toPeak Veterinary Referral Center http://www.peakveterinaryreferral.com/ but have yet to be able to afford to take them.