The Chronicles of Maddox

This is one of my favorite things, which has also fallen into one of my least favorite things.

My dog Maddox. I have had him for a very long time; over 10 years. He is half Labrador Retrieve and half New Foundland. So he is quite large. – he weighs more than I do!

  Maddox is truly mans best friend. I believe he is one of a kind. He is always there to greet you with a wagging tail at the door – always happy to see you no matter what. He has the most expressive personality I have ever come across in a dog. He is extremely smart and very animated. I never have to guess what he wants. He is one of the best fury things you could ever encounter. He is the perfect solution if you are feeling blue; one happy, open-mouthed-tongue-lolling-perky-eared look at you just makes you smile – like he’s asking you “Oh, what’s the matter”? One cuddle is all it takes. He is also great if you are in a great cheery mood too. I guess he can sense it – because he will want to “speak” with you, bark and be silly right along with you with that massive wagging tail that thumps a mile a minute on the floor. He is just very special and I love the great big bear dearly. 

I call him Maddox, my “Miracle Dog”. He has been through a lot and has had some really close calls. But he is persistent and I guess he just like being with us, and is as strong willed as any human. A couple of years ago, he tore both crucient ligaments in his leg joints. Apparently the outlook on a dog as large as Maddox with that type of injury is not a very easy one. The only solution seemed to be pain meds and thousand upon thousands of dollars in surgery and recovery.  My Vet tech sister and the local Vet had a pow-wow. With great consideration to money and Maddox’s’ ability and age, they came up with using what I call the magic elixir of doggie life. I’m not really sure what it was other than in was some type of joint/cartilage supplement/enhancer. I do know that, twice a week, I would ever so carefully heave, hall, push and lift Maddox into the car, drive him to the vets and they would come out to the car and give him his miracle injection. This went on and on for about 6-8 weeks. With a lot of “quiet” care and assisted lifting and walking; little by little he began to heal. By the end of the treatment, he was like a new dog, or actually I should say puppy. It was obvious how good he felt; he was soon able to resume his bird and squirrel chasing in the back yard. It was a long hard ordeal, but we both made it and recovered magnificently.

A year or two later, he ended up in Tufts emergency hospital (this was after visiting 2 separate, perplexed local vets). Diagnosis was a bit shaky and never confirmed- but apparently he had some sort of wide spread infection on top of some rare and odd sort of lyme disease. This affected his heart, lungs, and joints and just about everything in-between. Barely able to walk and with great difficulty breathing, he was at Tuffs for days, with IV’s and needles and all sorts of medications. With his temperature stuck at 104, he was seriously at deaths door if I didn’t get him to the hospital when I did. I went for visits and no matter how terrible he felt, he would always thump his tail for me. He may not have picked up his head, but I would certainly get a little wag of hello.

As the bill piled up, they still had no conclusive diagnosis, so I dragged my poor dog home, as he could barely walk. I set him up with a fan, and a comfy bead. I learned a little trick to dab rubbing alcohol on his paw pads to help cool him down, and I had to force him truckloads of heavy-duty antibiotics day after day – every six hours. Days went by and it did not look good. But with some will power from the both of us, he some how pulled through yet another incident that the odds were heavily against him. He is some dog! He was back on the road to recovery, as if nothing happened at all.

Then the fateful date of July 19, 2007. This is where it becomes one of my least favorite things.

I found a large lump on Maddox’s back leg, right at the joint. I knew it wasn’t good. A trip to the vets, and many test later, it was confirmed it is a cancerous tumor. – It is terminal. That was the saddest news I have heard in a very, very long time. All I could think was my poor puppy is dying and he doesn’t even know it. I will miss him dearly. So will my other dog Tequila. They are the same age and grew up playing, sleeping and eating together. They are quite inseparable.

I was told it is most likely some sort of osteo-cancer in the bones and it can spread quickly through the body; through the bones to vital organs like his lungs, kidney, heart and even brain – just about anywhere. They say it has already started in his bones, if you were to look at the x-ray; there are some spots on his leg bones that would look like Swiss cheese. Because his bones are becoming more brittle, we have to be very careful he does not break his leg, because then there would be nothing I could do to fix it for him. It’s a little nerve wracking and worrisome, but he deserves a little worrying on my part. He deserves the best I can provide him. I am an avid and passionate animal lover and he is a part of my family.

 I was told the “best case”- worst scenario would be a 6-month life expectancy at best.

Again because of his age and the cost of chemo (with no guarantees), his only form of treatment is daily pain meds and extra TLC. The pain meds seem to do the job because it keeps him comfortable and seems to treat his arthritis at the same time. Once in a while he has a sluggish “I don’t feel like it” day, but for the most part he is content and happy and as active as can be for being such a giant old dog.

It has now been seven months since his diagnosis! The vet is baffled – but at the same time, not very surprised because of Maddox’s other miraculous recoveries. I understand that yes, he does definitely have a terminal disease, and he will not recover this time. The lump has grown larger; to the size of my palm, but leave it to Maddox to fight it to the end and out last what has been predicted for him.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the day that I have to make a decision for his own good is creeping nearer and nearer, I will not let him suffer for my own selfishness. But as he is currently happy, feeling good, and lazily still playful (as he has always been). I shall enjoy his company as long as we both can.

Maddox was born in mid February and as we are nearing the end of the month, I realized he has made it to his 11^th year. So, Happy Birthday Maddox! Here is to beating the odds once again and here is to a few more happy tail wagging-months!! I appreciate any extra time I can have him for.

Happy Maddox        

 Ready for Haloween!

 Maddox & Tequila

 Silly Mad-Maddox

 

 Maddox, doing what he’s not supposed to and thinking we’re not looking. No Maddox, you are not a lap dog!