A couple of weeks ago, Stokes had what looked like a scrape on his face. I examined him carefully, and saw a lesion under his collar, too - looked like a minor skin infection. Dr. Joe was on vacation, so I started Stokes on some antibiotics I had here, and after about 8-9 days, it was all cleared up and the skin was looking good.
Yesterday morning, it looked like the infection had started all over again, it was on both sides of his face, and now I could see it on his hocks. I called and made an appointment for him to see Dr. Joe today. By this morning, it had spread even further, on to his toes and around his muzzle. When Stokes had a bowel movement, it was bright yellow, like salad mustard. I knew then it wasn't good - I suspected he was going into liver failure and his immune system was shutting down. Unfortunately, I'd seen this twice before, and it was never a good outcome.
I brought Stokes in this evening, and told Dr. Joe my fears. He checked Stokes over well, and when he gently pressed his abdomen, Stokes jumped and snapped - it was very painful. Joe looked at me and I looked at him, and he shook his head and said, "there's a huge mass in there." He drew some blood, and wanted to take a couple of xrays. We got the xrays taken, and the news was very bad. Stokes had a big tumor in his liver, his spleen was huge, his lymph glands were swollen, and his lungs were riddled with cancer. I had a feeling it was going to be bad
Stokes had been eating well and doing all his normal activities, never gave any sign that he didn't feel well or was in pain. This breed is so damned stoic, they are so tough, they just keep on going and when they do finally act ill, its too late to do anything about it. Sadly, we had no choice but to help him cross the Bridge tonight. Afterwards, the blood work showed that he was very anemic, was likely doing some internal bleeding, and his white blood cell count wasn't elevated at all - his immune system had shut down and his body wasn't even trying to fight the skin infection.
Stokes was a funny dog - he always seemed kind of dissatified with life, and there wasn't a lot that he seemed to enjoy. If he was a human, we'd say he had " personality issues." But he absolutely loved puppies, and would go out of his way to try to mother them. When we had a litter of 8 about 4 years ago, Stokes would vomit up his food right next to their play area, attempting to feed them. He acted like he was their second mother! Another thing he really loved was to sit in the big crate in my van. I don't know why, but he thought that was the greatest thing in the world. He didn't even care if the van was just in the driveway, he was happy just to hang out there. He'd play fetch the ball or toy with Marc in the yard, but he would chase and bring the ball back three times, then he was done. If Marc threw it a fourth time, Stokes would look at him as though he was an idiot and walk away.
As odd as he could be, he was a very affectionate dog when he wanted to be...on HIS terms, not anyone elses. I'm going to miss him, the way he'd lean against me every morning for his pats and scratches, and the way he would eat his cookies in one particular spot, and that spot only! He was the tattletale barker when other dogs were doing things they shouldn't - I wish we had had him with us for a few more years.
Goodbye Stokey-man, I never expected to lose you so soon.
Nutmeg's Hot Tropic August 6, 1997 - July 31, 2007
He was one of those who was not too thrilled about getting his nails clipped! At least he no longer does the "Shiba scream" when I do it!
