Submitted by Kim and Jeff

Our beloved Ruger was a Christmas present for my husband in 2005. I purchased him from a breeder. He was the last pup left in the litter and he looked like a little polar bear! He was perfect. I brought him home and from day 1, he was the most well behaved, smart dog any family could ask for. Never was sick, never showed a bit of aggression - always the inquisitive, happy, beautiful boy.

A little over a month ago, we noticed Ruger had dropped a little weight. Also, we started to wonder if he was getting hip dispasia - he was having a hard time getting up from a seated or laying position & he wasn't able to jump up on the bed as easily as normal.

One weekend, I noticed Ruger had an unquenchable thirst. He was constantly drinking water.

Normally we shave his coat in the summer, as we live in Texas and the summer months can be brutal w/ the heat. Akitas typically have a thick coat, so this task takes patience on both owner & dog's part. For one reason or another, we did not get around to shaving him down during the peak summer months this year.

Around the same time we noticed his slight weight loss, hip trouble, and thirst, Ruger had a pretty bad flea problem, so we decided to shave him. As the fur fell to the ground, we were shocked at the amount of weight he had lost. You could see his ribs and backbone. Both me & my husband felt so bad we did not realize he had lost THAT much weight. This was on a Sunday night. We decided to take him to the vet the very next morning.

First thing the vet did was weigh him - he had lost exactly 30 pounds since the previous vet visit in March (six months before). He weighed 125 in March and he was down to 95 in October. The vet checked him for heartworms and he was fine. Once he did the physical exam, he stopped when he got to the abdomen. He told me he felt a mass. He called the other vet into the room & he agreed - mass. I was basically told to go home and love him as much as possible and there was nothing they could do. They offered to give me a number for another vet nearby who could do more tests. I scheduled him the following day.

The second vet performed an ultrasound of the kidneys and said they looked abnormal. Cbc showed elevated calcium. I was told this could mean many things. Several blood tests were done to rule out hypothyroidism & Addison's disease. She was unable to make a diagnosis and referred us to a specialist to go on either a fungal or cancer hunt.

Specialist did a chest x-ray & 4 view ultrasound. Kidneys and spleen looked abnormal. Needle aspiration was done of the kidneys & spleen. Results came back malignant histiocytosis.

Today we wait for the inevitable. Ruger is not showing signs of pain or illness. He just reminds us of an old dog. He is only 4 years old - still a puppy in my eyes!! This situation is so heartbreaking. We feel so helpless. We have decided not to do treatment at this time. We do not want to cause him any pain or risk him having bad side effects from medication.

UPDATE December 8, 2009
We started Ruger on prednisone a few weeks ago. He was taking two pills a day for the first two weeks and now he's at one pill a day every day. He has really packed on the pounds! I'm not sure how much he's gained since we haven't taken him to the vet, but it's obvious by looking at him. His appetite has really increased.

He has not shown any outward signs of pain & has not gotten sick (i.e. vomiting or diarrhea). He's just still kinda moping around and acting like an old dog.

We had the family over for Thanksgiving & no one could tell by looking at him that he is sick. We know he is and only time will tell when the disease starts taking it's course. We're enjoying every day we have with him.

He is waking me up several times a night to use the restroom. When I get aggravated, my husband reminds me that he can't help it & to be patient w/ him. His breathing has also increased. He pants a lot and when he's sleeping, he breathes really rapid.

We will keep you posted of his status as the situation changes - good or bad.

Naar onze Histio website in het Nederlands