Blog of Io the Wolfhound

OK, so I think that yesterday we may have slighly overdone it.   Io was quite stiff today which was a little worrying.   I think  some strict discipline may be in order over the next few weeks as Io seems to think he is ready to go out at any point for any distance. It is a little hard taking him out and watching him tire so quickly when you can see his head is desperate for a monumental walk

but I suppose this is a part of the learning process for us all.

Io had quite a long walk today-by current standards!  When we were nearly back to the carpark Rog took him over to a large circle of grass while I visited the doggy bin.  On the way back to them I called him, and he pelted over like he always has done.  Far too fast for 3 paws (2 legs at the back trying to overtake the one at the front !) and very nearly went over.  Well recovered on his part, I still feel sick at the ‘might have beens’ on my part, won’t do that again, at least until tripawd thinking is second nature.

I posted this in a reply to Caties mum so apologies if you’ve already seen it.  I’m rather challenged by technology! Io has been to chemo today (was Tuesday), he has been put on carboplatin. If I’m reading the invoice correctly they gave him 400mg, it said 10mg/ml per mg and there were 400 of them. He was a happy boy when we picked him up and had taken well to the procedure. He had his lunch and settled down but now he seems a bit restless and has been whining a bit. He’s been outside twice for a drink-for some reason making us get up to let them out for the outside water is always their preferred option and it’s even better if we’ve just sat down to eat! Our vet had confirmed osteosarcoma by biopsy but didn’t or couldn’t confirm which specific strain it was and the oncologist didn’t get ‘the rest’ to check herself. I don’t think it makes much difference other than knowing how aggressive it might be, and perhaps we’re better off not knowing. He’ll have four treatments and the treatments will be every three weeks. I’m assuming we don’t pay the consultation every time so the cost will be £571.90 per treatment. This includes a government tax we call VAT (value added tax) which is 20%. VAT is added to most things, there are exceptions like some foods and childrens clothes but it’s all very complicated and I don’t see why any form of medical treatment could be deemed as ‘non essential’ unless it’s cosmetic! Without the vat treatment would be £476.58 so it adds a significant amount. If nothing else needs paying for the total for all treatment will be £5643.64. I’ve excluded the rimadyl and synoquin because he was on them anyway. I don’t begrudge a penny of it, it’s just for information. We have pet insurance with petplan so he’s covered for £6000 veterinary fees and a few incidentals, and the policy cost £630 this renewal. Pet insurance is getting to be a bit controversial over here because of rising costs, I think something similar happened in the US? I have to say that although it costs us a bit, after Io’s treatment and Cobweb’s treatments over the years (she’s had a masectomy after breast cancer and is on atopica for a skin condition and propalin for her waterworks) they have always paid out quickly and are always lovely to talk to on the phone, even though their loss adjusters probably want to cry when they see our bills!!
I think I’ve taken enough of your time for now, I’ll let you know how he gets on-at the moment he’s settled back down and is chasing hares in his sleep

He went out for a 20 minute romp today (Thursday) and we ran all the way back to the van, great fun for both of us 🙂   I’m trying to get a video of him running but naturally he stops when I’m filming and goes again when I’m not!  He tried cocking his leg a lot today, had to give up every time but he’s getting closer and I think he’ll manage it in the end.  Irish wolfhounds have such an impressive bladder capacity that he usually had to put him leg down part the way through anyway so I don’t think he’s too worried 🙂

AD (amputation day) +2

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hi, Io’s mum Mitch here (prev posts are from Io’s dad, Rog)

Rog mentioned that he first heard Io’s name as it’s the name of one of Jupiters moons, on which a probe had landed at more or less the same time we adopted our Io.  The original Io was a figure in Greek myth, one of Hera’s handmaidens.  She was seduced by Zeus and turned into a heifer (female cow that hasn’t calved) in order to save her from him.  Lots more happens to her afterwards!  One of my Greek friends told me it should be pronounced ‘ee-o’ as it’s also a Greek letter.  If we’d been saying it properly we could have changed it to ‘Trio’!! 

He’s going to start chemotherapy tomorrow so we’ll post more then, I’m interested to see how the UK will differ from the US treatment wise.  It already seems different as he was off pain meds by the time he came home on day 3, I’ve got the impression from what I’ve read on the site that US dogs stay on them a lot longer?  He’s on rimadyl for arthritis anyway, and glucosamine sulphate (synoquin) for the same reason.  He had 2 different antibiotics in tablet form when he came home, noroclav and antirobe, but they only lasted for another 5 days (7 days in total).  His stitches come out tomorrow before we go onto the oncologists-2 different vets and no breakfast 🙁  It’s the lack of breakfast I feel guiltiest about, poor baby.

Thank you so much for all your information, advice,comments and replies, they all mean a lot to us 🙂

This is the blog of Io the Irish Wolfhound and his entry into the illustrious Tripawd club

Io was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in his left front leg shortly two days before  Christmas,  a scan showed that the cancer was confined to the leg  and so we are able to make the decison to have the affected leg removed. 

We have decided to chart his “adventures” so that we can hopefully give inspiration and and information to help other in this difficult situation as all of the blogs and post on this forum have helped us !.

A little bit about Io

Io is called that (as in the moon of Juipter) for no particular reason. Although I do admit to a very childish smirk when people ocaasionally ask how you spell it and I can reply I-O !!.

He is a 4 year old male Irish Wolfhound and lives in the UK in a village just outside Bedford (50 miles north of London) with hig big sister Cobweb (female wolfhound).

Io is a friendly boy although not exactly the smartest cookie, however cruel rumours that is full name is actually “Io,  Big head – nothing in it ” are completely untrue.