Padeaux Died Today

For those who didn’t know, Padeaux has been fighting a losing battle with cancer for the past year, with weight loss more obvious over the past six months. I had expected him to last until August or December, but unfortunately that was not possible.

I had assumed due to several of his symptoms, that he had either a less aggressive lymphoma or a tumor that had started in the cranial mediastinal region, closer to the thoracic inlet because he was ataxic in his front left and had been suffering form incontinence. I had theorized that an enlarged mediastinal lymph node could press both on the brachial plexus causing the ataxia and the vagosympathetic trunk possibly causing the incontinence as the vagus innervates the gut.

Radiographs taken two weeks ago revealed that there was an osteoscarcoma originating on the left humoral head and traveling proximally. This had metastasized to form several mets in his lungs, with an especially large one in the caudal lobe. Two others were in the cranial mediastinal region and could possibly be causing some of his symptoms, but could not be determined with the radiograph. Padeaux also had several other mets in his abdomen that were able to be palpated but did not show up on the radiograph.

The hardest part was the unexpected and sudden decline in his weight, which meant the end was near. He went from 130lbs last June (his last rabies) to 120lbs in Jan to 115 when I left to 90.6 lbs 2 weeks ago. Not quite ready to let him go, especially since he always seemed perky on webcam, he was on 2 meds to ease his pain and then an additional appetite stimulant. This worked very well for a while, but nothing lasts forever. Padeaux is buried under the big tree next to the duck pen in the back yard.

Everyone knew Padeaux, especially strangers! He kept people away from the house by jumping up on the glass next to my front door and looking quite scary. He almost ate the idiot that tried to break into my house, but he was gentle enough to take care of the baby ducks, kittens, or the miscellaneous lamb I brought home. He even ate treats daintily off a fork. I have a great picture of my nephew trying to ride Padeaux like a horse! He was always excited when I talked to him on the phone in Jan/Feb or webcam in May/June, which was how we were able to entice him to eat as Arnie hand fed him cooked chicken. I think he hung on so long because he expected me to come back, but flights jumped to $950 even if I missed 2 days of school.

At 10 years, he was an old Rottweiler and we were lucky he didn’t also suffer from hip dysplasia. Padeaux was an excellent example of his breed and was definitely a wonderful companion over the years. I know many of you that knew him as 'the sleepy old bear' that he was, will miss him as much as I do.