Scruffy's Canine Cancer Research Fundraiser

I'm raising money to benefit the AKC Canine Health Foundation in memory of Scruffy, our beloved Keeshond, who lost his battle with cancer on April 27, 2022. Scruffy was the sweetest, most fun-loving little doggie on the planet and was the highlight of our lives from the moment we met him. He was like a child to my husband and I… a very spoiled but well-loved little baby. He made us smile and laugh every single day, and was my constant companion throughout the pandemic. He was immediately loved by everyone who was lucky enough to know him. In November of 2021 at the age of 8-1/2, Scruffy was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive blood vessel cancer. Scruffy’s breed has an average lifespan of 12 to 16 years, so we thought we had so much more time with our precious boy. We lost him at age nine, and his absence has left a huge hole in our hearts. By helping to fund canine cancer research and educating pet parents, we hope to improve cancer detection and treatment so that other furry friends can avoid a similar fate. The mission of the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, Inc. (CHF) is to advance the health of all dogs and their owners by funding scientific research and supporting the dissemination of health information to prevent, treat and cure canine disease. All proceeds collected for this effort will be donated to specifically fund canine hemangiosarcoma research and education.

This is Scruffy’s story.

One night in October 2021, Scruffy started whining and holding his head down. We took him to the emergency veterinarian, and they looked him over but didn’t find any outward issues. Thinking that maybe he just had a sore head or neck, they sent us home with pain medication and told us to come back for x-rays if the behavior continued. How I wish I would have had him x-rayed that very day! The pain medication seemed to work, and we went about 3 weeks without any more issues. Then Scruffy started whimpering again. I didn’t want to just take him back to emergency and go through the same routine, so we tried making an x-ray appointment. Over a week went by without us being able to get an appointment, so I reluctantly took him back to emergency. After waiting in the lobby five hours, we were finally taken to see a veterinarian. She did a much more thorough physical examination on Scruffy and that’s when she found the lump on his neck. Scruffs was a Keeshond and very, VERY fluffy. Even after she tried having me feel the lump, I was not able to detect it. In my naivete, I asked her if it was a swollen gland or something (cancer was not on my radar or something that could every happen to my sweet dog). Then her eyes teared up and she said, “unfortunately, it is likely thyroid cancer”. Mere words cannot express how my heart leaped out of my body and my whole world was turned upside down.

This sweet, kind veterinarian set up an appointment the next morning for x-rays and a biopsy. I’ll be forever grateful for her assistance and compassion. The x-rays showed a 3x5 cm mass located in Scruffy’s neck above his thyroid. The biopsy was inconclusive. They referred us to a vet specializing in oncology, and with a referral from our veterinarian we were able to get Scruffy a CT scan the following week. That week of waiting was torture for us since the initial prognosis was that the tumor might not be operable given its location up against his carotid artery. What a relief it was when we got the news that the CT scan came back favorable. Not only was the tumor operable, but it was one solid encapsulated mass and they were confident the entire tumor could be removed. Scruffy went in for surgery on November 17, 2021, exactly two weeks after the lump was discovered. The surgery was successful and the tumor was completely removed and sent for in for biopsy to determine the specific type of cancer. The relief we felt bringing Scruffy home with us was overwhelming; like he had gotten a new lease on life.

Then we got the call with his biopsy results… hemangiosarcoma, a death sentence for dogs. We were told that Scruffy should start chemotherapy treatments immediately, but at best it would only delay the spread of this highly aggressive cancer by a few months to a year. Again, we were devastated.

I did my own research and found a journal article titled “Primary Nodal Hemangiosarcoma in Four Dogs” (Chan et. al., JAVMA, Nov 2016). Although it was a very small sample size, this study covered four dogs with the rare form of hemangiosarcoma that Scruffy had, where it started in the cervical lymph node and did not spread to any other part of their bodies. Three of the four dogs studied had their tumors removed, went through chemotherapy treatment, and were alive and well with no new indications of cancer at the conclusion of the study up to a year and a half later. With all my heart and soul, I believed that Scruffy could be a member of this hemangiosarcoma survivor club; that he was one of the lucky ones and we would have him for many years to come.

Scruffy handled the chemotherapy well for the first few treatments. After the fourth treatment, he had two “episodes” that seemed like partial seizures. His oncologist told us it was likely due to a brain tumor and that we could have an MRI and spinal fluid analysis done, but it would be costly and Scruffy would have to be put under heavy anesthesia which is a risk in itself; and in the event it was a brain tumor there was not much that could be done about it anyways. We opted to do the “wait and see” approach with the thought that the seizures could have been a side effect of the fourth chemotherapy treatment. All of Scruffy’s follow up x-rays and ultrasounds came back clear, and we decided not to do the fifth and final chemotherapy treatment in case that was the cause of his seizures. That was in mid-February 2022.

Scruffy had two wonderful months of health and happiness. He developed a small bump on his belly, but we thought it was just an insect bite, and our oncologist suggested just watching it for changes and they would evaluate it at his next follow up appointment in May. Scruffy turned 9 years old on April 21, 2022. We were so happy that he had made it to his 9th birthday and were wishing him many more birthdays to come.

The next day, Scruffy started sneezing. A day later I noticed spots of blood on the floor. We rushed him to emergency and they found that he was bleeding from his right nostril. They put him under light anesthesia and scoped his nose to look for any foreign body that might be causing it (like a foxtail), and also biopsied the small lump on his belly. They did not find anything in his nose and we were told that the bleeding could be due to a tumor in his nasal cavity. Their initial analysis under the microscope of the cells they extracted from the bump on Scruffy’s belly showed signs of cancer. Again, we were devastated but were ready to sign Scruffy up for another round of chemotherapy to battle this new bout of cancer. That was on a Saturday.

The following Tuesday we had an appointment to have Scruffy evaluated by his oncologist. They first performed chest x-rays on him. This particular vet has been closed to the public throughout the pandemic, not allowing families in with their pets during evaluations and treatments (in fact, we had never even met his oncologist). So when I got the call from the veterinary technician that our oncologist would like us to come in to the facility to discuss Scruffy’s results, I knew it was not good news. He showed us Scruffy’s latest chest x-ray next to the one taken a month earlier; there were new tiny masses throughout his lungs. My heart sank as the oncologist explained that we could do another round of chemotherapy, but it would only have a 30% chance of prolonging his life, and only for at most 1 or 2 months. We decided to try chemotherapy but opted to have an ultrasound of his abdomen done first. We waited in the room while they took Scruffy for his ultrasound. Then the oncologist returned and told us there was more bad news; they found tumors throughout his organs and blood in his abdomen. I can never convey the depth of despair I felt when he told us Scruffy only had a few hours to at most a few days to live. They brought my baby back into the room and he ran and leapt at us, so happy to see us, and so unaware that he was dying.

In fact, through all of this, Scruffy never really got sick from the cancer. He had experienced some pain from the tumor in his neck back in November, and had some discomfort due to his bloody nose those last few days. But he never actually showed any signs of illness. Maybe if he had, we could have caught it and gotten him treatment earlier. We’ll never know.

That night, Scruffy seemed a bit lethargic. Our in-laws brought over Scruffy’s best friend, a sweet little dog named Ivy, so that they could see each other one last time. Scruffy was so happy to see all of them and was given lots of hugs and kisses. A short time later, he had another partial seizure. We put him up on the couch to rest and watched over him all night long. He had a nose bleed until about 1am, and ended up vomiting up his dinner. But after that he went to sleep and slept very soundly. The next morning I got up to pet Scruffy, and like our usual routine, I said “Scruffs, are you ready to start your day?!?”. That is when he would normally get up and give me excited kisses and rub up against my leg for extra pets. But that morning he did not get up; he just laid there and let me pet him. We eventually got him to walk out to the backyard, but on his way back inside he got so tired that he just sat down and his daddy had to carry him the rest of the way. We knew then that Scruffy was fading away. We made numerous phone calls to various at-home euthanasia organizations to try and get an appointment for that day so that Scruffy would not have to go through the anxiety of going back to the vet, but everyone was booked. We finally got a hold of someone that could come at 3pm that afternoon, and with heavy hearts we set up the appointment. We brought Scruffy back to the couch and just stayed with him. All he wanted to do was sleep. There was a squirrel outside the window and for a moment he perked up and made a facial expression like he was about to bark, but then he lost his energy and laid back down to sleep. A short while later, he sat up and vomited bile. We had been warned by the oncologist and a family member that this kind of cancer could take him very quickly, and that his final hours could invoke terrible suffering as his body shut down. The advice they gave us was that it is better to let him go too soon than too late. With tears in our eyes, we called and canceled the 3pm at-home euthanasia appointment and carried Scruffy out to the car to take him to the vet.

He had a wonderful final bye-bye-car ride. I held him up to the window and he enjoyed the wind against his face and watching all the cars go by. Then he laid on my lap and I pet him and cried as his daddy drove on to the final destination. We carried Scruffy into the vet’s euthanasia room and sat him on the couch and just hung out with him for a while. We had a video chat with our son and daughter-in-law (Scruffy’s brother and sister) who were traveling internationally and had tried in vain to get a flight home in time to say goodbye. All of our hearts were breaking, but we were doing our best to smile as we told Scruffy how much we loved him. Then it was time. Scruffy was still alert and happy when the veterinary tech came in to give him the first shot to sedate him. Even though we were grateful that he wasn’t in any pain or discomfort, and we knew we were making the right decision by not waiting until he deteriorated further, it was still so so hard to let go of our happy little boy. Scruffy laid on my lap as his daddy and I petted him gave him love. Then he was administered the final shot and he drifted off to his eternal sleep. I’ll never know if we let him go too soon, and I still feel guilty for being in such a hurry to kill my dog, but my broken heart is somewhat comforted by the knowledge that we did not wait too long and Scruffy did not suffer in any way.

We wrapped Scruffy in a sheet and brought his little body back home with us. We cried all the way home as I cradled him in the back seat. We laid him in the kitchen on one of his beds, and I sat with him for a long time just petting him and holding his cold paw. With the help of a kind neighbor, we dug a hole in the backyard. Our friend built Scruffy a coffin. We had a few family members over to help lay him to rest that evening. Not even the pain I felt when I lost my parents can compare with the pain and sadness I felt when I had to say goodbye to my baby, my best friend, my constant companion. We had a memorial service that weekend at Scruffy’s favorite park. I was overwhelmed by the love, sympathy, and support we received from our family and friends who took time out of their busy lives to come pay respect to and share precious memories of our special dog. I will be forever grateful to each and every one of them.

As I’m writing this it’s been exactly one week since we let him go, and still my heart is wrenched open and I am overcome with grief. I know that so many pet parents have gone through a similar harrowing experience. The fact that dogs even get cancer seems like the most unfair thing in the world. My hope is that someday, due to further research and education, we can prevent or better treat canine cancer so that our furry family members can live the lives they truly deserve.

Before this experience, I was not educated about canine cancer or the signs to look for in order to detect it early enough to treat. I feel incredible guilt for not having Scruffy fully evaluated when he first started whining last October. Maybe if he had gotten treatment a month earlier, he would have had a better chance of fighting the cancer and would still be alive today. The difficult part of being a pet parent is that they can’t tell you what’s actually wrong with them. You have to try to work it out, and hope that you are doing what is best for your loved one. My advice to pet parents is to listen carefully to your fur baby and don’t wait to seek veterinary care. I’ll never know if earlier action would have changed the eventual outcome, but I do believe that working to educate others and helping to fund more research will help other pets and their parents to avoid such grief.