Kerbie

Last week, our 10yr old hound dog Kerbie whacked his paw running through the kitchen. Yes, at 10, he's still trying to run over slick floors:

(Pictured: A safe way to interact with the kitchen floor)

He limped for a bit, but then seemed to get better. The next day, however, it was swollen, so we took him to the vet. I imagined some soft tissue damage, maybe a cracked bone, but not what we were told after his leg was X-rayed.

Kerbie has terminal bone cancer.

In older, larger dogs, this type of cancer is quite common. The fall didn't cause the cancer, obviously, but it did expose it. As of right now, we have a few options, but those mainly exist to slightly prolong his life -- there is no cure. Bone cancer eventually spreads to all of the internal organs. Earlier this year, we lost our cat Lille, and we have been ready to lose our 16yr old chow Sassi (in the background above). Kerbie, we thought, still had a few years left in him.

At least we'll have some time with him before he goes, so we can spoil him more than we could with Lille. It's still not easy, though, and we can just hope he's happy and comfortable.