Yesterday's Blog was a memorial tribute to Cody. Today is a recap of what we experienced, so that other pet parents who see their dog start to appear bloated or show other symptoms, can take action quickly and get an ultrasound to determine if there's a tumor growing in their abdomen.
Behavior Changes That May Indicate an Internal Tumor
If we knew what signs to look for, we could have addressed Cody's tumor earlier, but it was impossible to piece it together. These are changes we noticed and puzzled.
Right after our Dachshund Tyler passed away on July 29, 2025, Cody took on different behaviors. He started eating a lot more. He became ravenous (he was always a picky eater). We thought it was tied to Tyler's passing. By November, it looked like Cody had gained weight in his stomach. He also began peeing in the house.
December 1st - we had his urine tested to see if he had an infection. It was negative. We consulted with the doctor and thought his indoor peeing was a result of Dash's incontinence, because Dash's kidneys were failing. The thought was Cody smells pee and also marks. We even had to put Cody in a diaper at night (Dash was already in diapers). He also started drinking more water.
January 19, 2026, Dash passed. Cody seemed to mellow tremendously. He became more obedient, he did treat training with me, and seemed to finally enjoy it (after almost 4 years in the family).
In February, Codydidn't want to walk much anymore, but he would run for his treats in the kitchen when we toss them across the floor. We kept thinking he needed to exercise. He never cried or expressed pain. He was the happiest he has ever been. He would eat and then look bloated and it appeared to subside in hours (apparently it was his full stomach pushing out the tumor). As a precaution, I scheduled an ultrasound March 5th (4 days before his annual exam at the vet).
After the Ultrasound
By 6 p.m. on March 5, 2026 we picked Cody up at the Veterinary hospital after he got an ultrasound to determine why he had appeared bloated over the previous week or two. We had no idea that in 13 hours he would cross over.
When we arrived home that night, Cody ate and drank normally and finished all his food. As usual, he was still hungry. He behaved normally and was alert as always.
We went outside with him, and he was okay, other than he made little straining sounds when he was urinating.
(Photo: Cody from November 2025 with his usual one ear standing up)
At 7:30 p.m. we did are nightly “three treat time” where I would sit on the kitchen floor with bags of three different treats, and Cody was all excited as he usually was, putting his little nose into each bag.
The last treat was a Full Moon chicken strip that I would split in half and then break into small pieces and toss them across the kitchen floor. Cody loved running after those treats.
Afterward, we went to the den sitting in our recliners with Cody cuddled next to Tom. As usual, during 1 hour of television, I broke little treats and he enjoyed them. All seemed normal.
Unusual Bedtime Behavior
After going outside and getting his bedtime treat, Cody didn’t seem to want to go in his bed. Usually, he would walk around for a couple of minutes and go to bed, so I would go upstairs to my room and Cody would go into his bed in Tom’s room.
After I was upstairs for 15 minutes I heard Cody walking around so I went downstairs to find him not wanting to go his bed because it was round and he looked uncomfortable. His stomach looked bloated. So, I brought out a half-moon shaped bed and he got in it and laid down and went to sleep… for a while.
The bottom falls out
Just before 5 a.m. Tom awoke to Cody whimpering. Tom found Cody in a corner of the kitchen, covered in his own feces and urine. When Tom retrieved him, he realized Cody’s back legs were paralyzed and Cody lost all control of his bowels and kidneys.
He called to me, and I helped clean Cody up, lay him back on the bed on a pee pad, and quickly administered some liquid gabapentin (pain medicine) that I had leftover. It seemed to ease his pain after 30 minutes while we sat with him.
Cody’s breathing was labored, and he was moaning in discomfort. We felt helpless. Meanwhile, overnight 3 inches of snow and sleet fell, coating the roads and driveway, making travel impossible, had it been an option. It wasn’t.
Cody
finally calmed and we moved his bed into Tom’s office area (where Cody usually
stayed). I decided to take a 15-minute nap upstairs, and that was my mistake.
Cody passes
Tom called me less than 15 minutes later. During that time, he was sitting at his computer, listening to Cody and watching him.
He said Cody put his paws on the edge of his bed, let out one bark as he looked at Tom, and he passed away.
(Photo: Cody passed wrapped in his blankets with one of his toys)I arrived to find Tom sitting beside Cody who had already passed and crossed over. We were gutted. We hadn’t cried that hard since Dash passed, just seven weeks before.
We had now lost all three of our kids over the course of seven months. Two of them to aggressive cancers and one to acute kidney failure.
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Talk to Someone After a Loss
That night I made sure we talked with a grief counselor. All of these losses one after the other was too much to process.
If you experience deep grief, call 988 and you can speak to a grief counselor. If you happen to know a professional grief counselor, please reach out to them and make an appointment. Grief can be crippling, mentally, emotionally and physically. Once you establish assistance, then focus on good memories.
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