Thanks for the kind thoughts guys.
I took Chance in this morning. The good news is that he hasn't lost any more weight in the past 2 weeks; he's at 27.5 pounds. That's still down ~4 pounds compared to 3 months ago, but at least he hasn't lost more.
The Xray showed no spots of cancer in his chest or lungs, that was the primary concern before we go ahead with a biopsy of the lump on his neck. Apparently when beagles (or maybe all dogs?) get thyroid cancer it tends to spread to the chest & lungs. Glad that's not the case.
The xray did reveal that his heart is enlartged & a bit round where it shouldn't be, and is pressing against his lungs. They think that is causing his hacking cough, basically it's tickling his lung. We're putting him on blood pressure meds for that. The xray also revealed some calcium in his lungs, but not too much for a dog of his age.
Anyway, they weren't able to get his biopsy done today, so we're doing that next week. In the meantime, the vet suggested we start on those heart meds and up his food by ~20%.
The vet also said that with his heart condition, he should avoid stimulants.
"What's that mean, for a dog?" I asked, a bit confused.
"It means keep him off cigarettes and coke!" he replied
Funny guy, my vet.
Anyway, I'm relieved. His coughing really had teh vet & I worried about cancer. Next step is the biopsy. Once we know what teh issue is, we can decide whether to leave it be or get it out.
Thanks again for the nice thoughts guys, I really appreciate it.
No recent shots of Chance on the beach, but here's a couple from 3 years ago:
