Well............today I went down to take a looksee at her and she promptly got up and walked out from under the van she was laying under. She sat about 3 feet from me and started yowling and meowing like "WHERE'S MY FOOD, WOMAN????". LOL Like an obedient human, I *sprinted* 5 houses down the block, got her fresh food and sprinted back. She proceeded to snarf almost the whole thing down and then laid down and cleaned herself. .......???? Now I really don't know what to do. She seems much better today! She definitely has a tooth issue on one side. I watched her eat the dry food (I gave her both wet/dry) and she shifts it to one side of her mouth and avoids the other. She still needs a vet visit, I can see that. I'm kind of thinking about giving her a couple of days to get her strength back though. I don't want to traumatize her and stress her the freakin' heck out. Is that dumb?

Well I only have a few things to say about this whole discussion. I am in school right now to become a veterinarian so please don't get angry if you are a vet and find this discussion offensive I'm not trying to bash the profession I want to enter. There are slimes everywhere in every profession because there are going to be slimy greedy people everywhere in the world so why would this profession be any different? There are going to be extremists in every profession. The vet I am interning with right now has prices so low that he might lose his house while other vets are charging so high they can afford to shut their clinic down for a two week vacation. Are there vets in the middle? yes. Just like every other profession. Someone said that petcare is a luxury, which I completely agree with, so if you don't like paying for petcare because you think its too expensive then don't get pets because as someone that truly loves animals I can say that it is sickening to see animals not taken care of because "its too expensive". I am interning with a rural vet so this is probably more common in rural areas than cities but its still a problem. Is what this vet did really any different from what some medical doctors will do to patients that are terminal? no. does she have a right to complain? yes. The world in general is a crazy greedy and overall kind of depressing place to live in because a lot of people only care about themselves so this kind of stuff will always happen. I will say this though if you live in New York its not even a question whether something will be more expensive than elsewhere because its going to be so its not really that surprising that you got price gouged. If you read a lot of medical articles you'll see that they recommend you bring an advocate when you go to see a doctor so that you get all the information you need and so that you don't get tricked into treatment you don't want. While it is sad that this is necessary it really isn't any different than when you go to the vet. Ask questions, ask for opinions, and do you research. Vets are only human to and a lot of times people forget that you don't know what they know so they forget to mention anything. By far this is the biggest complaint that I get from the people at my barn, the vet doesn't explain. So ask or stay ignorant. In the end though pets aren't a necessity of life even though they do make it more enjoyable so if you just can't stand paying all those fees don't have animals its simple as that. Plus a really good plan is to invest in some pet insurance. We got some for our horses and dogs and while we haven't had to use it, it is nice to know that its there when we need it. Just like medical insurance for you, it keeps the cost to you for your petcare down. I guarantee that if you had to pay for medical care (even just a cold) without any insurance it would be a lot more devastating than your vet bill.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I'm still as lost as ever. My mom, judiegal, is picking up a book for me called the natural vets guide to preventing and treating cancer. The reviews are all great and I'm hoping it will give me an idea of the supplements and food I should give her. After so much research I've found that my dogs, and so many pets everywhere, are getting improper diets. I thought I had my dogs on such great food, it's expensive and holistic, no preservatives... but it's not what they should be eating. I strongly suggest any one here who never really researched pet foods to do so. And there is false information out there about too much protein causing health problems, but if you read the research and articles written by veterinarians, you'll see that dogs should be having more meat and low to no grains. Still though, there are so many food options. Thanks again everybody. I have another thread in the discussions section and I've been getting great advice from everybody. You all are so supportive and kind and I thank you all for taking time out of your days to help me! My "friends" wont even answer their phones, and they don't really understand my passion for animals anyways. Thanks again. I'll still accept more advice! I'm putting all my questions down to ask the oncologist tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for your sympathy. My mom's dog is who made me fall in love with the breed. I got my first Bulldog shortly after she got hers. I was away at college and leaving the dog was the hardest part about going away. I'll never forget we got her over the summer, and I had to leave in about a month to go back to school. I came back home for Thanksgiving and the puppy I had left turned into a big fat whale of a dog. She was the sweetest, wiggly dog I had ever met. Well as soon as I got my own place, I also got an english bully. She stayed with me for 10 great years. After we had to put her to sleep, I had to get another dog immediately as the house was too empty without one.