wolfgirl

What a horrid time you had of it, berty :cool: With Stewie I created a thread about his osteosarcoma, and the support I received in that thread was incredibly important to me. I still go back and read it when I need a good cry. Sophie is not actually on chemotherapy treatment. She has one chemo drug amongst the other drugs she's taking. She's on a multi drug therapy called a metronomics therapy that I administer at home. The chemo drug is given to her every 48 hours together with a diuretic drug. If she was on typical chemo she'd have to spend time in the hospital and I've not seen any convincing evidence that chemo works to extend life for long with osteosarcoma. That plus I don't want her to go through the stress of being in hospital after her last stint. The last day she spent in hospital was on Christmas Eve when she had the gum tumour biopsied and debulked. That day was traumatic for her and me. When I went to collect her she was howling loudly and the nurse said she'd been howling since she came out of the anaesthetic. I've never heard Sophie howl before. She stopped when she came out to me and when we drove into to our driveway she cried, she was so pleased to be home. I've never heard her cry before either. I won't put her through that again and I'm not one bit happy about the way she was treated at the vets. She was in pain and her severe pain contined for 3 days. I felt the vet could at least have given her decent pain relief. The pain meds I kept at home weren't strong enough for her. Another trip by me to the vet without Sophie soon remedied that situation and we then had adequate pain relief. The chemo drug she has is to try to slow down the progression of the cancer. She is also on a drug to try to strengthen and build bone in her jaw. She is on a heavy dose of antibiotics and two pain relief drugs. One of them is an opiate and is far more effective than the other one. She has maxalon for nausea and the only time she's vomited was the day I tried her without the maxalon with her breakfast. The chemo drug causes nausea. Vomiting involves a complicated process of cleaning it up because it's cytotoxic due to the chemo drug. I don't know if the chemo drug will be ongoing. I suspect she will be on it as long as she is alive. Same situation with the one for bone growth and the antibiotics. The pain relief will certainly be ongoing and I have a stronger opiate (in the form of syringes) than the opiate tablets she's having at the moment. That will be my last resort and I'll know then that Sophie's time has come when I need to use one of the syringes. My aim in all of this is to try to slow down the rapid progression of the cancer but mainly to keep Sophie pain free. The slowing down seems to be working because we didn't expect her to still be with us at this stage. Her gum tumour is more painful than her jaw. I saw the oncologist once a week for the first two weeks. Our next appointment is next Friday so it will be 3 weeks. Her bloods and urine are taken each time we go there and if they look good we can do a 3 weekly visit instead of weekly. Each time I go, there is either a drug added to the regime or replaced with a different drug. I'm sure they're doing their best with Sophie and I'm grateful they allow me to give her the chemo drug at home. It requires gloves and other precautions to handle it. Picking up poop also needs a double gloved approach and the area has to be treated with bleach. Sophie sleeps more than she used to but otherwise she is the same happy and playful girl she's always been. She misses her walks but I won't take her outside of my property with so much parvo around. Her immune system would be very weak with the drugs she's on. Sorry for the long post. Hope it explains to those who wanted to know. I think this is a truly wonderful idea to have this part where people can support each other. My avatar was my heart dog I lost him to Osteosarcoma nearly 3 years ago, this is how I found Dol I was researching trying to find answers if we could have done anything differently to save him, I was very lost and it took alot of courage to make my first post when a topic came up about how much money did people think was reasonable to spend on a dog our vet bill for him was $9500.00 and I would have found a million dollars if I had to just to save him, Rottshowgirl was so nice and welcoming to me and I was sitting there bawling thinking people would think I was silly but I felt alot of support which I needed at that time. I don't post much about cancer with the dogs as each time I try to make replies I get that horrible breathless feeling, the pain is still so raw sitting there 24/7 nursing my boy and I collapse into a heap each time, not that I don't read how all the dogs are and shed a tear for the pain they and their owners are going through it is just still a very painful subject for me. There is a very long story as to how this malamute came to me, a very deep and personal one that I still can't talk to people about so when I feel up to it I add a bit to a personal story I am writing about our journey together, I honestly don't know whether I will ever share that with anyone but it is the only way I can pay tribute to an amazing animal who taught me so much and sent me on my journey to play with wolves, I am forever grateful to that dog, he wasn't just a dog he was my special dog. Well now I am going to wash my face as we are going out for tea shortly and I have those horrible red eyes again. Hugs and kisses to dogs and owners.

I have a longcoat and have to check him daily for seeds and burrs, I brush him thoroughly for 10 minutes and that seems to get all all out or loose, sorry haven't got any other ideas.

Tony wishing you and your family a very Happy, Healthy and Safe festive season. I enjoy your posts immensley.

Congratulations

My dogs love Thunderstoms they go out to play in them and they aren't fussed at all by fireworks but what gets my back up is we have ferals around here who let fireworks off through the week on the reserve after 12pm and that is annoying because I am a light sleeper and get woken up I have always made these events enjoyable for my animals so I don't have to worry about sudden noises. It is good conditioning for them.

Oh gosh Horus I am so sorry Godspeed Cleo ;) Hugs to Ellie and you.

RIP Mable Go fly with angels while you wait.

Godspeed Sophie

Phoebe fly with angels :rolleyes:

Oh my gosh I am so sorry for your loss God Speed Maxie :cool:

Sorry for your loss RIP Cocky God Speed Beautiful Boy :rolleyes: Hugs to you and your family

RIP Zana Godspeed Beautiful Girl. You may be gone but never forgotten.

Just wanting to wish you and Flash all the best :D Also maybe look at alternative medicine, there are a few people here like Staffluv and Dogbesotted who will be of great help to you.

Thats even better,didn't reliase Leonards sold turkey,thats how much i take notice Thats even better,didn't reliase Leonards sold turkey,thats how much i take notice Me too - I thought they were just chicken people! Whoops my brain must be blond or I need glasses but I read it as Chicken Necks :p Really don't know how I made that stuff up

I get mine from Lenards or any chicken shop and pay roughly $2.00 per kilo.

OMG I just found out about this I am so sorry and there aren't any words to help ease your pain. He was taken too young and will now run free over the bridge. RIP Oakly :p Godspeed beautiful boy. Even though his time here on Earth was a short one I know he was well loved and treasured, he may be gone but never forgotten.

Shek pop some honey onto a spoon and let him lick it, it will help ease his throat pain. :rolleyes:

grotty_rotty so sad to hear of your loss Sambucca was a stunning boy and is now free of pain. RIP Sambucca Godspeed beautiful boy.

Rachelle we have done the herding through Four Paws, did the initial workshop which is extremely informative and a group of us from Werribee are organising to do it regularly in Diggers Rest if you are interested in joining our group.

I don't have any experience with Auto Immune Diseases of that nature but for one of my dogs who had cancer I built up his immune system with Noni Juice and the difference in his condition was great. Maybe do some research on this and see what natural alternatives you can use to boost his system. Good Luck.

Poor Lou he's really had a tough time since the desexing Give him a hug from Miss Noirty and hope he is better very soon. Did you go back to the same vet just out of curiosity or source a new one??? Please let us know how he is going. :rolleyes:

Woohoo Congratulations Dagboy and Ebony, Well Done. We have just started herding this year with our GSD boy and did the workshop and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Dencorub or Vicks Rub on anything that you don't want chewed Another method is when she is chewing something that shouldn't be take it away and replace it with one of her toys or chew things especially through the teething stages. Good luck and yes they do grow out of it.

I lost one of my gsd girls to spleen cancer quite a few years ago but her tumour was large as she showed no signs of being ill until the last moment. Sending lots of good vibes for your girl and please let us know what her results are.

Definitely needs to be seen by a vet asap. Use baby wipes inside the ear to help clean it. Ears are very sensitive so best not to be putting anything like cotton buds down them in case you push too far sounds like he needs eardrops. Good Luck.