Staffyluv

Woops mixed the date up - it was 2005 not 2006... Sorry I just thought that an MCT thread might assist anyone who is going through the same thing or give them other ideas and opinions on how to treat this horrible disease. Cheers Jodie

Just thought I would add this here, as Mast Cell Cancer/Tumours seem to be on the rise like so many other cancers. Ollie was diagnosed in November 2005 with Grade 2 MCT, multiple tumour sites and it was systemic. We had no clear margins on the excision of two tumours. The oncologist estimated we would have him for one to one and half years... We have used chemo and holistic therapy (all the details are in his story, just follow the link). He is now more than two years post diagnosis and doing better than even the oncologist expected. Here is the link to his story: Ollie dog Edited to fix date of diagnosis - thanks Tram...

Personally, I would be operating and depending on whether it is systemic or not - I would also be doing chemo (systemic) or radiation (if not)... My boy Ollie was in the same position and we excised lots of tumours, then did chemo and treated him holistically as well- he is still here, six months more than was predicted and is looking so well, even the oncologist cannot believe it... He was 8 when he was operated on the first time. If you are still against surgery, please consider holistic therapy. Lucinda (dogbesotted's girl) has lived with terminal MCT for over 5 years now and she has only been treated holisitcally. Best of luck.. Back to Hero - how is he going, any news???

I was thinking the same as Warley - pinched nerve. But with his history of MCT - I would definitely be getting him checked over to make sure that there is no further tumours, they can be small sometimes and hard to detect. I know the wart like one on Ollies foot got sore and he used to limp before it was removed. Best of luck and give him a hug for me Jodes

It won't hurt to xray first. At least then you'll know if you're dealing with bone problems. Yep, yep... This is really good advice... Best of luck

I know xrays can be expensive but I would be asking for one... Due to the fact that previous treatment has not cleared the issue. When your vet says rest, she must rest - I know how hard it is to keep a stafford still, even if you have to crate her or keep her on leash in the house. She should not be allowed to even jump up and down off the lounge or beds (I know not everyone allows them to do this but I am just assuming because we do)... Is she carrying any extra weight? If so, I would get that off her as soon as possible because extra weight could cause more problems as she bears weight on an already sore limb. Have you tried massage - our boy gets a bit sore from time to time when he jumps off the lounge the wrong way or when he is trying to wrestle with the boys(he is nearly 11, so much older than your girl). You could also try heat or ice packs, depending on what the vet suggests is best. I would still be requesting an xray just to rule out anything in her bones... Best of luck and let us know how you get on Cheers Jodie

He eats mainly meat and veges with a little hills science diet added... The meat is mainly chicken (grain fed is best - expensive but it is what keeps him healthy that matters to me), roo, venison when I can get it as well as lean beef (human quality beef, never pet meat). He goes through fazes with his veges and for about six weeks or more now the only veges he will eat is sweet potato and zucchini. He also eats fruit and organic yoghurt. He has 1000mg fish oil, 1500mg VItamin C every day. He is also on 9 tablets a day (maxalon - 2, omprezole - 1, polaramine - 1, thyroxine - 2 and carafate -3). Basically, if I would not eat it myself, I wont feed it to him. He has become quite fussy and will no longer eat raw bones, so he gets some rawhide things to chew (I would prefer if he ate the raw bones though). He gets four doggy choc treats a day after he takes his tablets, so he will take them (I have never had a problem getting him to open up so I can put them down his throat)... He used to eat all veges but has become fussy and gets selective from time to time. But we use most veges - spinach, pumpkin, broccoli, carrot, sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini... Before the diet change, he used to eat lesser quality meats (mainly beef) and veg with pasta or rice - the pasta and rice was removed because it had no nutritional value. Hope that helps. Jodie

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 it is lovely that Troy has given you all a sub forum to chat about your beloved pooches that are unwell. I wish you all the best with all the dogs (I have been following Sophies progress)... My heart goes out to all of you with ill dogs - I do know how you feel. Ollie and I have been battling Mast Cell cancer grade two, multiple tumours and no clear margins on excision... It is systemic as it is in his lymph system. Two long years it has been and they said he would only be here for twelve to eighteen months... We used both conventional medicine (excision and chemo) and holistic medicine in the form of supplements, diet changes and chinese herbs... He is still here and continues to fight his disease and amaze the vets - even the oncologist was surprised he was still here at Christmas time. If anyone would like to know more or would like to chat about their dogs and conditions or just to ask about Ollies treatments, in case you think you can get some ideas for your own babies, please feel free to PM me anytime. Wishing you all the best Jodie and Ollie dog

From one Ollie dog to another... RIP beautiful boy. Sincerest sympathy to the family on the loss of Ollie Jodie and Ollie dog

Yes we did, but we did the chemo 'just in case'. We love our dogs and we didn't want to lose one. Lulu handled chemo really well. Cheers, ricey That is great news ricey, you must be so pleased that little Lulu is doing so well... Ollie handled chemo really well too - we have MCT grade 2 with no clear margins but still fighting...

And how is the adorable Miss Lucinda? Still keeping the postie at bay... Hugs back to you guys from us as well. J

Totally agree and it can take a while to find that special food... Ollie has a natural diet but we add HSD UD (he had kidney and bladders stones once, years ago, and once removed they have not come back - I believe due to diet changes). He eats Chicken, Tuna (fresh, not canned), beef as well as roo and venison when we can get it. He eats heaps of veges but at the moment he is being fussy and only eating sweet potato and zucchini but is happy to have a little spinach sometimes. I never give pasta but if he is ill, (he has cancer) I will give him a home made chicken broth with a little meat and a small amount of rice - it is pretty soupy. We always get comments on his coat and how well he looks. We were only at the vet yesterday and he has a bowel infection at the moment but even the vet comments on how well he looks... Best of luck finding the right diet, it can be really difficult sometimes but you will get heaps of great advice here. Jodie

Thanks Warls, he would love to have you over to share dinner (he always wants to share mine - we had tuna steaks and salad last night!) Fiesty is one word fifi... He knows I need him and he is still enjoying life as much as ever, thanks. Thanks mona, I am hoping it clears quickly too - I hate seeing him flat, when he is usually so in your face... Thanks peibe. You can come over for dinner with Warley - Ollie loves to have guests (more dinners to share) Thanks heaps for the good wishes - I am sure he will bounce back (he always does). It is just horrible to see him unwell and not his usually bouncy self. Cheers Jodie

We are back and he was none too impressed with having an anal exam, let me tell you - he let the whole surgery know what was going on!... The vet thinks he has a bowel infection, so he had a big needle with antibiotics and he has a weeks worth of tablets as well - we are to go back if he seems any flatter than he is now. He is sleeping in my office on the lounge at the moment, too bad if a client turns up.. I forgot to ask about diet when I was up there, so might give them a call and see if there is anything in particular that he should or should not be having. At present he is on home cooked meat and veg + few treats (usually chicken, tuna or beef and he is only eating sweet potato and zucchini at the moment the fussy boy)... Cheers Jodie

Ollie has not been himself the last couple of days and this morning there was blood in his poop, so we will be off to our wonderful vet today sometime... Wish us luck, he has been so well lately - as the vet put it, disgustingly well for a dog with his condition... He had a great Chrstmas, meeting heaps of family that he has not seen before and he was the star of the show at OHs 40th birthday party in early January... he was very spoilt over Christmas and got heaps of toys, a new shirt, some sunglasses (but he ate those already) and some yummy treats... Will update a little later, when we know more.. Cheers Jodie

Ollie has Mast Cell cancer and one of the things it does is release histamine into his system. To counter this he takes 2mg of polaramine every day.

A year already? They just worm their way into our hearts forever don't they! You can see in her pictures what a lovely old soul she was. Jodie

I am so sorry Paula. RIP gorgeous boy... Jodie and Ollie dog

Totally agree with H... Ollie has a couple of MCTs that go up and down...

So sorry for your loss GB, RIP Wedge. Jodie

That is great that you found a vet that you feel good about and that they explained it to you. Just some info on MCT and you can judge if the his lump really should be aspirated or removed... I am just a big stickler for not letting lumps do anything without having all the information. Ollies MCT on his rump did not change in shape or size in a month. The one he had on his foot that looked like a wart did not change for years (yep, years - we were told it is just a wart and nothing to worry about, but it was and I so regret not insisting on an aspirate to this very day). His wart like one was about the size of a match head (they aspirated it with no problems when they did it). The bigger tumour on his rump, felt like it was about the size of a large pea (it was also aspirated with no problems) but this tumour when excised was more like the size of a golf ball - they can go deeper, his scar was about 12-15cm long and run from the top of his rump to his knee joint at the back of his leg. MCT often feel like a lump under the skin (like the skin can move over the top of them, if you know what I mean), they can feel hard, like a pea under the skin or they can feel like a lump of jelly under the skin. They can even look like a clear or red wart. Wishing you all the best with it Jodie

KW, I only noticed this when I saw Juliets notice. I am so sorry for your loss. Be free old man Jodie and Ollie dog

RIP Storm Jodie and Ollie dog

So sorry for loss your loss Fifi... RIP Navarre, be at peace... Jodie and Ollie dog

So sorry Stacey - words don't make it any easier but time will heal the heart. RIP Juliet RIP Rex Jodie and Ollie dog