kayla1

It took 13 years and a member survey for it to become clear to PR that funding is the major issue for rescue groups? So for 13 years they were either spectacularly ignorant of the major issue facing rescue groups, despite working 'with' rescue groups for so long, or they were spectacularly arrogant and knew of the issue but chose to do nothing about it. I look forward to seeing their 2018 financial reports.

Thanks corrie

Hi corrie, thanks for asking! Annie is doing really well! After her surgery last year, the oncologist said >90% of dogs with grade 3 MCT don't live beyond 12 months. That was about 15 months ago now and Annie is still doing great. She had another lump come up about three months ago which turned out to be an infiltrated lymph node, so as it is now metastatic we are doing another round of chemo with vinblastine again. Same as with the round of chemo last year, no side effects. Yes! Bounding out of the car after chemo. Annie runs inside and says, let's play! I agree, chemo gets a bad rap. It's so nice to hear a positive story with the quality time it gave to you and your girl. I think my initial stress was more lack of understanding and having preconceived notions of horrible side effects. But I'm much less stressed about it now that I have a better understanding. Just seeing how good Annie has been with it all, and how much more quality time it has given her. It makes it all worth it. One thing that I find really heartwarming is when I go to the oncology clinic and meet other people with dogs going through cancer treatment, it's so lovely to see the bond between the other dogs and their families. These people truly love their dogs and are doing their best for them. Here is my little girl that I love so very much, and having fun with her doggy brothers.

Thanks for the tip. He mostly chooses to sleep on the couch but will occasionally sleep in one of the dog beds (carpet underneath), and he certainly likes his blankie when he's having a nap! He loves to sunbake but I've been advised against too much of that since he had the hemangiosarcoma removed. When he arrived his coat was very coarse and he was shedding constantly, but that seems to have eased off a bit now and his coat is softer. Those little white hairs stick to everything.

Sorry to hear about your boy. You may be better off consulting with a vet oncologist. There are other chemo options for MCT if the side effects of palladia are severe. My little girl is part way through her second round of chemo for Grade 3 MCT (now metastatic) but she gets vinblastine. Her protocol is vinblastine every 2-3 weeks for six treatments (each treatment is a 30 min vet oncologist visit). She did have one treatment of CCNU at the beginning but we dropped that because it was harder to dose tablets to her small size. At this stage I have decided against palladia as she tested negative for the c-Kit mutation. She remains her happy self throughout treatment - eating, drinking, running, playing - all completely normal. No nausea or vomiting or anything like that. The only side effect is neutropenia a week after each treatment but a short course of antibiotics protects her from any infection. She is also on prednisolone, famotidine, and claratyne. Her quality of life is excellent and you would never know she has metastatic disease and is receiving chemo. I see there is a vet oncologist in Perth here. Perhaps ask your vet (or another vet) to consult with him, if you cannot see him directly. Good luck with your boy.

Your old boy sounds lovely, juice. Domino lives for his walks too. Well, walks and food and the couch.

Great photos!! Yes he's in really good shape and has improved a lot since he's been here. Though he is getting a hemangiosarcoma on his abdomen removed tomorrow, which I understand is not uncommon in the breed. I had no idea how intelligent dalmatians are - I haven't met many and always imagined them as the clowns, but wow what an incredible memory! And I don't know if this is a breed trait, but Domino is close to bomb proof with other dogs and people. Does Ziggy do the dalmatian smile?

They do seem to be quite determined when they decide they want something!! Actually I was surprised how strong my boy is too, considering he is only 25kg.

TSD, you must be proud! Do many dalmatians do agility? Actually I was just reading the other day that they are one of the fastest dog breeds. Here is my boy...

Very smart dogs! My cupboards are now kept locked. Agility at 11.5 is amazing. My boy is only off lead in enclosed areas, in other areas I use a long line so he has some freedom to stop and sniff etc. Yes, he is fed a low purine diet. He's getting a curcumin supplement and has just started on meloxicam for spondylosis. I have some other supplements but need to check that they are low purine. Are there any supplements recommended for dallies?

Not sure if anyone looks at this thread anymore, but I'm wondering about dalmatian activity level as they get older. I've recently taken on an older rescue dalmatian who seems very active for his age. His previous owner said he was 14 yrs, and microchip details indicate 13 yrs. He is happy to trot for a few kms each day (I speed walk to keep up with him) and is lively when out and about, and because of this he is constantly mistaken for a puppy and even vets are surprised with his age. I understand from reading about dallies that they are a highly active breed. I'm wondering if it usually continues into old age or if they ever slow down? At least he is keeping me fit.

Waiting wasn't an option for my boy as the tumour was grade 2 and there was a large area that was potentially contaminated from the first surgery. Waiting would have increased the risk of regrowth and spread, so I took him straight to a specialist surgeon for the second surgery. But of course it's preferable for a tumour to be identified before removal so that adequate margins are taken in the first surgery, and therefore avoiding a more complicated second surgery. I understand the prognosis is very good for low grade STS that are completely removed, but I'm not sure of the protocol for grade 1 STS removed with minimal margins.

Is your boy getting further surgery to remove more surrounding tissue? One of my dogs had a grade 2 STS removed with incomplete margins and then underwent more aggressive surgery to obtain wider margins. This was successful and he has had no recurrence several years later. I did not make any change to his diet (though I have reduced carbs for my girl who has grade 3 metastatic MCT). If your boy's STS was grade 1 then that's a good thing as these are the least aggressive, so less likely to regrow or spread.

Great, thanks!

Yes, I've been watching his peeing habits! Do you add the water to the artemis just before you feed it?

Ok, I have Artemis fresh mix which I think is ok looking at the ingredients, though it's the one for small breeds so tiny pieces. I've also got the Osopure turkey and garbanzo beans, but I'm not sure if the chickpeas would make it too high in purines. He was fed Pal/Pedigree in his previous home. Good idea, thanks juice, I'll do a list and stick it on the fridge. I'm new to dalmatian feeding and want to avoid issues if possible.

Great thanks. I feed most of those things already so good to know I'm on the right track with diet.

I've been reading about dalmatians requiring a diet that's low in purines to avoid kidney stones. I understand that a good diet, water, and frequent toileting opportunities are important. Just wondering what dalmatian owners here feed for a low purine dalmatian diet? Thanks.

Hmm...for someone claiming to have a doctorate in nutrition, he shows little understanding of basic research methodology. It seems he has misunderstood the methodology of the original study (for example, his statements of causation) and misinterpreted the results. There are many inaccuracies and a quick look at the cited studies reveals that the references cited do not support his statements (it looks like he has also misinterpreted the findings of previous studies). The language is emotive and he is presumably passionate about and/or invested in raw feeding. As for the original study, it's good to see research being done on APN in dogs and it shows that more research is clearly needed. I don't feed raw now (for other reasons), but if I did still feed raw then I probably wouldn't change that based on these findings alone.

I'm happy to say Annie breezed through her chemo treatment. She remained perfectly normal throughout the entire treatment protocol - normal energy level, appetite, toileting, behaviour etc. No nausea or loss of appetite or anything like that. So my initial worries were alleviated. We ended up dropping the CCNU as it was too hard to adjust the dose with Annie's size (she's only 5kg), so we just went with vinblastine. The vinblastine also reduced her WBC but a short course of prophylactic antibiotics and some modifications to where we walked on those days helped to prevent Annie from picking up any infection. We didn't use palladia as Annie tested negative to the c-kit mutation, but it's still an option for the future if needed. She had a follow up CT a month after finishing chemo and this was clear. So Annie is doing great with excellent quality of life. At the moment we're continuing with monthly check ups, follow up scans, and I check daily for lumps. No regrets about any of the treatment, and we'll go through it again (or other treatment) if needed. I'm just glad that Annie is in the best position to maintain her quality of life for as long as possible.

Sorry to hear about your dog's diagnosis. Just to confirm, when you say mastocytosis high degree, do you mean your dog has high grade mast cell tumour(s)? If so, there is information on MCTs here, with further links at the bottom of the page that may be helpful. What treatment has your dog had?

It's hard with older dogs. I agree that it seems to be a slow growing tumour. When she had her original tests, was a biopsy done to confirm the tumour was cancerous? I mention it because you cannot tell by look and feel whether a tumour is cancerous or not - it can only be confirmed through biopsy. If so, do you know the type of cancer confirmed by the biopsy? That may give you an idea of how it will progress. With my dogs, one had a soft tissue sarcoma and another mast cell tumours, and treatment has meant they are still here today and have maintained excellent quality of life. However, my dogs are younger than Jeune - if they had been older at the time of diagnosis then I would have ruled out some of those treatments. Good luck with your beautiful girl.

I'm really glad to hear that chemo gave you quality time with your dog. Thanks for asking, Annie is doing great. Her WBC improved and she was able to have her second treatment last week. She is her normal, happy self and you wouldn't even know she is having treatment!

Thanks sje78.

Thanks Dave73. I don't know a great deal about grade 3 hemangiosarcoma, except that it's very aggressive, so I imagine a 12 month remission would be considered very good in that situation. I'm glad to hear she had good quality of life.